How to Use the Calculator
This page walks through the calculator from an empty box to a printed result. It takes about two minutes, and every step works the same way on a phone as it does on a laptop.
Six steps
- Enter your numbers
Type or paste your values into the box. Commas, spaces, tabs and line breaks all work, so a column copied out of a spreadsheet is ready to use. Whole numbers, decimals and negative numbers are all accepted. - Choose how your data is written
Use one list of values for ordinary data, value and frequency for repeated counts, grouped class intervals for a frequency table with ranges, or weighted values when each value carries a weight. - Press Calculate
The mean, median, mode, count, sum, minimum, maximum and range appear straight away, and the calculator works out the quartiles, interquartile range, standard deviation, variance and frequency distribution at the same time. - Read the result cards
The three main cards show the mean, the median and the mode. Below them the secondary cards give the count, sum, minimum, maximum and range, and the advanced sections open when you need them. - Follow the working
Every answer comes with the calculation written out: the sorted data, the sum, the division for the mean, the position of the median and the frequencies behind the mode. The first three steps are already open. - Copy, print or save
Copy the whole report, print a clean copy for your notes, save the calculation in your own browser, or create a link that brings the same data back later.
What can go in the box
| You type | What happens |
|---|---|
| 12, 15, 15, 18, 20 | A list separated by commas, spaces or line breaks. All of them work. |
| 12 15 15 | Spaces are separators too, so this is the same as commas. |
| A column pasted from a spreadsheet | Tabs and line breaks are separators, so the column becomes a list of values. |
| -5, -10, 3.5, 7 | Negative numbers and decimals, in the same dataset if you like. |
| +5, 007, 5.50 | Accepted: the plus sign is ignored, 007 is read as 7 and 5.50 as 5.5. |
| 5.5.5 or 5 – 3 | Rejected with a message naming the problem, rather than guessed at. |
The four ways to enter data
Most homework uses the first one: a plain list of values. The other three exist because statistics teachers set them.
- One list of values for ordinary data such as test scores or heights.
- Value and frequency when the same value repeats and you have been given a table, such as 12 appearing three times.
- Grouped class intervals for a frequency table of ranges, such as 10-20 with a frequency of 5. The calculator gives an estimated mean from the class midpoints and says so.
- Weighted values when each value carries a different weight, such as a test worth three times another.
Common mistakes worth avoiding
- Leaving the units in the numbers. Enter 12, not 12 kg, and note the unit beside your answer instead.
- Confusing the median with the mean for an even count. With an even count the median is the average of the two middle values.
- Reporting a mode when nothing repeats. In that case the honest answer is that the dataset has no mode.
- Mixing up population and sample standard deviation. Use the population figure when your data is the whole group you measured.