Mean, Median, Mode

Mean  - Add them All Up and Divide by How Many numbers you have. The answer for the picture above is 42.4. (1060 divided by 25)

"Mean" is what we think of when somebody says average score, average height, etc. The word "average" has replaced the word "mean" to some extent. There are 2 other "averages"... median and mode

When numbers are close together, the "mean average" can give an accurate picture. However, if you have 2,2,2,3 and 10,000, your average is over 2000. This isn't necessarily a true reflection of what is going on.

Median - Put them in Order of size and pick the Middle number. (Or the value between the two "middle" numbers.) It is crucial that you put the numbers in order from lowest to highest (or highest to lowest) in order to get the right answer. The example in the picture above is easy because the numbers are already in order. There is an odd number of numbers.Your middle number is 41, so the median is 41. 

If you added the number 99 to the end of the list, your median ends up as 42. You now have an even number of numbers, so there is no clear "middle" number. Your 2 "middle numbers" are 41 and 43. 42 sits in the middle, so becomes your median.

When numbers are spread apart, the "median" can give a more accurate picture. If you have 2,2,2,3 and 10,000, your median average is 2, which may be a truer reflection of what is going on.

Mode - The number that occurs the Most. In the picture above, there is no mode. In 2,2,2,3 and 10,000, your mode is 2.