I'm trying to find the median of $f(x) = 4xe^{-2x}$.
So far, I've tried solving for $q_{50}$ by plugging it into an integral and setting it equal to 0.5 like so: $\int_{0}^{q_{50}} 4xe^{-2x} dx = 0.5$. I eventually get to $-2q_{50}e^{-2q_{50}} – e^{-2q_{50}} + 1 = 0.5$. Unfortunately, at this point, I have been unable to solve for $q_{50}$.
Is there something I've done wrong up to this point or another method that I could be using instead to find the median? Thanks for the help!
Best Answer
Letting $x=q_{50}$, as @Vítězslav Štembera answered, you want to solve for $x$ the equation $$ (2 x+1)\,e^{-2 x}=k \quad\implies\quad(2x+1)\,e^{-(2 x+1)}=\frac k e$$ The only explicit solution of it is given by $$x=-\frac{1}{2} \left(1+W_{-1}\left(-\frac{k}{e}\right)\right)$$ where $W_{-1}(.)$ is the second branch of Lambert function.
If you cannot use Lambert function, only numerical methods would give the solution.