Mean

Revision as of 02:39, 27 July 2006 by MCrawford (talk | contribs) (added example of computation in first paragraph)

The mean of a set of real numbers usually refers to the arithmetic mean of the set (also known as the average). For example, the arithmetic mean of the members of the set {3, 5, 10} is

$\frac{3 + 5 + 10}{3} = \frac{18}{3} = 6.$


However, there are numerous other kinds of various means used in mathematics and statistics.


Types of Means

The arithmetic mean, geometric mean, harmonic mean, and root mean square are all special cases of the power mean.


Inequalities and Optimization

There are numerous inequalities that relate different types of means. The most common are part of the RMS-AM-GM-HM inequality chain. This inequality chain is a set of special cases of the Power mean inequality.

See Also