Question

Difficulty: MediumCumulative Frequency and Ogive

The table below details the cumulative frequency distribution of the masses, in kg\text{kg}, of 8080 agricultural packages recorded during an export inspection:

Mass Boundary (kg\text{kg})Cumulative Frequency
19.5\leq 19.588
29.5\leq 29.52424
39.5\leq 39.55252
49.5\leq 49.57272
59.5\leq 59.58080

Using linear interpolation on the cumulative frequency data, determine the interquartile range of the package masses in kg\text{kg}.

Answer: 16.5 kg

Answer

The interquartile range of the package masses is 16.5 kg16.5\text{ kg}.
The interquartile range measures the spread of the middle 50%50\% of the data and is computed as Q3Q1=43.527.0=16.5 kgQ_3 - Q_1 = 43.5 - 27.0 = 16.5\text{ kg}.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Find the lower quartile (Q1Q_1)
Q1=27.0 kgQ_1 = 27.0\text{ kg}
The rank for Q1Q_1 is 14×80=20\frac{1}{4} \times 80 = 20, which lies in the 19.529.519.5 - 29.5 boundary interval with cumulative frequency increasing from 88 to 2424.
2
Find the upper quartile (Q3Q_3)
Q3=43.5 kgQ_3 = 43.5\text{ kg}
The rank for Q3Q_3 is 34×80=60\frac{3}{4} \times 80 = 60, which lies in the 39.549.539.5 - 49.5 boundary interval with cumulative frequency increasing from 5252 to 7272.
3
Calculate the Interquartile Range
IQR=16.5 kg\text{IQR} = 16.5\text{ kg}
Interquartile Range is the difference between the upper quartile (Q3Q_3) and lower quartile (Q1Q_1).

Key Concept

Interquartile Range from Cumulative Frequency Distribution
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