Statistics - GRE Quantitative Reasoning

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Question

The medians of the following two sets of numbers are equal, and
the sets are arranged in ascending order
{1, 4, x, 8} and {2, 5, y, 9}. What is y – x?

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Answer

Answer: –1
Explanation: Recall that the median of an even-numbered set of numbers is the arithmetic mean of the pair of middle terms. Thus (4 + x)/2 = median of the first set and (5 + y)/2 = median of the second set. Since both medians are equal, we can set the equations equal to eachother. (4 + x)/2 = (5 + y)/2. Multiply both sides by 2 and we get 4 + x = 5 + y. We also know that 4 < x < 8 and 5 < y < 9, since the sets are arranged in ascending order. This narrows our options for x and y down significantly. Plugging in various values will eventually get you to x = 7 and y = 6, since 7 + 4 = 11 and 5 + 6 = 11, and thus the median in both cases would be 5.5. Thus, y – x = –1.

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