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Study Guides > Prealgebra

Introduction to Finding Averages and Basic Probabilities

A baseball player at bat, right after taking a swing How can you calculate a baseball player's batting average?
One application of decimals that arises often is finding the average of a set of numbers. What do you think of when you hear the word average? Is it your grade point average, the average rent for an apartment in your city, the batting average of a player on your favorite baseball team? The average is a typical value in a set of numerical data. Calculating an average sometimes involves working with decimal numbers. In this section, we'll look at three different ways to calculate an average.  

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to:
  • Calculate the mean of a set of numbers
  • Find the median of a set of numbers
  • Find the mode of a set of numbers
  • Apply the basic definition of probability
 

readiness quiz

Before you get started, take this readiness quiz.
  1. Simplify: 4+9+23\frac{4+9+2}{3}.If you missed this problem, review [link].
  2. Simplify: 4(8)+6(3)4\left(8\right)+6\left(3\right).If you missed this problem, review [link].
  3. Convert 52\frac{5}{2} to a decimal.If you missed this problem, review [link].

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