What is Mean?

Mean is defined as the term referring to the the middle value of the given dataset of which we need to find mean.

Mean is used to find the central tendency of the dataset. The term mean is specifically used in the field of statistics. We can also say that Mean is the average of the given dataset. Mean can be found by dividing the sum of given terms by total number of terms. Another way of finding mean is adding the greatest and smallest term of the progression and then dividing it by 2. Mean is of different types namely, Arithmetic Mean, Geometric Mean, Harmonic Mean and Weighted Mean. Mean formula is given for both grouped and ungrouped data.

Let’s see the Mean Formula

Mean Formula

The formula of Mean is given as:

Mean([Tex]\bar X [/Tex]) = (x₁ + x₂ + x₃ + …. + x_n)/n

Mean is also calculated as (smallest term + largest term)/2. However this is only valid for an arithmetic progression. Mean can also be calculated for grouped data by Mean for Grouped Data Formula. Let’s learn an example of mean

Example: Find the mean age of students if the individual age of students are 11 years, 13 years, 12 years, 11 years and 15 years.

Solution:

Mean Age = (11 + 13 + 12 + 11 + 15)/5 = (62)/5 = 12.4 years

Average and Mean, both have their significance in mathematics. Average and mean are considered to be similar but they have different meanings associated with them. There are different situations in our day-to-day lives, where we use the terms ‘mean’ and ‘average’ interchangeably. We use the word “Average” for any situation where we have to give a lump sum or approximate idea of a value. However, the word “Mean” is specifically used in the context of data in statistics. Both Average and Mean can be calculated by taking the sum of the given data and then dividing it by the total number of data.

In this article, we will explain both the terms mean and average and the difference between mean and average followed by solved problems on mean and average. At the end of the article, we will have some practice problems and FAQs related to mean and average.