Alternate Formula for Standard Deviation

The alternate formula for the sample standard deviation differs only in the numerator. The derivation (shown below) is based on two properties of summations. 1. Summation distributes over addition (and subtraction). The summation of terms of the form A+B can be written as the summation of A plus the summation of B. This property is used in the fourth line of the derivation. 2. Constant factors can be moved in front of the summation symbol. The summation of terms of the form kx (where k is always the same) can be written as k times the summation of x. This property is used in the fifth line of the derivation. In the fourth line of the derivation below, the sum of the x-bar squared means we add x-bar squared n times (once for each value in the data set) which is the same as the product of n times x-bar squared. In the sixth line, the mean (x-bar) is replaced by the corresponding formula (the sum of the x divided by n).

Consequently, the formula

is mathematically equivalent to