The number of vehicles passing through a pharmacy drive-up line with two windows during each 15-minute period was recorded. The results are shown below. Find the median number of vehicles going through the line in a fifteen-minute period
16 8 24 22 30 19 18 27 11 15
17 24 26 23 7 25 21 16 20 14
how do i find the answer?
sort the values in order
The median is the middle value - there are the same number of values above and below it.
since there are an even number of values, there is no center value, so average the two center values.
To find the median number of vehicles going through the line in a fifteen-minute period, you need to arrange the given numbers in ascending order and find the middle value.
Step 1: Arrange the numbers in ascending order:
7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30
Step 2: Determine the middle value:
The total number of values is 20. Since this is an even number, the median will be the average of the two middle values. In this case, the two middle values are the 10th and 11th values when arranged in ascending order.
The 10th value is 19, and the 11th value is 20.
Step 3: Calculate the median:
To find the median, take the average of these two middle values:
(19 + 20) / 2 = 39 / 2 = 19.5
Therefore, the median number of vehicles going through the line in a fifteen-minute period is 19.5.