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If the median of the numbers (OG16)

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Thu May 19, 2016 4:28 pm
boomgoesthegmat wrote:List I: 3, 6, 8, 19
List II: x, 3, 6, 8, 19

If the median of the numbers in list I above is equal to the median of the numbers in list II above, what is the value of x?

A) 6
B) 7
C) 8
D) 9
E) 10

OA: B
Since list I has an EVEN number of values, the median is the AVERAGE (mean) of the 2 middlemost values (6 and 8).
So, the median = (6+8)/2 = 7

This also means that 7 the median of list II
Since list II has an ODD number of values, the median is equal to the middlemost value.
Since 7 does not appear among the GIVEN values, we can conclude that x = 7

Answer: B

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- Mean, median and mode: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat ... /video/800

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by [email protected] » Thu May 19, 2016 4:34 pm
Hi boomgoesthegmat,

We're told that the MEDIAN of both lists is the same, so we have to find the exact value of X that will make the median of List II equal the median of List I.

Since List I has 4 values, the median is equal to the average of the two "middle terms"; here, that is (6+8)/2 = 7.
In List II, the median will be the 3rd value (from least to greatest); that means that X must equal 7.

Final Answer: B

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