What is the arithmetic mean? How to find the arithmetic mean? Where and why is this value used?
To fully understand the essence of the problem, it takes several years to study algebra at school, and then higher mathematics at the institute. But in everyday life, in order to know how to find the arithmetic mean of numbers, it is not necessary to know everything about it thoroughly. In simple terms, this is the sum of numbers divided by the number of these summands.
Since it is not always possible to calculate the arithmetic average without a remainder, the value can even turn out to be fractional, even when calculating the average number of people. This is due to the fact that the arithmetic mean is an abstract concept.
This abstract dimension affects many areas of modern life. It is used in mathematics, business, statistics, often even in sports.
For example, many people are interested in the average age of all members of a collective or the average number of foods eaten per month, calculated per day. And the data about how much on average was spent on any expensive event is found in all sources of the media. Most often, of course, such data are used in statistics: to know exactly which phenomenon has declined and which has increased; which product is most in demand and in which period; for ease of eliminating unwanted indicators.
In sports, we can meet the concept of the average number, when, for example, we are announced the average age of athletes or goals scored in football. And how is the earned average score calculated during the competition or at all of our beloved KVN? Yes, there’s nothing else for this and there’s no need to do how to find the arithmetic mean of all the ratings put forward by the judges!
By the way, often in school life, some teachers resort to a similar method, deriving quarterly and annual estimates for their students. It is also often used in higher education institutions, often in schools, to calculate the average score of student performance, to determine the effectiveness of the teacher or to distribute students according to their capabilities. There are still many areas of life in which this formula is used, but the goal is basically the same - to find out and control.
In business, the arithmetic mean can be used to calculate and control income and loss, salaries and other expenses. For example, when filing certificates to some organizations about income, just the average monthly salary for the last six months is required. Surprising is the fact that some employees whose duties include collecting such information, having received a certificate not with average monthly earnings, but simply with income for six months, do not know how to find the arithmetic average, that is, calculate the average monthly salary.
The arithmetic mean value is the average value of any attribute (price, salary, population, etc.), the volume of which does not change during the calculation. In simple words, when calculating the average number of apples eaten by Petya and Masha, you get the number that will be equal to half the total number of apples. Even if Masha ate ten, and Petya got only one, then when we divide their total number in half, then we will get the arithmetic average.
Today, many are joking about Putin's statement that the average salary of people living in Russia is 27 thousand rubles. The jokes of wits basically sound like this: “Or am I not a Russian? Or am I no longer living? ” And the whole question is just that these wits, too, apparently do not know how to find the arithmetic average of the salaries of Russian residents.
You just need to add the income of the oligarchs, business leaders, businessmen on the one hand and the salaries of cleaners, janitors, sellers and conductors on the other. And then divide the amount received by the number of people whose income included this amount. So we get an amazing figure, which is expressed in 27,000 rubles.