RAFFLES INSTITUTION

RAFFLES PROGRAMME 2024

YEAR 3 MATHEMATICS
TOPIC 11: STATISTICS (MATHS 1)

WORKSHEET 2
Name: ( ) Class: 3 ( ) Date:

WORKSHEET 2: CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

(New Syllabus Mathematics 4, 7th Edition, P.65)

Learner Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson(s), students should be able to
1. construct Cumulative Frequency Table,
2. interpret and analyse cumulative frequency diagram
3. estimate quartiles, percentiles and interquartile range from the cumulative frequency
curves
4. compare data using cumulative frequency curves.

Blended Learning Online SDL

Students to access SLS lesson: Year 3 Mathematics / Cumulative Frequency
Diagrams

(1) CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY TABLE

Other than frequency table, we can also use cumulative frequency table to present data.

EG 1 Consider the following frequency distribution table for the length of 30 leaves
plucked from a tree.

Length of
10 < x  20 20 < x  30 30 < x  40 40 < x  50 50 < x  60 60 < x  70
leaf (mm)
Frequency 2 6 5 8 7 2

Complete the following table.

Length of leaf (mm) x  10 x  20 x  30 x  40 x  50 x  60 x  70

Cumulative Frequency

Another way of presenting the information: Take note the difference between the two tables

Length of leaf (mm) 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

No of leaves with this length or less
(Cumulative Frequency)

The above table is known as the Cumulative Frequency Table.

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EG 2 The weights of 50 rugby players are given in the following table.

Weight (x kg) 60  x < 62 62  x < 64 64  x < 66 66  x < 68 68  x < 70 70  x < 72

Frequency 2 6 11 15 10 6

Construct the cumulative frequency table.

Weight (kg)
Cumulative Frequency (No. of rugby
players with less than this weight)

(2) CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY DIAGRAM

There are two types of Cumulative Frequency Diagram:

(a) Cumulative Frequency Curve: drawn
by plotting the cumulative frequencies
against the given data and joining the
points by a smooth curve. The
Cumulative Frequency Curve has a
characteristic shape known as an ‘ogive’
which can also be seen in the wing shape
of the supersonic transport, the Concorde.

(b) Cumulative Frequency Polygon: drawn by joining the points by straight lines.
Note: The plotting of the cumulative frequency curve will not be tested.

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EG 3 The cumulative frequency curve shows the time, x, in minutes for students from
Anytime Primary School to travel to school.

500

400
Cumulative Frequency

300

200

100

0 10 20 30 40 50
Time in minutes

Complete the following frequency distribution table.

Time in
0 < x  10 10 < x  20 20 < x  30 30 < x  40 40 < x  50
minutes
Frequency

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EG 4 The cumulative frequency curve below represents daily wages of 60 male adults.

60

50

40
Cumulative
Frequency
30

20

10

0
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Daily Wages (in $)
Use the graph to estimate, as accurately as possible,
(a) the number of male adults whose daily wage is less than or equal to $40,

(b) the fraction of male adults whose daily wage is more than $33,

(c) the percentage of male adults whose daily wage is more than $33 but not more than
$45,

(d) the value of m given that 43 male adults had a daily wage less than or equal to $m,

(e) the value of m if 40% of the male adults’ daily wage is $m or less.

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(3) QUARTILES, INTER-QUARTILE RANGE AND PERCENTILES

(3.1) QUARTILES

Quartiles are values that divide a set of data into four equal parts. Hence there are 3 quartiles
in a set of data;

Median (Q2), the value which divides the set of data into equal halves,
Lower Quartile (Q1), the median of the lower half of the data,
Upper Quartile (Q3), the median of the upper half of the data.

EG 5 Find the median, lower quartile and upper quartile of the following sets of data.

(a) 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12

(b) 12, 14, 14, 14, 17, 21, 23, 23, 24, 29, 32, 32

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 On the cumulative frequency curve, we can divide the total frequency into 4 equal parts.
The values of the data corresponding to each part are Q1, Q2 and Q3.

EG 6 The cumulative frequency curve below represents daily wages of 60 male adults.
Use the graph to estimate the median, lower quartile and upper quartile.

60

50

40
Cumulative
Frequency
30

20

10

0
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Daily Wages (in $)

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(3.2) INTER-QUARTILE RANGE (IQR)

Inter-quartile range (IQR) = Q3 – Q1

The inter-quartile range measures the range between the upper and lower quartiles. It gives
an indication of how the numbers in a set of data are spread about the median of the set.

A small IQR will tell us that the data is clustered closely around the median while a large
IQR indicates extreme data values from the median.

In EG 6, Interquartile Range =

(3.3) PERCENTILES
On the cumulative frequency curve, we can divide the total frequency into 100 equal parts.
The value of the data under study corresponding to each part, P1, P2, …, P99 are called
percentiles. They are known as 1st percentile, 2nd percentile, …, 99th percentile.
Lower quartile Q1 = P25 (25th percentile)
Median Q2 = P50 (50th percentile)
Upper quartile Q3 = P75 (75th percentile)
The percentile Pk. is the value such that k % of the total number of data is less than / less
than or equal to this value.

For example, if P80 = 73 marks for a class in an exam, that means there are 80% of pupils
score less than / less than or equal to 73 marks.

Blended Learning Online SDL

Students to access SLS lesson: Year 3 Mathematics / Range, Quartiles, Interquartile
Range and Percentiles

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EG 7 A long ruler was fastened to the wall and used to measure the heights of 120
children. The following diagram shows the cumulative frequency graph of these
heights.

Cumulative Frequency

120

100

80

60

40

20

0 130 140 150 160 170 180

0 Height in cm
(a) Use the graph to estimate,
(i) the median,

(ii) the interquartile range,

(iii) the 20th percentile,

(iv) the number of children whose height is greater than 170 cm.

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 (b) Several days later it was noticed that the ruler had been wrongly positioned, and that
all heights should be 3cm less. State what adjustments, if any, should be made to
your results for parts (a)(i) and (a)(ii) in order to give the correct value of
(i) the median,

(ii) the interquartile range.

EG 8 The graph shows the cumulative frequency curves of the daily travelling expenses of
800 pupils in two schools, A and B.
800

600
Cumulative Frequency

School A

400 School B

200

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Travelling Expenses (cents)

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(a) Use the graph to estimate the median and the interquartile range of the travelling
expenses of the pupils from
(i) School A,

(ii) School B.

(b) Use the graph to estimate, for school B,

(i) the 80th percentile of the travelling expenses.

(ii) the number of pupils who spent at least 30 cents but less than 45 cents.

(iii) the value of x if 40% of the travelling expenses of the pupils are less than x
cents.

(c) State with a reason the pupils of which school have the smaller amount of travelling
expenses.

(d) State with a reason the pupils of which school have more consistent travelling
expenses.

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HOMEWORK

LEVEL 1
1 NSM4, Chapter 3, Ex 3B Q6 – 10 (P.89 – 90)

2 The cumulative frequency curve below represents the travelling expenses of 100
pupils in cents.

100
0

80
0
Number of Pupils

60
0

40
0

20
0

0 20 40 60 80 100
Travelling Expenses in cents 0
Use the graph to estimate
(a) the median,
(b) the upper quartile,
(c) the lower quartile,
(d) the interquartile range,
(e) the 20th percentile,

[Ans: (a) 51 cents (b) 63 cents (c) 39 cents (d) 24 cents (e) 35 cents]

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LEVEL 2
1 The diagram shows the cumulative frequency graph of the marks scored by 160
students in an examination.

160

140

120

100
Cumulative
Frequency
80

60

40

20

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Marks
(a) Use the graph to estimate
(i) the median marks,

(ii) the interquartile range,

(iii) the number of students who scored 70 marks or more.

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(b) Before combining these marks with those of another exam, the teacher scaled them.
To obtain the scaled mark, the teacher multiplied each student’s mark by 2 and then
subtracted 20 from the result. Write down
(i) the median scaled mark,

(ii) the interquartile range of the scaled marks,

(iii) the number of students who had a scaled mark of 80 or more.

[Ans: (a)(i) 36 (ii) 10 (iii) 3 (b)(i) 52 (ii) 20 (iii) 22]

2 The cumulative frequency curves show the distribution of marks scored by 500
cadets in a physical test from each of the two schools, A and B.

Cumulative Frequency Curve of

500 marks of 500 cadets

400

300
Cumulative
Frequency School A
School B
200

100

0 20 40 60 80 100
Mark
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(a) For School A, estimate from the graph,
(i) the median,

(ii) the 70th percentile,

(iii) the interquartile range,

(iv) the number of cadets who scored less than 43 marks,

(v) the pass mark given that 60% of the cadets passed the physical test.

(b) It is given that a distinction grade is equivalent to 70 marks and above. Find the
percentage of cadets who scored distinction in each school.

(c) George commented that cadets from School B performed better in general. Do you
agree? Give two reasons to support yourself.

[Ans: (a)(i) 51 (ii) 60 (iii) 27 (iv) 185 (v) 45 (b) 14%, 33%]

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 3 500 earthworms were collected from a sample of Soil A and Soil B respectively.
Their lengths were recorded and the results are shown in the following diagram.

500

400
Cumulative Frequency

300

Soil B
Soil A
200

100

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Length (mm)

(a) Use your graph of Soil A and Soil B to estimate

(i) the number of earthworms whose lengths are less than or equal to 64 mm,

(ii) the value of x if 16% of the earthworms are of length x mm or less.

(b) Which soil produced the longest earthworm among these 1000 earthworms?

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(c) Earthworms which grew more than 60 mm are said to be satisfactory. From the
graph, determine which soil has a higher percentage of satisfactory earthworms.

(d) Use your graph of Soil A and Soil B to estimate the interquartile range of the length
of the earthworms. Explain which soil provides more consistent growth of the
earthworms.

[Ans; (a)(i) 360, 420 (ii) 40, 42 (b) Soil A (c) 36%, 24% (d) Soil B]

FOR YOUR INTEREST

Percentile Range
Percentile scores for individual test takers represent how an individual test taker’s score
compares to the scores of other test takers within a particular comparison group.
Example: Eligibility for University Course
The following is the end of year result of a Y2 university studying in a cohort consisting of
300 students.
Core Current Completed Current Overall Grade Point Percentile
Subject Weightage Mark (%) Range
(out of 100%)
1 A 100% 63 2.8 00 - 20
2 B 100% 63 2.8 00 - 20
3 C 100% 68 3.2 20 - 40
4 D 100% 77 3.6 40 - 60
5 E 100% 74 3.6 20 - 40
The student believes that his GP for his subjects should enable him to be eligible for a Y3
course that admits only 50 students. What do you think?

The GP of 3.6 attained for two subjects leads the student into thinking he can be eligible for
the course. His eligibility would be have been better ascertained if he had considered the
percentile range for both his top subjects and also the other subjects.

But based on the percentile, the student’s best perfromance can be observed for Core
Subject D where only 40% of the cohort performed better than him. This though reveals
there are 120 students who performed better than him for this subject. For Core Subject E,
180 students fared better than him. As such, he might be ineligible for this course which
admits only 50 students. He could instead select a course that admits a bigger cohort.

As much as results are important, non-academic factors are also taken into consideration for
university applications these days.

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