Basic Arithmetic : Mode

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Basic Arithmetic

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Mode

Henry has taken a lot of tests this semester in his biology class. In total, he has taken \displaystyle 10 tests. His scores on the tests were \displaystyle 89, \displaystyle 88, \displaystyle 88, \displaystyle 100, \displaystyle 75, \displaystyle 88, \displaystyle 78, \displaystyle 91, \displaystyle 92, \displaystyle 82. What is the mode of all his test scores?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 88

\displaystyle 89

\displaystyle 100

\displaystyle 75

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 88

Explanation:

The mode is the number that appears most often in a set of numbers.

\displaystyle 89, 88, 88, 100, 75, 88, 78, 91, 92, 82

If we order our number set we get the following:

\displaystyle 75, 78, 82, 88, 88, 88, 89, 91, 92, 100

In this case, because Henry scored 88 three times, that is the mode.

Example Question #2 : Mode

Find the mode of the following numbers: 

\displaystyle 2,6,3,2,7,10,8,2,6,4

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 2

\displaystyle 6

\displaystyle 8

\displaystyle 5

\displaystyle 4

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 2

Explanation:

The mode is the number that occurs the most in a group.

Rearranging our numbers we get:

\displaystyle 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 10

While \displaystyle 6 does occur twice, \displaystyle 2 occurs three times, and no other number does, so \displaystyle 2 must be the mode.

Example Question #3 : Mode

What is the mode of the following number set:

\displaystyle 1, 4, 5, 3, 7, 6, 2, 2, 1, 7, 6, 6, 5, 4, 4, 6?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 6

\displaystyle 1

\displaystyle 7

\displaystyle 4

\displaystyle 2

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 6

Explanation:

The correct answer is 6.

If we reorganize our set in ascending order we get the following:

\displaystyle 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7

The mode is the number in a set that appears the most often.

In this particular number set, 6 appears four times and no other number appears more than three times. 

Example Question #4 : Mode

Steven is a high school athlete who competes in the long jump. He recorded his last 7 jumps: 15 feet, 18 feet, 19 feet, 12 feet, 15 feet, 18 feet, 15 feet. What is the mode of his long jump lengths?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 12ft

\displaystyle 18ft

\displaystyle 19ft

\displaystyle 15ft

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 15ft

Explanation:

The mode of a data set is the number that occurs most often. Because Steven managed to long jump 15 feet 3 times, 15 feet is the mode.

Example Question #3 : Mode

For a school project, Jonas asked his classmates how many siblings they had. \displaystyle 4 of his classmates had \displaystyle 0 siblings, \displaystyle 18 had \displaystyle 1 sibling, \displaystyle 4 had \displaystyle 2 siblings, and \displaystyle 1 had \displaystyle 3 siblings. What is the mode of the number of siblings his classmates had?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 0

\displaystyle 1

\displaystyle 3

\displaystyle 2

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 1

Explanation:

In a data set, the mode is the number that occurs most frequently.

Because 18 of his classmates only had 1 sibling, 1 is the number that appears most often.

Example Question #4 : Mode

The weekly salaries for 6 Starbucks employees are as follows:

\displaystyle \$140, \$210, \$140, \$140, \$590, \$215. 

What is the mode?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle \$590

\displaystyle \$210

\displaystyle \$215

\displaystyle \$140

Correct answer:

\displaystyle \$140

Explanation:

The mode in a set of numbers is the one that appears most frequently.

Because $140 appears 3 times, more than any other number, it must be the mode.

Example Question #5 : Mode

Anthony takes six math tests and achieves these scores:

\displaystyle 76, 86, 92, 86, 76, 86

Find the mode of these scores.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 83.7

\displaystyle 86

\displaystyle 76

\displaystyle 92

\displaystyle None

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 86

Explanation:

The mode is the number that is repeated most often. In this set of scores, the two numbers repeated are 76 (repeated twice) and 86 (repeated three times). Since 86 is repeated most, it is the mode.

Example Question #5 : Mode

Stacey achieved these times in a relay race:

\displaystyle 12.5, 15, 16, 13.1, 12.3, 18

Her times are in seconds. What is the mode of these times?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 18

\displaystyle 14.5

\displaystyle 12

\displaystyle None

\displaystyle 13

Correct answer:

\displaystyle None

Explanation:

The mode is the number that appears the most within a set of numbers. Since no number is repeated in this set, there is no mode.

Example Question #56 : Basic Statistics

Thomas takes five tests and achieves these scores: 

\displaystyle 76, 82, 79, 76, 82

Which of the following scores, if Thomas gets that score on his sixth test, will make the mode of this set of numbers above an \displaystyle 80?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 82

\displaystyle 76

\displaystyle 94

\displaystyle 80

\displaystyle 79

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 82

Explanation:

The mode is the number in a set that appears the most. Since there are two numbers within the set of five test scores that appear twice, choose the number that is above \displaystyle 80\%, which is 82. The mode is \displaystyle 82.

Example Question #6 : Mode

Which of the following data sets has exactly one mode regardless of the value of \displaystyle N?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle \{ 8, 8, 8, N, N, N \}

\displaystyle \{ 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N \}

\displaystyle \{ 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N \}

\displaystyle \{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, N \}

\displaystyle \{ 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N, N \}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle \{ 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N \}

Explanation:

\displaystyle \{ 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N \} is the correct set; no matter what \displaystyle N is, no value other than 10 can appear four or more times.

To see that no other choice works, let's examine them.

\displaystyle \{ 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N \}: If \displaystyle N is any number other than 10 or 11, then the number has 10 and 11, and possibly one other number, as modes, each appearing twice.

\displaystyle \{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, N \} : If \displaystyle N is not any of the numbers already in the set, the set has no repeated values and thus no mode.

\displaystyle \{ 8, 8, 8, N, N, N \}: If \displaystyle N \neq 8, then the set is bimodal, with 8 and \displaystyle N the modes.

\displaystyle \{ 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, N, N \} : If \displaystyle N = 11, the set is bimodal, with 10 and 11 the modes.

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