Grade

10

MATHEMATICS
QUARTER 4 – MODULE 4
MELC 4

Problem Solving
on Measures of
Position
PART I.
MELC 4: Solves problems involving measures of position

A. Introduction and discussion

In this module, you are going to learn how to solve problems involving measures of
position.

Recall the formula on the Measures of Position for Ungrouped Data.

1. Quartile for Ungrouped Data

𝑘
Position of Qk= 4 (𝑛 + 1)

• Q1 is the lower Quartile

• Q2 is the Median

• Q3 is the upper Quartile

2. Decile for Ungrouped Data

𝑘
Position of Dk= 10 (𝑛 + 1)

3. Quartile for Ungrouped Data

𝑘
Position of Pk= (𝑛 + 1)
100

Recall also the formula on the Measures of Position for Grouped Data.

1. Quartile for Grouped Data

𝑘𝑁
−𝑐𝑓𝑏
4
Qk = LB+( 𝑓𝑄𝑘
)i

2. Decile for Grouped Data

𝑘𝑁
−𝑐𝑓𝑏
10
Dk = LB+( 𝑓𝐷𝑘
)i

3. Percentile for Grouped Data

𝑘𝑁
−𝑐𝑓𝑏
100
Pk = LB+( 𝑓𝑃𝑘
)i

After having several discussions, examples and activities in your previous lessons, you are
now ready to answer word problems which involve Measures of Position for Grouped and
Ungrouped Data.

1
B. Illustrative Examples:

Problem Solving on Measures of Position for Ungrouped Data

I. Quartile
Example:
1. The owner of a coffee shop recorded the number of customers who came into
his cafe each hour in a day. The results were 14, 10, 12, 9, 17, 5, 8, 9, 14, 10
and 11. Find the lower Quartile and upper Quartile of the data.
Solution:
• Arrange in ascending order.
5, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 12, 14, 14, 17
• Determine the lowest and highest value.
Lowest = 5
Highest = 17
• Determine the middle value or the Median.
Middle = 10
• Find the value of the lower Quartile.
The lower Quartile is the value that is between the Middle Value and the
lowest value.
Lower Quartile = 9
• Find the Value of the upper Quartile.
The Upper Quartile is the value between that is between the Middle Value
and the highest value.
Upper Quartile = 14

2. A researcher wants to determine the average age of working students. A

random sample of 10 students working in one of the popular fast foods were
asked about their ages. The following ages were gathered: 18, 20, 21, 18, 20,
18, 22, 24, 27, 25. Compute for the Value of Q3 or Upper Quartile. ( Using
Mendenhall and Sincich Method)
Solution:
• Arrange the given data in ascending order.
18, 18, 18, 20, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27
𝑘
• Locate the position of Q3 using the formula Qk= (𝑛 + 1).
4
Where Qk = quartile position
n = number of data
3
Q3 = 4 (10 + 1)
3
= (11)
4
33
= 4
Q3 = 8.25
• Round off the computed value to become whole number.
8.25 becomes 8
• Upper Quartile/Q3 is the 8th element.
Q3 = 24
3. Albert recorded his scores in Statistics as follows: 1,27,16,7,31,7,30,3 and 21.
Determine the value of the lower Quartile.
• Arrange the scores in ascending order.

2
 1,3, 7,7,16,21,27,30,31
• Locate the position of the score in the distribution.
1
Q1 = 4 (9 + 1)
1
= (10)
4
= 2.5
• Interpolate the Value to obtain the First Quartile.
Step 1: 2.5 falls between the 2nd and 3rd data, Subtract the Second data
from the Third data.
7-3 = 4
Step 2: Multiply the result by the decimal obtained from finding the
Position of the score.
4(0.5) = 2
Step 3: Add the result to the smaller number from Step 1.
3+2 = 5
• Therefore, the value of Q1 = 5.

II. Deciles

Example: Mrs. Marasigan is a Veterinarian. One morning she asked her

Secretary to record the service time for 15 customers. The following are the
service time in minutes: 35,42,40,28,15,23,33,20,18 and 28. Find the Value of the
2nd Decile and 8th Decile.

A. Second Decile or D2
• Arrange the data in ascending order.
15,18,20,23,28,28,33,35,40,42
• Find the position of D2.
2
D2 = 10 (10 + 1)
2
= 10 (11)
D2 = 2.2

• Round off 2.2 becomes 2.

• D2 is the 2nd element.
• Therefore, D2 = 18.

B. Eight Decile
• Arrange the data in ascending order.
15,18,20,23,28,28,33,35,40,42
• Find the position of D8.
8
D8 = 10 (10 + 1)
8
= 10 (11)
D8 = 8.8

• Round off 8.8 becomes 9.

• D8 is the 9th element.
• Therefore, D8 = 40.

3
 III. Percentile
A researcher collects data on the number of siblings of SHS students in Jose
Abad Santos Senior High School, and his study yields the following:
5,2,1,7,8,9,1,1,10,3,5,7,8. Find the value of P30 and P80.
Solution:
A. 30th Percentile
• Arrange the data in ascending order.
1,1,1,2,3,5,5,7,7,8,8,9,10
• Find the position of P30.
30
P30 = 100 (13 + 1)
30
= 100 (14)
P30 = 4.2
• Round off 4.2 becomes 4.
• P30 is the 4th element.
• Therefore, P30 = 2.
B. 80th Percentile
• Arrange the data in ascending order.
1,1,1,2,3,5,5,7,7,8,8,9,10
• Find the position of P30.
80
P80 = 100 (13 + 1)
80
= 100 (14)
P80 = 11.2
• Round off 11.2 becomes 11.
• P80 is the 11th element.
• Therefore, P80 = 8.

Problem Solving on Measures of Position for Grouped Data

I. Quartile
A Mathematics Teacher has the following data about the number of absences of 35
students in a class. Compute for the Value of Q2.
Number of absences Frequency
15 – 17 3
12 – 14 3
9 – 11 10
6–8 14
3–5 5

Solution:
Number of Frequency Lower Less than
Absences (f) Boundaries cumulative
(LB) frequency
(<cf)
15 – 17 3 14.5 35
12 – 14 3 11.5 32
9 – 11 10 8.5 29
6–8 14 5.5 19
3–5 5 2.5 5
N = 45

4
 𝐾𝑁 2(35) 70
Q2 class: 4
= 4
= 4
= 17.5
• This means, we need to find the class interval where the 17.5th number of
absence is contained. 6th -19th number of absences belong to 6-8 class
interval, so the 17.5th number of absences is also within the class interval.
• The Q2 class is within the class interval of 6-8.
LB = 5.5
N = 35
Cfb = 5
FQ2 = 14
i=3
𝑘𝑁
−𝑐𝑓𝑏
Q2 = LB+( 4 𝑓 )i
𝑄2

17.5−5
= 5.5+( 14
)3

12.5
= 5.5+( 14 )3

= 5.5 + 2.679
Q2 = 8.18
• Therefore, the number of absences of 50% of the students is 8.18.

II. Deciles
The data on the distance travelled by 150 participants in the fund-raising marathon
“Takbo Para sa Kinabukasan 2018” is given by the following table.

Distance (in km) Frequency

19 – 21 12
16 – 18 17
13 – 15 26
10 – 12 32
7–9 29
4–6 18
1–3 16

Compute for the second and fourth decile.

Solution:

• For D2
Class Interval Frequency Lower Less Than
Boundaries Cumulative
Frequency
19 – 21 12 18.5 150
16 – 18 17 15.5 138
13 – 15 26 12.5 121
10 – 12 32 9.5 95
7–9 29 6.5 63
4–6 18 3.5 34
1–3 16 0.5 16
i=3 N=150

5
 𝑘𝑁 2(150) 300
D2 class: 10
= 10
= 10
= 𝟑𝟎

This means we need to find the class interval where the 30th score is contained.
Note that the 17th score belongs to the class interval: 4 – 6. So, the 30th score is also within
the class interval.
The D2 class is within the class interval 4 – 6.

LB = 3.5
N = 150
cfb = 16
fDk = 18
i=3
k=2
𝑘𝑁
−𝑐𝑓𝑏
Dk = LB + ( 10 )𝑖
𝑓𝐷𝑘
30−16
D2 = 3.5 + ( 18
)𝑖
14
D2 = 3.5 + (18) 3
D2 = 3.5 + 2.33
D2 = 5.83

Therefore, 20% of all the participants travelled less than or equal to 5.83 km.

III. Percentiles

The following table gives the amount of time (in minutes) spent on the internet each
evening by a group of 56 students.

Time spent on the Internet No. of students

22-24 2
19-21 24
16-18 15
13-15 12
10-12 3
Solution:
Class Interval F Lb <cf
22-24 2 21.5 56
19-21 24 18.5 54
16-18 15 15.5 30
13-15 12 12.5 15
10-12 3 9.5 3
N = 56

65(56) 3640
P65 class = = = 36.4
100 100

This means we need to find the class interval where the 36.4th number of students is
contained.
Note that 31-54 number of students belong to 19-21 class interval, so the 36.4th number of
students is also within the class interval.

6
The P65 class is within the class interval 19-21.

LB = 18.5
N = 56
cfb = 30
f = 24
i=3

𝑘𝑁
−𝑐𝑓𝑏
4
P65 = LB+( 𝑓𝑃𝑘
)i
36.4−30
= 18.5+( 24
)3
6.4
= 18.5+(2.4)3
=18.5+0.8
P65 = 19.3

*Therefore, 65% of the students spent 19.3 minutes on the internet.

Part II: Activities

Activity 1: Complete Me
1. Mr. Mel Santiago in the sales manager of Jerry’s Bookstore. He has 13 sales staff
members. Each Saturday morning, he requires his sales staff to send him a report.
This report includes the number of Professors visited during the previous week.
Listed below are the number of professors visited last week. Determine the value of
Q1 using Linear Interpolation and the value of D5 and P25.
40, 38, 45, 55, 55, 43, 40, 38, 36, 45, 50, 50

A. Q1
Solution:
Step 1. Arrange the scores in ascending order.
Step 2. Locate the position of the score in the distribution.
Step 3. Interpolate the value to obtain the first quarter.
Therefore, the value of Q1 = _______

B. D5
Solution:
Step 1: Arrange the scores in ascending order.
Step 2: Find the position of D5.
Step 3: Round off if it has decimal.
Therefore, D5 = ________

C. P25
Solution:
Step 1: Arrange the scores in ascending order.
Step 2: Find the position of P25.
Step 3: Round off if it has decimal.
Therefore, P25 = ________

7
 2. Angelica recorded the number of coffee shop that can cater a certain number of
customers. Shown at the table below.

Number of Customers Number of coffee shop

41 – 50 3
31 – 40 5
21 – 30 10
11 – 20 8
1 – 10 5

Compute for the value of Q3, D2 and P30.

Number of Number of coffee Lower Boundary Less than cumulative

customers shop frequency

41 – 50 3
31 – 40 5
21 – 30 10
11 – 20 8
1 – 10 5

Activity 2: Find My Value

1. For the past 8 weeks of operation, the ABC orange drinkers Company recorded the
following consumption of nitric acid ( in hundred liters ). 18, 15, 13, 17, 12, 11, 13, 15,
12, 20, 10, 17. Compute for the value of upper Quartile, 5th Decile and 35th
Percentile.

2. A high school teacher from a small private school, assigns trigonometry practice
problems to be solved via the net. Students must use a password to access the
problems and the time of log-in and log-off which are automatically recorded for the
teacher. At the end of the week, the teacher examines the amount of time spent by
each student working the assigned problems. The data is provided below in minutes.

Number of cars Frequency

65 - 69 7
60 – 64 8
55 – 59 9
50 – 54 13
45 – 49 10
40 – 44 3

Compute for the value of Q1, D8 and P45.

8
Answer Key

P45=53.15
P25=38
P30=15.875 D8=62.625
Step 3: 3
Q1=49.25
Step 2: 3.25 D2=12
,45,50,50,55,55 3 39.5
36,38,38,40,40,43,45 Q3=31
3. Step 1: 13 44.5
D5=45 26 49.5
Step 3: 7 3 39.5
Step 2: 6.5 35 54.5
,45,50,50,55,55 13 44.5
43 59.5
36,38,38,40,40,43,45 26 49.5
2. Step 1: 64.5 50
Q1=38.5 35 54.5 Boundary
Step 3: 38.5 Lower <cf
43 59.5
Step 2: 3.25 2.
,45,50,50,55,55 64.5 50 P35=13
36,38,38,40,40,43,45 Boundary D5=15
1. Step 1: Lower <cf 1. Q1=12
Activity 1 2. Activity 2

PART III. Assessment

I. Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the correct answer and write your
answers on a separate answer sheet.

Refer to the following data for numbers 1 – 4.

In a math quiz, the following students got the following scores:

A=6 B=1 C=3 D=5 E=2 F=4 G=5

1. What is the second quartile?

a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4
2. What is the 75th percentile?
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5
3. Who got the score that corresponds to the 25 percentile rank?
a. B b. C c. E d. F
4. If an 8th student, H, got 8 what would be the 75th percentile in the new set of scores?
a. 5 b. 5.5 c. 6 d. 8

Refer to the data below in answering numbers 5 to 8.

9
In a survey in which 60 students were asked how many hours per week they answered their
modules, the result is given below.

Number of hours frequency Cumulative frequency

51 - 53 1 60
48 - 50 3 59
45 - 47 4 56
42 - 44 8 52
39 - 41 9 44
36 - 38 12 35
33 - 35 7 23
30 - 32 7 16
27 - 29 4 9
24 - 26 3 5
21 - 23 1 2
18 - 20 1 1
5. What is the 75th percentile?
a. 36 b. 39 c. 42 d. 45
6. The answer in number 5 means that
a. 75% of the students answered their modules in less than or equal to 42 hours per
week.
b. 75% of the students answered their modules greater than 42 hours per week.
c. 25% of the students answered their modules in less than or equal to 42 hours per week.
d. 25% of the students answered their modules equal to 42 hours per week.
7. What is D2.5?
a. 29 b. 32 c. 35 d. 38

II. Answer the problems below ( 4 points each).

The table below represents the lives of 40 similar car batteries recorded to the nearest tenth
of a year. The batteries were guaranteed to last for 3 years. (use the ungrouped data)
1.6 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.4 3.7 3.9 4.3
1.9 2.9 3.1 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.9 4.4
2.2 3.0 3.1 3.3 3.5 3.7 4.1 4.5
2.5 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.8 4.1 4.7
2.6 3.1 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.2 4.7
A. a. Find P48.
b. Interpret the result: ____________________________________________
B. a. Find D7.
b. Interpret the result: ___________________________________________

References:

Teaching mathematics III, Volume II

Philippines – Australia Science and Mathematics Education Project

Mathematics for the New Millenium

Mathematics Learner’s Material 10

10
11