Diocese of Imus Catholic Educational System, Inc.
Office of the Superintendent of the Diocesan Schools
Saint Augustine School, Inc.
Sta. Cruz St., Poblacion 1 Tanza, Cavite, Philippines 4108
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
Name: _________________________________ Expert Teacher: _________________________ Act. #: ____
Grade & Section: ____________________ Subject: _________________________Date: ________________
TITLE: Variance
OBJECTIVE : Estimate errors from multiple measurements of a physical quantity using variance.
Please check () the box for the type of activity :
Preparation Reinforcement Make-up Intervention Enrichment
Formative Assessment Quiz Others: Concept Notes & Problem Solving
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Definition of Terms:
Variance (σ 2 ) measures the squared deviation of each number in the set from the mean.
Mean is the average of a data set, found by adding all numbers together and then dividing the sum of
the numbers by the number of numbers.
Standard Deviation (σ ) is the square root of the of the variance. It is a measure of how diverse or
spread out are a set of measurements from their average.
Small SD means that the most of the measurements are close to their average.
Large SD means that the measurements are very diverse.
Step-by-step of calculating the variance of a set of measurements:
1. Take the mean of the set of measurements
Equation of Mean :
where is the mean; ∑ is the sum of ; Xi is the given number;
and N is the number of measurement.
2. Take the deviation of each measurement from the mean
Equation: ( Xi - )
3. Square each deviation
Equation: ( Xi - )2
4. Get the sum of the squares of each deviation.
Equation :
5. To get the variance σ 2 , divide the sum of the squares obtained in step 4 by the number of
measurements in the set.
Equation : σ 2 =( Xi - )2 / N
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
1. Suppose a data set is given as 3, 21, 98, 17, and 9. Determine the
A) mean ( ) B) variance (σ 2 ) C) standard deviation¿)
A) = 3 + 21 + 98 + 17 + 9 = 148 / 5 = 29.6
5
B) Note: Please apply Steps 2, 3 & 4
σ 2 =( Xi - )2 / N
= (3 - 29.6)2 + (21 - 29.6)2 + (98 - 29.6)2 + (17 - 29.6)2 + (9 - 29.6)2
5
= (26.6)2 + (73.96)2 + (4678.56)2 + (158.76)2 + (424.36)2 (Please disregard the
negative sign)
5
= 707. 56 + 73.96 + 4678.56 + 158.76 + 424.36
5
σ 2 = 6 043. 2
C) σ =√ σ 2 = √ 6043.22 = 77.738 = 77.74
Note: Please study
other example
from your
Seatwork- I CAN DO IT!
1. There were 105 oak trees in a forest. 6 were randomly selected and their heights were
recorded in meters. Find the mean, variance and standard deviation in the heights.
Heights (in m) = {43, 65, 52, 70, 48, 57}
2. Given the data set {4.5, 9.8, 2.3, 5.3, 8.9}, Find the mean, variance and standard
deviation
3. In an experiment, 10 trials were done to measure the range of a projectile motion in
centimeters. The measurements are indicated on the table below. Find the mean,
variance and standard deviation
134.8 133.9 135.1 134.7 135.3
134.9 135.2 134.8 135.5 135.4
