American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Practice Exam

What is the median of the numbers 3, 4, 5, 7, 9?

1. 3

2. 4

3. 5

4. 7

The correct answer is: 5

To determine the median of a set of numbers, one must first arrange the numbers in ascending order, which in this case is already done: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9. The median represents the middle value in a sorted list. Since there are five numbers in this sequence, the median will be the third number. In this set, the numbers are arranged such that the first number is 3, the second is 4, the third is 5, the fourth is 7, and the fifth is 9. Therefore, the median is 5, as it is the central value of the ordered set. This method applies regardless of the specific numbers. For an odd number of values, the median is simply the number that sits in the middle after organizing all values in order. In contrast, if there were an even number of values, one would take the average of the two central numbers to find the median. In this case, however, with five numbers, the calculation leads directly to the third number being the median.