The mode is the value that appears most often in a data set. A set can have no mode (all values appear equally), one mode (unimodal), or multiple modes (bimodal or multimodal). It is the only measure of center that works for categorical data.
The mode is the most popular value - the one that shows up the most. If 5 kids pick pizza, 3 pick tacos, and 2 pick burgers, pizza is the mode because it's the favorite.
Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.
Example 1
easy
Find the mode of 4,4,6,6,9.Dot plot of the data set {4, 4, 6, 6, 9}
Example 2
challenge
For data x,x,y,z with distinct x,y,z, prove the mode is always x.
Example 3
easy
Twenty students voted favorite color: red (5), blue (8), green (4), purple (3). What is the modal color?
Example 4
easy
A frequency table shows letter grades: A (4), B (7), C (12), D (5), F (2). Find the modal grade.
Example 5
easy
Find the mode of 3,3,5,5,7.Dot plot of the data set {3, 3, 5, 5, 7}
Example 6
medium
In 3,5,5,7,7,9, compare the mode count of 5 and 7.Dot plot of the data set {3, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9}
Example 7
easy
Find the mode of 4,4,5,6,6,6,7.
Example 8
medium
Frequency table: red (x4), blue (x4), green (x2). Find the mode(s).
Example 9
medium
A survey of 50 kids' shoe sizes: 6 (5 kids), 7 (12), 8 (18), 9 (10), 10 (5). Find the mode and explain how a store would use it.
Example 10
hard
A data set has mean 5, median 5, and mode 5. What does this say about the shape?
Example 11
hard
If every value in a unimodal data set is doubled, what happens to the mode?
Example 12
medium
Data: {1,2,2,3,3,3,4,4,4,4,5}. Find mean, median, and mode.
Example 13
medium
Find the mode of 2,3,5,7,11,13.
Example 14
medium
Data: {1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4}. What is the mode?
Example 15
medium
Add one value to 2,2,3,4 so the data becomes bimodal. What value?
Example 16
hard
Why does a clothing retailer often care more about the mode than the mean of customer sizes?
Example 17
easy
In responses pizza, pizza, taco, burger, what is the mode?
Example 18
hard
Data: {3,3,5,5,5,7,7,9,9,9,11}. Find the modes.Dot plot of the data set {3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9, 11}