Mode

Pronunciation: /moʊd/ Explain

The mode of a set is the element or elements that occur most frequently in that set. In the set {3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7} the number 6 appears three times. This is more than any other number in the set, so the mode of the set is 6.

In the set {2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7} the numbers 3 and 7 each appear twice. No other numbers appear more times so the mode is 3 and 7.

Understanding Check

For each of the sets in table 1, determine the mode of the set. Write it down on a piece of paper, then click on Click here for answer to verify your answer. To try some different problems, click the 'Reset' button.

Set	Mode
{4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 18, 18, 18}	Click here for answer.4, 5, 18
{1, 2, 6, 8, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18}	Click here for answer.8
{a, a, a, c, c, d, d, d, e, e, e, f, f, f, j, j, j, j, n, n, n, o, o, o, o, p, p, q, r, t, x, y, y, y}	Click here for answer.j, o
{10, 10, 10, 10, 12}	Click here for answer.10
{1, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19}	Click here for answer.1
Reset Understanding Check
Table 1: Mode understanding check

References

1. McAdams, David E.. All Math Words Dictionary, mode. 2nd Classroom edition 20150108-4799968. pg 119. Life is a Story Problem LLC. January 8, 2015. Buy the book

Cite this article as:

McAdams, David E. Mode. 4/25/2019. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem LLC. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/m/mode.html.

Image Credits

• All images and manipulatives are by David McAdams unless otherwise stated. All images by David McAdams are Copyright © Life is a Story Problem LLC and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Revision History

4/25/2019: Changed equations and expressions to new format. (McAdams, David E.)
12/21/2018: Reviewed and corrected IPA pronunication. (McAdams, David E.)
9/4/2018: Removed broken links, updated license, implemented new markup. (McAdams, David E.)
8/7/2018: Changed vocabulary links to WORDLINK format. (McAdams, David E.)
12/18/2009: Added "References". (McAdams, David E.)
6/27/2008: Initial version. (McAdams, David E.)