To calculate the standard deviation, we can follow these steps:

Step 1: Find the mean ($\mu$).

The mean is the sum of all the data points divided by the number of data points.

$\mu = \frac{29 + 17 + 2 + 16 + 18}{5} = \frac{82}{5} = 16.4$

Step 2: Calculate the squared differences from the mean.

For each value $x_i$, subtract the mean and square the result:

$(29 - 16.4)^2 = 12.6^2 = 158.76$ $(17 - 16.4)^2 = 0.6^2 = 0.36$ $(2 - 16.4)^2 = (-14.4)^2 = 207.36$ $(16 - 16.4)^2 = (-0.4)^2 = 0.16$ $(18 - 16.4)^2 = 1.6^2 = 2.56$

Step 3: Find the average of these squared differences (variance).

$\text{Variance} = \frac{158.76 + 0.36 + 207.36 + 0.16 + 2.56}{5} = \frac{369.2}{5} = 73.84$

Step 4: Take the square root of the variance to find the standard deviation.

$\text{Standard deviation} = \sqrt{73.84} \approx 8.6$

The standard deviation is 8.6.

Would you like more details or have any questions?

Here are 5 related questions:

1. How does standard deviation differ from variance?
2. How would standard deviation change if a new data point was added?
3. What is the significance of a low vs. high standard deviation?
4. How can outliers affect standard deviation?
5. How would we calculate the population standard deviation for this data?

Tip: When calculating variance, always make sure you're clear if it's for a sample or a population!