Calculating the mean

Part of MathsTables, graphs and chartsYear 6Year 6

What is the mean?

A boy using a piece of chalk to write the word 'mean' on a board.

Calculating the mean is one of many methods of finding an average.

To calculate the mean, you add up all the numbers in the set, then divide the total by the number of numbers you added.

The mean might not always be a whole number it might be a decimal.

A boy using a piece of chalk to write the word 'mean' on a board.
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Activity: Calculating the mean

Complete this interactive activity to understand how to calculate the mean. Then put your knowledge to the test.

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How to calculate the mean

The mean is an average of a set of numbers.

To calculate the mean:

  • Add up all the numbers in the set

  • Divide the total by the number of numbers you added

For example, if you have the numbers 4, 6, and 8 you should first add them together.

4 + 6 + 8 = 18

Then, divide this number by the total number of values, which is 3.

18 ÷ 3 = 6

So, the mean of 4, 6, and 8 is 6.

Remember, the mean might not always be a whole number - it might be a decimal.

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Example 1

The numbers 11, 5, 20, 15, 16 and 17.

What is the mean of this set of numbers?

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Example 2

This table shows the distance that five friends travel to school each day.

A data table with the topic 'distance from school'. There are two headings 'students' and 'distance in kilometres'. The data is as follows, Kelly 2km, Annika 3.5km, Lucy 3km, Kevin 1.5km, and Rohan 5km.

What is the mean distance they travel to school each day?

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Example 3

This table shows how many goals were scored by each team in the competition.

A data table with the topic 'number of goals scored in a competition'. The headings are as follows 'teams' and 'goals scored'. The data is as follows, team 1 has 22, team 2 has 26, team 3 has 30, team 4 has question mark and team 5 has 24. Underneath the data table the statement 'mean number of goals equals 24' is shown.

If the mean number of goals scored is 24, how many goals did Team 4 score?

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Use your times tables and more maths skills to defeat monsters and reclaim the Kingdom of Mathematica

Play our fun maths game Guardians: Defenders of Mathematica
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