The following frequency distribution gives the monthly consumption of ...
Calculating Mean, Median, and Mode of a Frequency Distribution
When dealing with a frequency distribution, there are several measures of central tendency that can be used to describe the data. These include the mean, median, and mode.
Mean
The mean is calculated by adding up all the values in the distribution and dividing by the total number of values. In this case, we have:
65-85 4
85-105 5
105-125 13
125-145 20
145-165 14
165-185 8
185-205 4
To calculate the mean, we need to find the midpoint of each class interval and multiply it by the frequency. For example, the midpoint of the first interval (65-85) is 75.5, so we multiply that by 4 to get 302. We do this for all the intervals and add up the results:
(75.5 x 4) + (95 x 5) + (115 x 13) + (135 x 20) + (155 x 14) + (175 x 8) + (195 x 4) = 8575
Next, we divide by the total number of values (68) to get the mean:
8575 / 68 = 126.1
So the mean monthly consumption of electricity is 126.1 units.
Median
The median is the middle value in the distribution when the values are arranged in order. To find the median, we first need to put the values in order:
65, 65, 65, 65, 85, 85, 85, 85, 85, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 125, 125, 125, 125, 125, 125, 125, 125, 125, 125, 145, 145, 145, 145, 145, 145, 145, 145, 165, 165, 165, 165, 165, 165, 165, 165, 185, 185, 185, 185, 185, 185, 185, 185, 205, 205, 205, 205
There are 68 values, so the median will be the average of the 34th and 35th values:
(125 + 125) / 2 = 125
So the median monthly consumption of electricity is 125 units.
Mode
The mode is the value that appears most frequently in the distribution. In this case, the value 125 appears most frequently (20 times), so the mode is 125.
Comparing Mean, Median, and Mode
When the mean, median, and mode are all close to each other, it indicates that the distribution is approximately symmetric.