median and mean

Question

You weigh six packages and find the weights to be 29,19, 69, 24, 64 and 59 ounces. If you include the package that weighs 219 ounces, which will increase more, the median or the mean?

Answer 1

The mean before adding in 219 would be (29+19+69+24+64+59)/6 = 44 and the mean after adding the 219 is (29+19+69+24+64+59+219)/6 = 69.

The median is just the number in the middle if you put them in numeric order. Before adding 219 then median is calculated by finding the middle number of 19, 24, 29, 59, 64, 69 which is halfway between 29 and 59 or 44. After adding in 219, the median is the middle number of 19, 24, 29, 59, 64, 69, 219 which is 59.

So the mean increases more by adding in 219 to the data.