Template:MedianLifeFunction

"The Median Life Function"

Median life,[math]\displaystyle{ \breve{T} }[/math] is the value of the random variable that has exactly one-half of the area under the [math]\displaystyle{ pdf }[/math] to its left and one-half to its right. The median is obtained from:

[math]\displaystyle{ \int_{-\infty}^{\breve{T}}f(t)dt=0.5 }[/math]

For sample data, e.g. 12, 20, 21, the median is the midpoint value, or 20 in this case.