How to work out the median in maths?

The median is the middle value in a dataset. To find it, you'll need to follow these steps:

How to Calculate the Median

First, arrange the numbers in your dataset in ascending order, from the smallest to the largest.

There are two scenarios to consider based on whether you have an odd or even number of values in your dataset:

If there is an odd amount of numbers, the median is the single number that is exactly in the middle.
This means there will be an equal number of values above and below this middle number. For example, in the list 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the median is 3, because it's the middle number.
Even Number of Values
If there is an even amount of numbers, you need to find the two numbers in the middle of the data set.
Add these two numbers together and then divide by two. The result will be the median value. For example, in the list 1, 2, 3, 4, the two middle numbers are 2 and 3. The median would be (2 + 3) / 2 = 2.5

Here are a few examples to illustrate the process:

Example 1 (Odd Number of Values):
Consider the numbers: 7, 2, 9, 1, 5
1. Arrange them: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9
2. The median is 5, which is in the middle.
Example 2 (Even Number of Values):
Consider the numbers: 4, 8, 2, 6
1. Arrange them: 2, 4, 6, 8
2. The two middle numbers are 4 and 6.
3. Calculate the median: (4+6)/2 = 10/2 = 5
Example 3 (Even Number of Values with decimals)
Consider the numbers: 5.2, 3.7, 8.1, 2.4

The median is a measure of central tendency that represents the middle value of a dataset.
Finding the median requires arranging the data in ascending order.
When you have an odd number of data points, the median is simply the middle number.
When you have an even number of data points, the median is the average of the two middle numbers.