What is Frequency? Definition and Examples


Frequency refers to the number of times a repeating event occurs within a specific time.

Some Examples of Frequency in Real-Life


We can use frequency to describe the number of heartbeats per unit of time. The frequency of a human heartbeat is about 60 to 100 beats per minute.

We can use frequency to describe the number of earthquakes per year. As of this writing, the National Earthquake Information Center says that the frequency of earthquakes big enough to be recorded is about 30000 per year.

Note that frequency can also refer to the number of times an item occurs in a dataset.

For example, a dataset consists of the following numbers:

4, 5, 2, 4, 6, 4, 9, 1, 0, 2, 4, 8, 4

The frequency of the number 4 is 5 because 4 appears 5 times.

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