Intermediate · Research
Centroid
Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.
TL;DR. The central point of a cluster, typically calculated as the mean of all data points within that cluster in algorithms like k-means.
Technical Definition
The central point of a cluster, typically calculated as the mean of all data points within that cluster in algorithms like k-means.
How it works
In certain clustering algorithms, such as k-means or k-median, the centroid represents the center of a cluster. It is calculated as the average position of all the data points assigned to that cluster. The algorithm aims to place data points near these centroids.
Related Concepts
- Clustering — An unsupervised technique that groups similar data points without using labels.
- Cluster analysis — The process of grouping similar data points together into clusters, used for exploratory data mining and pattern recognition.