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Basic statistics. Mean and median

The online basic statistics simulations on this page will help you to better understand the concepts involved in this important part of mathematics and in particular will help you to better understand what the statistical mean and median are.

What is statistics

Statistics is the branch of mathematics that allows us to understand and analyze data in the world around us. From economics to medicine to science and technology, statistics plays a fundamental role. Thanks to statistics, we know how to collect, organize, analyze and interpret data. It allows us to extract meaningful information from a set of observations. From opinion polls to scientific studies, statistics are everywhere.

Two of the most important statistical parameters are the mean and the median.

The Statistical Mean

The mean is the average value of a set of data. To calculate it, we add up all the values and then divide that sum by the number of values. For example, if we have the ages of five people (25, 30, 40, 40, 60 and 95), the mean would be:

Mean = (25+30+40+60+95) / 5 = 50 years.

The Statistical Median

The median is the value that is right in the middle of a set of ordered data. If we have the same ages as mentioned above, the median would be the value of the third person (40 years). If we had an even number of ages, we would average the two middle values.

Why are the mean and median important?

The mean and median help us understand the central tendency of our data. The statistical mean is sensitive to extreme values (such as a multimillionaire in a group of people with low income), while the statistical median is more robust to these outliers.

In short, statistics allow us to make informed decisions, understand patterns, and discover hidden relationships in data. The online statistical simulations on this page are an excellent tool to delve deeper into this important branch of mathematics.

Basic statistics simulations

Mean: share and balance


This online simulation concentrates on explaining the concept of statistical mean. See how it is constructed and how the values of a statistical variable are distributed around it.


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Center and variability


This online simulation will help us to understand the concepts of statistical median and mean. With several exercises we will see how to obtain the value of these two important statistical parameters and how the values are distributed around them.


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Projectile Data Laboratory


Explore how statistics can shed light on the behavior of physical phenomena with this projectile launch simulation. Collect real data about launches—such as time, distance, and final velocity—and observe how they vary. Analyze the resulting sets by applying measures like the mean and median, and reflect on how these figures summarize and characterize the variability of data in real contexts of motion.

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Sampling distributions of projectiles


Dive into the connection between statistics and physics with this projectile sampling distribution simulation. Watch in real time as multiple launches generate different sample distributions, and see how, as sample size increases, those distributions converge toward a more expected shape—a visual illustration of the Central Limit Theorem in action. Use the generated data to calculate and compare measures like the mean, median, and deviation, and understand how these statistical tools describe datasets in real-world contexts.

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