Which statement correctly defines the mean?

• A. The largest value divided by the number of values
• B. The sum of all numbers divided by the count
• C. The difference between largest and smallest
• D. The average of the last two numbers

Answer: (B)

The mean is a measure of center that represents the value you would get if you distributed the total evenly among all items. It is found by adding every value together and dividing by how many values there are. For example, with values 4, 8, and 12, the sum is 24 and there are 3 values, so the mean is 24 ÷ 3 = 8. This approach is the best because it uses every number in the set to determine a single representative value, reflecting the overall level of the data. In contrast, taking the largest value and dividing by the number of values wouldn’t give a central value for the data; it’s just a ratio. The difference between the largest and smallest is the range, which tells how spread out the data are, not the center. Averaging just the last two numbers ignores most of the data and doesn’t reflect the overall set unless there are only two values.