Median Calculator (get the median of given numbers / table cells by columns)
median command returns the median of given values.
median -1 5 7 100
Result is 6.0.
6.0 is the median of -1, 5, 7, 100. The arguments should be separated by space or comma.
What is median?
Median is similar to average but both are different.
The average of -1, 5, 7, 100 is 27.75 and around 25. 100 is relatively larger than other numbers, so the average doesn't mean "center" of elements.
The median of -1, 5, 7, 100 is 6.
\[ \frac{(5+7)}{2} = 6 \]
5 and 7 are the "center" pair of elements and 6 is the average of them. So 6 can be regarded as "center" of elements. That's the basic idea of median.
The median of values whose length is odd
The median of 3 elements is the central number of them.
median 1 2 500
Result: 2
The median of 1, 2, 500 is 2. But the average of them is about 167.6.
One more example.
median 1 2 3 4 800000
Result: 3
Median in the table columns
You can calculate the median of table data to use t command. Input t and paste the next name-age table data in the left area. If you don't know the table data, please read this document.
Name Age
a 16
b 23
c 35
d 41
Then input median command after t in the header form. t and median must be separated by one space. Then click the blue array icon (between the left and right area) or press Enter key with cursor focused on the header form.
The result is 29.0 and this value is the median of ages.
\[ \frac{(23+35)}{2} = 29.0 \]
Incidentally, 29.0 is not the average of ages. Average and median are essentially different.