Find a missing value given the mean

The  exercise appears under the 6th grade (U.S.) Math Mission. This exercise applies the formula for the mean to find a missing value from a data set.

Types of Problems
There is one type of problem in this exercise:


 * 1) Use the given information to find the missing value: This problem provides a set of data that is missing one value, and the mean of the entire data set. The student is asked to use the mean and the known values to find the missing value.Famvgtm1.png

Strategies
Knowledge of statistical vocabulary and the ability to do basic statistical calculations are encouraged to ensure success on this exercise.
 * 1) The mean of a data set is the sum of all the data values divided by the number of data values.
 * 2) This problem has one data value missing, so the process to follow is multiply the mean by the total number of data values, then subtract the data values that are known. The left over number is the missing value.
 * 3) The information in this problem can be presented in a table, as a list, or in a histogram.

Real-life Applications

 * 1) Data and statistics appear in news reports and in the media every day.
 * 2) Many of the problems in this exercise could be viewed as real-life applications.
 * 3) Statistics can be seen more frequently than calculus in every day life.
 * 4) This particular problem is common on standardized tests, such as the SAT or GRE.