MEDIAN
“The median is that value of variable which divides the group into two equal parts, one part
comprising of all values greater and other all values less than the median.” – L.R.Connor
Computation of median
1) Individual series
n+1 th
Median = ( ) item
2
2) Discrete series
n+1 th
Median = Size of ( ) item
2
3) Continuous series
N /2−cf
Median = L1 + (L2 – L1)
f
Note:
In case of individual and discrete series arrange the items in assenting order and then
apply the formula.
Individual series
Q1. Calculate Median for the following individual data:
Items 14 36 45 70 105
n+1 Th
M=Value of ( ) item
2
5+1 th
=Value of ( ) item.
2
=Value of 3rd item.
= 45
Q2. Calculate Arithmetic Median for the following individual data:
Items 14 36 45 70 105 145
n+1 Th
M=Value of ( ) item
2
6+1 th
=Value of ( ) item.
2
=Value of 3.5th item.
3 rd item+ 4 t h item
=Value of ( )
2
45+70
=( ) =57.5
2
Q3. Calculate median from the following data.
35, 46, 29, 57, 60, 73, 20, 59, 50, 70
Ans: 53.5
Q4. The weights of 15 students are given below.
Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Weight 49 52 47 48 42 55 56 54 50 52 51 59 57 41 43
Find out the median weight of students.
Ans: 51kg
Discrete series
Q5. From the following data, find the value of median.
Expense 10 15 8 20 25 18
Children 12 13 8 10 3 15
Solution
Expense (x) No. of children(f) c.f.
8 8 8
10 12 20
15 13 33
18 15 48
20 10 58
25 3 61
Median =31st item = 15
Q6. Find Median from the following.
Wages 10 12 15 18 20 25 30
No. of 3 5 8 12 13 12 7
workers
Median= 30.5th item = 20
Continuous series
Q7. Calculate Median from the following
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70
No of students 7 18 34 50 35 20 6
Solution
Marks X No of students Y Cumulative frequency CF
0-10 7 7
10-20 18 25
20-30 34 59
30-40 50 109
40-50 35 144
50-60 20 164
60-70 6 170 (N)
Median = 35.2
Q8. Find out Median from the following
Marks 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69
No of 15 17 30 20 18 12 8
students
Solution
Marks F C.f
0-9.5 15 15
9.5-19.5 17 32
19.5-29.5 30 62
29.5-39.5 20 82
39.5-49.5 18 100
49.5-59.5 12 112
59.5-69.5 8 120(N)
Median = 28.83
Q9. Find the median from the following
Mid Value (X) 5 15 25 35 45 55
Frequency 4 6 10 7 3 2
Here we have the mid value , from which we have to find out the class intervals. The
difference between the two consecutive mid – values is 10; hence 10/2=5 will be deducted
from each mid-value to find lower limit and 5 will be added to each mid –value to find upper
limit of that class . thus the class are 0-10,10-20,20-30,30-40,40-50, and 50-60
Class F C.f
0-10 4 4
10-20 6 10
20-30 10 20
30-40 7 27
40-50 3 30
50-60 2 32(N)
Median = 26
Q10. Calculate median from the following series
Marks (more 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
than )
No. of 240 215 200 180 165 145 115 50 0
students
Solution
Marks F Cf
0-10 25 (240-215) 25
10-20 15 ( 215-200) 40
20-30 20 (200-180) 60
30-40 15 ( 180-165) 75
40-50 20 (165-145) 95
50-60 30 (145-115) 125
60-70 65 (115-50) 190
70-80 50 (50-0) 240(N)
Median = 58.33 Marks
Q11. Calculate Median
Marks 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
(Below )
No of 20 44 76 104 126 144 182 192 200
students
Solution
Marks f cf
0-10 20 20
10-20 24 (44-20) 44
20-30 32 (76-44) 76
30-40 28 (104-76) 104
40-50 22 126
50-60 18 144
60-70 38 182
70-80 10 192
80-90 8 200
Median = 38.57 Marks
Practice Problems.
Q1. Find the missing frequency if arithmetic mean is 28. Also find median.
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60
No. of students 12 18 27 ? 17 6
Solution
Class X f Fx
0-10 5 12 60
10-20 15 18 270
20-30 25 27 675
30-40 35 X 35x
40-50 45 17 765
50-60 55 6 330
80+x 2100+35x
HINT: 28= 2100+35X/80+X ; X= 20
X f Cf
0-10 12 12
10-20 18 30
20-30 27 57
30-40 20 77
40-50 17 94
50-60 6 100
Median = 20+(50-30)/27 x 10 = 27.41
Q2. Find missing frequency from following series, if N is 100 and median is 30.
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60
Students 10 ? 25 30 ? 10
Solution
X f c.f.
0-10 10 10
10-20 X 10+x
20-30 25 35+x
30-40 30 65+x
40-50 Y 65+x+y (or 100-10 = 90)
50-60 10 100
Hint: 30 = 30+(50-(35+x))/25 x 30 ; x= 15 Y= 10
Q3. Calculate the median from the following. If 60% of the students pass the test, fin the
minimum mark obtained by a pass candidate.
Marks 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70
Students 10 20 10 7 2 1
Solution
X f c.f.
10-20 10 10
20-30 20 30
30-40 10 40
40-50 7 47
50-60 2 49
60-70 1 50
Hint: median = 27.5
40% failed. Ie. 20 students failed. Arranging in order 21st student’s score will be
20+(21-10)/20 x 10 = 25.5
Q4. Marks secured by students are given below
Marks 0-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80
Students 42 38 120 84 48 36 31
1. Find median marks
2. The percentage of failure, if the minimum marks for a pass is 35.
Solution
Marks f c.f.
0-20 42 42
20-30 38 80
30-40 120 200
40-50 84 284
50-60 48 332
60-70 36 368
70-80 31 399
Median = 40 ; failure = 35.1%
Q4. In a batch of 15 students, 5 students failed in a test. The marks of 10 students who
passed the test were given below.
9, 6, 7, 8,8,9,6,5,4,7.
What is the median mark of all 15 students?
Ans: 6 (arrange in ascending order)
