Question

There is a set of 7 natural numbers namely: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Another set of natural number are :1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. What are the values of medians in each set of numbers respectively?

• A. 3, 3.5
• B. 4, 3.5
• C. 4, 3
• D. 4, 4

Answer 1

The correct option is B

4, 3.5

For both the sets of numbers, the numbers are in ascending order. If number of numbers n is odd, the median is ${\frac{(n+1)}{2}}^{th}$ term. If number of numbers n is even, the median will be average of ($\frac{n}{2}$)${}^{th}$ and ($\frac{n}{2}+1$)${}^{th}$ term.

In first set of numbers, the number of terms is 7. Using above formula, median term is $4^{th}$ term which 4. In $2^{nd}$ set of numbers the median is average of $3^{rd}$ and $4^{th}$ terms. These are 3 and 4. The average of 3 and 4 is 3.5.

For $1^{st}$ set median = 4

For $2^{nd}$ set median = 3.5