MEP Pupil Text 9

9.5 Cumulative Frequency

Cumulative frequencies are useful if more detailed information is required about a set of
data. In particular, they can be used to find the median and inter-quartile range.

The inter-quartile range contains the middle 50% of the sample and describes how
spread out the data are. This is illustrated in Example 2.

Worked Example 1 Height (cm) Frequency

For the data given in the table, draw up a 90 < h ≤ 100 5

cumulative frequency table and then draw 100 < h ≤ 110 22
a cumulative frequency graph.
110 < h ≤ 120 30
120 < h ≤ 130 31
Solution
130 < h ≤ 140 18
The table below shows how to calculate 140 < h ≤ 150 6
the cumulative frequencies.

Height (cm) Frequency Cumulative Frequency

90 < h ≤ 100 5 5
100 < h ≤ 110 22 5 + 22 = 27
110 < h ≤ 120 30 27 + 30 = 57
120 < h ≤ 130 31 57 + 31 = 88
130 < h ≤ 140 18 88 + 18 = 106
140 < h ≤ 150 6 106 + 6 = 112

A graph can then be plotted using points as shown below.

120
(150,112)

(140,106)
100
y

(130,88)
80
q

Cumulative
Frequency
60
(120,57)

40

(110,27)
20

(90,0) (100,5)
0
90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Height (cm)

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 MEP Pupil Text 9

Note
A more accurate graph is found by drawing a smooth curve through the points, rather
than using straight line segments.

120
(150,112)

(140,106)
100

(130,88)
80
Cumulative
Frequency
60
(120,57)

40

(110,27)
20

(90,0) (100,5)
0
90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Height (cm)
Worked Example 2
The cumulative frequency graph below gives the results of 120 students on a test.

120

100

80
Cumulative
Frequency
60

40

20

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Test Score

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9.5

Use the graph to find:

(a) the median score, (b) the inter-quartile range,
(c) the mark which was attained by only 10% of the students,
(d) the number of students who scored more than 75 on the test.

Solution

(a) Since 12 of 120 is 60, the median 120

can be found by starting at 60

on the vertical scale, moving 100
horizontally to the graph line
and then moving vertically 80
down to meet the horizontal scale. Start at 60
Cumulative 60
In this case the median is 53. Frequency

40

20

Median = 53
0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Score

(b) To find out the inter-quartile range, we must consider the middle 50% of the
students.

To find the lower quartile, 120

1
start at 4
of 120, which is 30.
100 90
This gives
Lower Quartile = 43 . 80
Cumulative
Frequency
60

To find the upper quartile,

3
start at 4
of 120, which is 90. 40 30

This gives 20

Upper Quartile = 67 . Upper quartile = 67

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Lower quartile = 43
The inter-quartile range is then Test Score

Inter - quartile Range = Upper Quartile − Lower Quartile

= 67 − 43
= 24 .

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(c)
120
108

Here the mark which was attained

100 by the top 10% is required.
10% of 120 = 12
80
so start at 108 on the cumulative
Cumulative
Frequency 60
frequency scale.

This gives a mark of 79.

40

20

79
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
120
Test Score 103

(d) To find the number of students who 100

scored more than 75, start at 75 on
the horizontal axis.
80

This gives a cumulative frequency Cumulative

of 103. Frequency 60

So the number of students with a 40

score greater than 75 is

20
120 − 103 = 17 .
75

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Test Score

As in Worked Example 1, a more accurate estimate for the median and inter-quartile
range is obtained if you draw a smooth curve through the data points.

Exercises
1. Make a cumulative frequency table for each set of data given below. Then draw a
cumulative frequency graph and use it to find the median and inter-quartile range.
(a) John weighed each apple in a large box. His results are given in this table.

Weight of
apple (g) 60 < w ≤ 80 80 < w ≤ 100 100 < w ≤ 120 120 < w ≤ 140 140 < w ≤ 160
Frequency 4 28 33 27 8

(b) Pasi asked the students in his class how far they travelled to school each day.
His results are given below.

Distance (km) 0 < d ≤1 1< d ≤ 2 2<d≤3 3<d≤4 4<d≤5 5<d≤6

Frequency 5 12 5 6 5 3

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9.5

(c) A P.E. teacher recorded the distances children could reach in the long jump
event. His records are summarised in the table below.

Length of jump (m) 1< d ≤2 2<d≤3 3<d≤4 4<d≤5 5<d≤6

Frequency 5 12 5 6 5

2. A farmer grows a type of wheat in two different fields. He takes a sample of

50 heads of corn from each field at random and weighs the grains he obtains.

Mass of grain (g) 0<m≤5 5 < m ≤ 10 10 < m ≤ 15 15 < m ≤ 20 20 < m ≤ 25 25 < m ≤ 30

Frequency Field A 3 8 22 10 4 3

Frequency Field B 0 11 34 4 1 0

(a) Draw cumulative frequency graphs for each field.

(b) Find the median and inter-quartile range for each field.
(c) Comment on your results.

3. A consumer group tests two types of batteries using a personal stereo.

Lifetime (hours) 2<l≤3 3<l≤4 4<l≤5 5<l≤6 6<l≤7 7<l≤8

Frequency Type A 1 3 10 22 8 4

Frequency Type B 0 2 2 38 6 0

(a) Use cumulative frequency graphs to find the median and inter-quartile range
for each type of battery.
(b) Which type of battery would you recommend and why?

4. The table below shows how the height of girls of a certain age vary. The data was
gathered using a large-scale survey.

Height (cm) 50 < h ≤ 55 55 < h ≤ 60 60 < h ≤ 65 65 < h ≤ 70 70 < h ≤ 75 75 < h ≤ 80 80 < h ≤ 85

Frequency 100 300 2400 1300 700 150 50

A doctor wishes to be able to classify children as:

Category Percentage of Population

Very Tall 5%
Tall 15%
Normal 60%
Short 15%
Very short 5%

Use a cumulative frequency graph to find the heights of children in each category.

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5. The manager of a double glazing company employs 30 salesmen. Each year he

awards bonuses to his salesmen.

Bonus Awarded to
£500 Best 10% of salesmen
£250 Middle 70% of salesmen
£ 50 Bottom 20% of salesmen

The sales made during 1995 and 1996 are shown in the table below.

Value of sales
(£1000) 0 < V ≤ 100 100 < V ≤ 200 200 < V ≤ 300 300 < V ≤ 400 400 < V ≤ 500
Frequency 1996 0 2 15 10 3
Frequency 1995 2 8 18 2 0

Use cumulative frequency graphs to find the values of sales needed to obtain each
bonus in the years 1995 and 1996.

6. The histogram shows the cost of buying a particular toy in a number of different
shops.

Frequency 4

0
2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00
Price (£)

(a) Draw a cumulative frequency graph and use it to answer the following
questions.
(i) How many shops charged more than £2.65?
(ii) What is the median price?
(iii) How many shops charged less than £2.30?
(iv) How many shops charged between £2.20 and £2.60?
(v) How many shops charged between £2.00 and £2.50?

(b) Comment on which of your answers are exact and which are estimates.

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9.5

7. Laura and Joy played 40 games of golf together. The table below shows Laura's
scores.

Scores (x) 70 < x ≤ 80 80 < x ≤ 90 90 < x ≤ 100 100 < x ≤ 110 110 < x ≤ 120
Frequency 1 4 15 17 3

(a) On a grid similar to the one below, draw a cumulative frequency diagram to
show Laura's scores.

40
y

30
q

Cumulative
Frequency
20

10

60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Score

(b) Making your method clear, use your graph to find

(i) Laura's median score,
(ii) the inter-quartile range of her scores.

(c) Joy's median score was 103. The inter-quartile range of her scores was 6.
(i) Who was the more consistent player?
Give a reason for your choice.
(ii) The winner of a game of golf is the one with the lowest score.
Who won most of these 40 games? Give a reason for your choice.
(NEAB)

8. A sample of 80 electric light bulbs was taken. The lifetime of each light bulb was
recorded. The results are shown below.

Lifetime (hours) 800– 900– 1000– 1100– 1200– 1300– 1400–

Frequency 4 13 17 22 20 4 0
Cumulative Frequency 4 17

(a) Copy and complete the table of values for the cumulative frequency.
(b) Draw the cumulative frequency curve, using a grid as shown below.

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90
80
70

y
60
Cumulative

q
50
Frequency
40
30
20

10
0
800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
Lifetime (hours)
(c) Use your graph to estimate the number of light bulbs which lasted more than
1030 hours.
(d) Use your graph to estimate the inter-quartile range of the lifetimes of the
light bulbs.
(e) A second sample of 80 light bulbs has the same median lifetime as the first
sample. Its inter-quartile range is 90 hours. What does this tell you about
the difference between the two samples?
(SEG)

9. The numbers of journeys made by a group of people using public transport in one
month are summarised in the table.

Number of journeys 0–10 11–20 21–30 31–40 41–50 51–60 61–70

Number of people 4 7 8 6 3 4 0

(a) Copy and complete the cumulative frequency table below.

Number of journeys ≤10 ≤ 20 ≤ 30 ≤ 40 ≤ 50 ≤ 60 ≤ 70

Cumulative frequency

(b) (i) Draw the cumulative frequency graph, using a grid as below.

40
y

30
q

Cumulative
Frequency
20

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Number of journeys
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 MEP Pupil Text 9
9.5

(ii) Use your graph to estimate the median number of journeys.

(iii) Use your graph to estimate the number of people who made more than
44 journeys in the month.

(c) The numbers of journeys made using public transport in one month, by
another group of people, are shown in the graph.

40

30
Cumulative
Frequency
20

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Number of journeys

Make one comparison between the numbers of journeys made by these

two groups.
(SEG)

10. The cumulative frequency graph below gives information on the house prices in
1992. The cumulative frequency is given as a percentage of all houses in England.

100

80
y( )

60
q

Cumulative
Frequency
40

20

0 100000 200000 240000

i (£)
House prices in 1992

This grouped frequency table gives the percentage distribution of house prices (p)
in England in 1993.

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House prices (p) Percentage of houses

in pounds 1993 in this class interval
0 ≤ p < 40 000 26
40 000 ≤ p < 52 000 19
52 000 ≤ p < 68 000 22
68 000 ≤ p < 88 000 15
88 000 ≤ p < 120 000 9
120 000 ≤ p < 160 000 5
160 000 ≤ p < 220 000 4

(a) Use the data above to complete the cumulative frequency table below.

House prices (p) Cumulative

in pounds 1993 Frequency (%)

0 ≤ p < 40 000

0 ≤ p < 52 000

0 ≤ p < 68 000

0 ≤ p < 88 000

0 ≤ p < 120 000

0 ≤ p < 160 000

0 ≤ p < 220 000

(b) Trace or photocopy the grid for 1992, and on it construct a cumulative
frequency graph for your table for 1993.
(c) In 1992 the price of a house was £100 000. Use both cumulative frequency
graphs to estimate the price of this house in 1993. Make your method clear.
(LON)

11. The lengths of a number of nails were measured to the nearest 0.01 cm, and the
following frequency distribution was obtained.

Length of nail Number of nails Cumulative Frequency

(x cm)

0.98 ≤ x < 1.00 2

1.00 ≤ x < 1.02 4
1.02 ≤ x < 1.04 10
1.04 ≤ x < 1.06 24
1.06 ≤ x < 1.08 32
1.08 ≤ x < 1.10 17
1.10 ≤ x < 1.12 7
1.12 ≤ x < 1.14 4

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9.5

(a) Complete the cumulative frequency column.

(b) Draw a cumulative frequency diagram on a grid similar to the one below.

100

80

60
Cumulative
Frequency
40

20

0 0.98 1.00 1.02 1.04 1.06 1.08 1.10 1.12 1.14

Length of nail (cm)

Use your graph to estimate

(i) the median length of the nails (ii) the inter-quartile range.
(NEAB)

12. A wedding was attended by 120 guests. The distance, d miles, that each guest
travelled was recorded in the frequency table below.

Distance
(d miles) 0 < d ≤ 10 10 < d ≤ 20 20 < d ≤ 30 30 < d ≤ 50 50 < d ≤ 100 100 < d ≤ 140
Number of
guests 26 38 20 20 12 4

(a) Using the mid-interval values, calculate an estimate of the mean distance
travelled.
(b) (i) Copy and complete the cumulative frequency table below.

Distance
(d miles) d ≤ 10 d ≤ 20 d ≤ 30 d ≤ 50 d ≤ 100 d ≤ 140
Number of
guests 120

(ii) On a grid similar to that shown below, draw a cumulative frequency

curve to represent the information in the table.

Just for Fun

Comment on this statement. "Students who smoke perform worse academically than non-
smokers, so smoking will make you stupid."
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 MEP Pupil Text 9

120

100

80
Cumulative
Frequency
60

40

20

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Distance travelled (miles)

(c) (i) Use the cumulative frequency curve to estimate the median distance
travelled by the guests.
(ii) Give a reason for the large difference between the mean distance and
the median distance.
(MEG)

9.6 Standard Deviation

The two frequency polygons drawn on the graph below show samples which have the
same mean, but the data in one are much more spread out than in the other.

25

20

15
Frequency
10

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Length

The range (highest value – lowest value) gives a simple measure of how much the data
are spread out.

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