The mean of first 8 natural numbers is

Options

A. 4.5
B. 5
C. 4
D. 5.5

Answer

To find the mean of the first 8 natural numbers, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the first 8 natural numbers
The first 8 natural numbers are:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

### Step 2: Calculate the sum of these numbers
Now, we need to find the sum of these numbers:
\[ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 \]
Calculating this step-by-step:
- \(1 + 2 = 3\)
- \(3 + 3 = 6\)
- \(6 + 4 = 10\)
- \(10 + 5 = 15\)
- \(15 + 6 = 21\)
- \(21 + 7 = 28\)
- \(28 + 8 = 36\)

So, the sum of the first 8 natural numbers is \(36\).

### Step 3: Divide the sum by the number of values
To find the mean, we divide the sum by the total number of natural numbers, which is \(8\):
\[ \text{Mean} = \frac{\text{Sum}}{\text{Number of values}} = \frac{36}{8} \]

### Step 4: Simplify the fraction
Now we simplify \( \frac{36}{8} \):
- Both 36 and 8 can be divided by 4:
\[ \frac{36 \div 4}{8 \div 4} = \frac{9}{2} \]

### Step 5: Convert to decimal
Now, converting \( \frac{9}{2} \) to a decimal:
\[ \frac{9}{2} = 4.5 \]

### Conclusion
Thus, the mean of the first 8 natural numbers is \(4.5\).