How do you compute the mean from a data set of numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10?

How do you compute the mean from a data set of numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10?

• A. Sum the numbers (30) and divide by the count (5) to get 6.
• B. Multiply the numbers.
• C. Take the median.
• D. Use the mode.

Answer: (A)

Mean is the arithmetic average: add all numbers and divide by how many there are. For 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, the sum is 30 and there are 5 numbers, so the mean is 30 ÷ 5 = 6. This method gives each value equal weight and places the average at the dataset’s center. The other options aren’t about the mean: multiplying all numbers yields a product, not an average; the median is the middle value (which happens to be 6 here by coincidence, but it’s a different measure and would differ with other data); and the mode is the most frequent value (there is no repeated value here, so there isn’t a single mode).

Mean is the arithmetic average: add all numbers and divide by how many there are. For 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, the sum is 30 and there are 5 numbers, so the mean is 30 ÷ 5 = 6. This method gives each value equal weight and places the average at the dataset’s center. The other options aren’t about the mean: multiplying all numbers yields a product, not an average; the median is the middle value (which happens to be 6 here by coincidence, but it’s a different measure and would differ with other data); and the mode is the most frequent value (there is no repeated value here, so there isn’t a single mode).