What represents the average or central value of a set of quantities?

The mean represents the average or central value of a set of quantities. It is calculated by adding all the values together and then dividing by the number of values in the set. This gives a single value that summarizes the data, making it useful for understanding the overall tendency of the values.

In contrast, the median is the middle value when the quantities are arranged in order, which can be useful in skewed distributions but does not necessarily reflect the average. The mode identifies the most frequently occurring value in the set, while the range merely indicates the difference between the highest and lowest values. Thus, the mean is the most suitable choice for representing the average value across a dataset.