Pick a city in Maryland and determine the average high temperatures for each month. Record this in a table. 75% of the temperatures are above what value? How do you know?
City: Baltimore, Maryland
Month | Average High Temperature (°F)
---|---
January | 42
February | 45
March | 53
April | 64
May | 74
June | 82
July | 87
August | 85
September | 78
October | 68
November | 57
December | 47
To determine what temperature value corresponds to the 75th percentile, we need to order all the average high temperatures from lowest to highest:
42, 45, 53, 64, 68, 74, 78, 82, 85, 87, 57, 47
The 75th percentile corresponds to the temperature value that is greater than 75% of the temperatures in this list. There are 12 temperatures in the list, so 75% corresponds to the 9th temperature when the list is ordered.
The 9th temperature in the list is 85, so the temperature value for the 75th percentile is 85°F.
We know this because the 75th percentile represents the value that is greater than 75% of the other values in the list. In this case, there are 9 temperatures that are lower than 85 and 3 temperatures that are higher than 85. Therefore, 85 is greater than 75% of the other values in the list.