average

An average is a number that represents the typical value or middle value or centre of a set of data.

eg the average height of a Year 9 student is 145cm.

In Mathematics, there are three main types of averages: Mean, Median & Mode.

The average called the mean is calculated by adding up all the numbers to get a total, then dividing this total by how many numbers there are in the data set.

The average called the median is found by putting all the numbers into numerical order (smallest to biggest or biggest to smallest) and then finding the middle value.

If there are two middle numbers, then we find the mean of the two numbers.

The average called the mode is found by working out which number (or numbers) occur the most in the dataset.

It is sometimes referred to as the modal value or modal group.