Calculate the mean deviation of 5, 8, 2, 9 and 6

To calculate the mean deviation, we need to first find the mean or average of the given values. Mean or average is calculated by adding up all the values and then dividing the sum by the total number of values. In this case, the sum of the given values is 5 + 8 + 2 + 9 + 6 = 30. Dividing this sum by the total number of values, which is 5 in this case, we get the mean or average as 30/5 = 6. Now, to find the mean deviation, we need to find the deviation of each value from the mean, which is the absolute difference between the value and the mean. For example, the deviation of 5 from the mean is |5 - 6| = 1. Similarly, the deviation of 8 from the mean is |8 - 6| = 2, and so on for all the values. Once we have found the deviation of each value from the mean, we add up all the deviations and divide the sum by the total number of values to get the mean deviation. In this case, the sum of all the deviations is 1 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 0 = 10. Dividing this sum by the total number of values, which is 5, we get the mean deviation as 10/5 = 2. Therefore, the answer is: 2.