To find the mean, we add up all the temperatures and divide by the total number of temperatures:
(78 + 75 + 38 + 74 + 70 + 72 + 78) / 7 = 505 / 7 = 72.14
The mean temperature is 72.14 degrees.
To find the median, we need to first arrange the temperatures in numerical order:
38, 70, 72, 74, 75, 78, 78
Since there is an odd number of temperatures, the median is the middle number which is 74 degrees.
The mode is the temperature that appears most frequently:
In this case, the mode is 78 degrees as it appears twice.
In this scenario, the median is the best representation of the temperatures over the week. This is because the median is not affected by extreme values (like the very low 38 degree temperature on Friday) like the mean is. Additionally, the median gives us a good sense of what the "middle" temperature is for the week, which is often a more representative measure for daily temperatures.
The following temperatures are expected over the next week. On Wednesday it will be 78 degrees, on Thursday it will be 75 degrees, on Friday it will be 38 degrees, on Saturday it will be 74 degrees, on Sunday it will be 70 degrees, on Monday it will be 72 degrees, and finally on Tuesday it will be 78 degrees. Use these numbers to find the mean, median, and mode. Explain why the median is the best representation.
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