ACT · Pre-Algebra · Mean, median, mode, and range
Question act-q-00255
Medium Multiple choice Calculator OK
The question
The five values in a data set are 76, 69, 77, 49, 26. What is the mean?
- 74.3
- 297
- 77
- 59.4
Show answer & worked solution
Answer: 59.4
Worked solution. Sum the values: 297. Divide by the number of values (5): 297 / 5 = 59.4.
Why each wrong choice is wrong. A distractor returns the median (middle value), which equals the mean only by coincidence. Another divides by the wrong count.
Test-day tactic. Mean is sum over count. Don't confuse it with median (middle value) or mode (most frequent value).
About this question type
Items test mean, median, mode, and range on small data sets, often asking how a single added or changed value affects each.
You will see a question shaped like this one on roughly every other official ACT form, typically at a moderate position in the section — solidly within the range that separates a 600-band student from a 700-band student. Treat any miss in this subtopic as a signal to drill the subtopic page before you do another full practice test.