Do you want to understand the difference between two mathematical terms “mean and median”? Don’t worry we will explain you the terms in our article with definition and difference between them.

Mean and Median are two mathematical terms are three kinds are averages. Mean is also called arithmetic mean and is the average of all the numbers. To calculate mean, add all the numbers and then divide the sum with total counts of the numbers while the median is calculated by averaging the two middle numbers.

To understand the terms in detail lets discuss the terms individually.

Mean

The mean is the arithmetic average of a set of numbers. Mean is calculated by adding the set of numbers and then dividing them all by the total count of the numbers. Mean is used for normal distributions. It represents the center of gravity of data set. It is sensitive to outliers. It is an arithmetic average.

Median

The “median” is the middle two numbers after the data is organized from the least to the greatest. One number is taken exactly half of the data is before the median, and the other half is after. The median is used for skewed distributions. It represents the center of gravity of middle point of the data set. It is not sensitive to outliers. It is the positional average.

Now to clear your doubts let’s have a look at the differences between mean and median.

Calculation

Mean is calculated by adding the set of numbers and then dividing them all by the total count of the numbers while to calculate median the data is arranged in the ascending order than one number is taken exactly half of the data is before the median, and the other half is after.

Represents

Mean represents the center of gravity of dataset while the median represents the center of gravity of middle point of the data set.

Outliers

Mean is sensitive to outliers while the median is not sensitive to outliers.

Applicability

Mean is used for normal distributions whereas the median is used for skewed distributions.

Type of calculation

Mean is an arithmetic average while the median is the positional average.