Which term is defined as the middle number when data are arranged from smallest to largest?

• A. Maximum
• B. Minimum
• C. Median
• D. Range

Answer: (C)

The middle number when you line up data from smallest to largest is called the median. It serves as the value that splits the data into two equal halves. If there’s an odd number of data points, there’s a single middle value, like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 where the middle is 6. If there’s an even number, the median is typically the average of the two middle numbers, such as 1, 3, 5, 7 where the middle values are 3 and 5, giving a median of 4. This is different from the maximum (the largest value), the minimum (the smallest value), or the range (the difference between largest and smallest). So the term for the middle value is the median.