The mean in math, often called the arithmetic mean or average, is a measure of central tendency that represents the typical value in a data set. To calculate the mean, you follow these steps:
- Add up all the numbers in the data set to get the total sum.
- Divide this sum by the number of values in the data set.
Mathematically, the mean is expressed as:
Mean=Sum of all valuesNumber of values\text{Mean}=\frac{\text{Sum of all values}}{\text{Number of values}}Mean=Number of valuesSum of all values
For example, to find the mean of the numbers 6, 11, and 7:
- Add the numbers: 6+11+7=246+11+7=246+11+7=24
- Divide by the count of numbers (3): 24÷3=824\div 3=824÷3=8
So, the mean is 8
. The mean can be a decimal and works with negative numbers as well (adding a negative number is like subtracting)
. It is widely used to summarize data with a single representative value and is fundamental in statistics and probability
. In summary, the mean is the average value found by summing all data points and dividing by how many there are, providing a balanced "center" of the data
