Describing Data

Question

Maria ran an experiment to determine the optimal conditions for growing artichokes. The data below displays the weights of the artichokes she grew (measured in grams).

56.3	20.4	56.3	56.3	14.2
35.4	22.5	36.4	31.6	43.9

What is the mean weight of the artichokes?

mean = 

What is the median weight of the artichokes?

median = 

What is the mode weight of the artichokes?

mode = 

Answer 1

To find the mean, median, and mode of the artichoke weights, let's start with the given data:

It will be useful to arrange the weights in ascending order:

14.2, 20.4, 22.5, 31.6, 35.4, 36.4, 43.9, 56.3, 56.3, 56.3

A. Mean: Mean is calculated by adding up all the values and then dividing by the number of values.

Mean=∑weights ÷ number of weights

=56.3+20.4+56.3+56.3+14.2+35.4+22.5+36.4+31.6+43.9 ÷ 10

Mean = 37.33g

B. Median: The median is the middle value when the data is sorted in ascending order.

Arrange the weights in ascending order: 14.2, 20.4, 22.5, 31.6, 35.4, 36.4, 43.9, 56.3, 56.3, 56.3

The median is the average of the two middle values (since there are 10 values). Add the 5th and 6th values and divide by 2.

Median = (35.4 + 36.4) ÷ 2

Median = 35.9

C. Mode: The mode is the value that appears most frequently.

Identify which weight appears most often in the data.

Mode = 56.3; because it appeared 3 times

Answer 2

The mean (average) weight is calculated by adding the 10 values and dividing by 10,

The median will require you to first put the 10 values in numerical order. The middle value is the median. However, as there are 10 values, there is no "middle", so you'll need to take the average of the 2 central values.

The mode is the value that appears most frequently. This will be easier to spot once you've done the ordered sequence above. Looks like it's 56.3.