In mathematics, the harmonic mean (sometimes called the subcontrary mean) is one of several

kinds of average. Typically, it is appropriate for situations when the average of rates is desired.

The harmonic mean H of the positive real numbers x1, x2, ..., xn > 0 is defined to be

From the third formula in the above equation it is more apparent that the harmonic mean is
related to the arithmetic and geometric means.

Equivalently, the harmonic mean is the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocals. As a

simple example, the harmonic mean of 1, 2, and 4 is

Contents
[hide]

 1 Relationship with other means

 2 Weighted harmonic mean
 3 Examples
o 3.1 In physics
o 3.2 In other sciences
o 3.3 In finance
o 3.4 In geometry
 4 Harmonic mean of two numbers
 5 See also
 6 References
 7 External links

[edit] Relationship with other means

A geometric construction of the three Pythagorean means (of two numbers only). Harmonic
mean denoted by H in purple color.

The harmonic mean is one of the three Pythagorean means. For all positive data sets containing
at least one pair of nonequal values, the harmonic mean is always the least of the three means,
while the arithmetic mean is always the greatest of the three and the geometric mean is always in
between. (If all values in a nonempty dataset are equal, the three means are always equal to one
another; e.g. the harmonic, geometric, and arithmetic means of {2, 2, 2} are all 2.)

It is the special case M−1 of the power mean.

Since the harmonic mean of a list of numbers tends strongly toward the least elements of the list,
it tends (compared to the arithmetic mean) to mitigate the impact of large outliers and aggravate
the impact of small ones.

The arithmetic mean is often mistakenly used in places calling for the harmonic mean.[1] In the
speed example below for instance the arithmetic mean 50 is incorrect, and too big.

The harmonic mean is related to the other Pythagorean means, as seen in the third formula in the
above equation. This is noticed if we interpret the denominator to be the arithmetic mean of the
product of numbers n times but each time we omit the jth term. That is, for the first term we
multiply all n numbers but omit the first, for the second we multiply all n numbers but omit the
second and so on. The numerator, excluding the n, which goes with the arithmetic mean, is the
geometric mean to the power n. Thus the nth harmonic mean is related to the nth geometric and
arithmetic means.

If a set of non-identical numbers is subjected to a mean-preserving spread — that is, two or more
elements of the set are "spread apart" from each other while leaving the arithmetic mean
unchanged — then the harmonic mean always decreases.[2]

[edit] Weighted harmonic mean

If a set of weights w1, ..., wn is associated to the dataset x1, ..., xn, the weighted harmonic mean
is defined by

The harmonic mean as defined is the special case where all of the weights are equal to 1, and is
equivalent to any weighted harmonic mean where all weights are equal.

[edit] Examples
[edit] In physics
In certain situations, especially many situations involving rates and ratios, the harmonic mean
provides the truest average. For instance, if a vehicle travels a certain distance at a speed x (e.g.
60 kilometres per hour) and then the same distance again at a speed y (e.g. 40 kilometres per
hour), then its average speed is the harmonic mean of x and y (48 kilometres per hour), and its
total travel time is the same as if it had traveled the whole distance at that average speed.
However, if the vehicle travels for a certain amount of time at a speed x and then the same
amount of time at a speed y, then its average speed is the arithmetic mean of x and y, which in
the above example is 50 kilometres per hour. The same principle applies to more than two
segments: given a series of sub-trips at different speeds, if each sub-trip covers the same
distance, then the average speed is the harmonic mean of all the sub-trip speeds, and if each sub-
trip takes the same amount of time, then the average speed is the arithmetic mean of all the sub-
trip speeds. (If neither is the case, then a weighted harmonic mean or weighted arithmetic mean
is needed.)

Similarly, if one connects two electrical resistors in parallel, one having resistance x (e.g. 60Ω)
and one having resistance y (e.g. 40Ω), then the effect is the same as if one had used two
resistors with the same resistance, both equal to the harmonic mean of x and y (48Ω): the
equivalent resistance in either case is 24Ω (one-half of the harmonic mean). However, if one
connects the resistors in series, then the average resistance is the arithmetic mean of x and y (with
total resistance equal to the sum of x and y). And, as with previous example, the same principle
applies when more than two resistors are connected, provided that all are in parallel or all are in
series.

[edit] In other sciences

In Information retrieval and some other fields, the harmonic mean of the precision and the recall
is often used as an aggregated performance score: the F-score (or F-measure).

An interesting consequence arises from basic algebra in problems of working together. As an

example, if a gas-powered pump can drain a pool in 4 hours and a battery-powered pump can
drain the same pool in 6 hours, then it will take both pumps (6 · 4)/(6 + 4), which is equal to 2.4
hours, to drain the pool together. Interestingly, this is one-half of the harmonic mean of 6 and 4.

In hydrology the harmonic mean is used to average hydraulic conductivity values for flow that is
perpendicular to layers (e.g. geologic or soil) while flow parallel to layers uses the arithmetic
mean. This apparent difference in averaging is explained by the fact that hydrology uses
conductivity, which is the inverse of resistivity.

In sabermetrics, the Power-speed number of a player is the harmonic mean of his home run and
stolen base totals.

When considering fuel economy in automobiles two measures are commonly used – miles per
gallon (mpg), and litres per 100 km. As the dimensions of these quantities are the inverse of each
other (one is distance per volume, the other volume per distance) when taking the mean value of
the fuel-economy of a range of cars one measure will produce the harmonic mean of the other –
i.e. converting the mean value of fuel economy expressed in litres per 100 km to miles per gallon
will produce the harmonic mean of the fuel economy expressed in miles-per-gallon.

[edit] In finance

The harmonic mean is the preferable method for averaging multiples, such as the price/earning
ratio, in which price is in the numerator. If these ratios are averaged using an arithmetic mean (a
common error), high data points are given greater weights than low data points. The harmonic
mean, on the other hand, gives equal weight to each data point.[3]

[edit] In geometry

In any triangle, the radius of the incircle is one-third the harmonic mean of the altitudes.

For any point P on the minor arc BC of the circumcircle of an equilateral triangle ABC, with
distances q and t from B and C respectively, and with the intersection of PA and BC being at a
distance y from point P, we have that y is half the harmonic mean of q and t.[4]

In a right triangle with legs a and b and altitude h from the hypotenuse to the right angle, h2 is
half the harmonic mean of a2 and b2.[5][6]

Let t and s (t > s) be the sides of the two inscribed squares in a right triangle with hypotenuse c.
Then s2 equals half the harmonic mean of c2 and t2.

Let a trapezoid have vertices A, B, C, and D in sequence and have parallel sides AB and CD. Let
E be the intersection of the diagonals, and let F be on side DA and G be on side BC such that
FEG is parallel to AB and CD. Then FG is the harmonic mean of AB and DC.

In the crossed ladders problem, two ladders lie oppositely across an alley, each with feet at the
base of one sidewall, with one leaning against a wall at height A and the other leaning against the
opposite wall at height B, as shown. The ladders cross at a height of h above the alley floor. Then
h is half the harmonic mean of A and B. This result still holds if the walls are slanted but still
parallel and the "height" of the crossing point is measured as the distance from the crossing point
to the floor along a line parallel to the walls.

[edit] Harmonic mean of two numbers

For the special case of just two numbers x1 and x2, the harmonic mean can be written

In this special case, the harmonic mean is related to the arithmetic mean A = (x1 + x2) / 2 and the
geometric mean by

So , meaning the two numbers' geometric mean equals the geometric mean of their
arithmetic and harmonic means.

As noted above this relationship between the three Pythagorean means is not limited to n equals
1 or 2; there is a relationship for all n. However it should be noted that for n equals 1 all means
are equal and for n equals 2 we have the above relationship between the means. For arbitrary n≥2
we may generalize this formula, as noted above, by interpreting the third equation for the
harmonic mean differently. The generalized relationship was already explained above. If one
carefully observes the third equation one will notice it also works for n=1. That is, it predicts the
equivalence between the harmonic and geometric means but it falls short by not predicting the
equivalence between the harmonic and arithmetic means.

The general formula, which can be derived from the third formula for the harmonic mean by the
reinterpretation as explained in relationship with other means, is

Notice that for n=2 we have

where we used the fact that the arithmetic mean evaluates to the same number independent of the
order of the terms. This equation can be reduced to the original equation if we reinterpret this
result in terms of the operators themselves. If we do this we get the symbolic equation

because each function was evaluated at

(x1,x2).