Work out the mean.

Step by step

The question

Question: find the mean of 3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 5 and 2.

The mean is the fair share.

We add them all, then share the total equally.

1 Add them all

We add all the numbers, from left to right.

So the total is 35.

2 Count them

Now we count the numbers.

There are 7.

3 Share equally

We share the total equally: 35 divided by 7.

35 divided by 7 is 5.

4 Check

Let's check: if every number were 5, 7 of them would make 5 times 7.

That is 35, the total.

So it is right!

Let's look back.

First: add them all.

Then: count them.

Then: share equally.

Last: check.