median
don steward
mathematics teaching 10 ~ 16

Wednesday 22 December 2010

distances from five numbers


given five numbers: e.g. 3 , 7 , 9 , 2 , 5
choose any other number and work out the sum of the (positive) distances from this number

e.g. if I choose 4, the sum is 1 + 3 + 5 + 2 + 1 = 12

explore the sums of distances from various points
when is this distance a minimum?

try to give a reason why this is true

you are not restricted to the range of numbers given - you could choose to start from e.g. 11
what happens when you move away outside the range of the given numbers?
why?

try starting from another set of five numbers
or more
or less

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