COMPUTING AND

LOCATING PERCENTILE
USING THE STANDARD
NORMAL TABLE
 COMPUTING PERCENTILE USING STANDARD
NORMAL TABLE
▪ PERCENTILE – is a measure of relative standing. It is
descriptive measure of the relationship of a
measurement to the rest of the data

Example:
In a test in Algebra, you got a score of 82 and you want
to know how you fared in comparison with your classmates.
If your teachers tells you that you scored at the 90th
percentile, it means that 90% of the grades were lower
than yours and 10% were higher.
 COMPUTING PERCENTILE USING STANDARD
NORMAL TABLE
▪ Four important things to remember:
1. A probability value corresponds to an area under the
normal curve.
2. The numbers in the body of the table of areas under
the normal curve or the z-table, also known as the
standard normal table are areas or probability.
3. Z-scores to the left of the mean are negative values
4. In locating area at the body of the table, if the
exact area is not available, we take the nearest
area.
EXAMPLE 1: Find the 95th percentile (𝑷𝟗𝟓 ) of a normal
curve.

𝟎. 𝟒𝟓𝟎𝟓 ≈ 𝟏. 𝟔𝟓
𝟎. 𝟒𝟒𝟗𝟓 ≈ 𝟏. 𝟔𝟒

0.50 0.4500 𝟏. 𝟔𝟓 + 𝟏. 𝟔𝟒
𝒛=
𝟐

𝒛 = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟒𝟓
𝟎
? Thus, the 95th percentile of a standard
1.645
normal curve is 1.645
EXAMPLE 2: Find the 85th percentile (𝑷𝟖𝟓 ) of a normal
curve.

0.8500

𝟎
?
1.04
𝟎. 𝟑𝟓𝟎𝟖 ≈ 𝟏. 𝟎𝟒
Thus, the 85th percentile of a standard
normal curve is 1.04
EXAMPLE 3: Find the 10th percentile (𝑷𝟏𝟎 ) of a standard
normal curve.

0.40
0.10
𝟎
? 𝟎. 𝟑𝟗𝟗𝟕 ≈ 𝟏. 𝟐𝟖
𝑷𝟏𝟎 = −𝟏. 𝟐𝟖

Thus, the 10th percentile of a standard

normal curve is -1.28.
EXAMPLE 4: The results of the National Achievement Test
in Mathematics are normally distributed with 𝝁 = 𝟕𝟓 and
𝝈 = 𝟏𝟎. What is the percentile rank of the score 88?
Solution:
Given: 𝜇 = 75; 𝜎 = 10; 𝑋 = 88
𝑋−𝜇 88−75
𝑧= ; 𝑧= = 1.3
𝜎 10

𝑃 𝑧 < 1.3 = 0.5 + 0.4032

𝑷 𝒛 < 𝟏. 𝟑 = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟎𝟑𝟐 𝒐𝒓 𝟗𝟎. 𝟑𝟐%
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
The percentile rank of the
score 88 is 90.32%
1.3
EXAMPLE 5: The results of a nationwide aptitude test in
mathematics are normally distributes with 𝝁 = 𝟖𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝝈 = 𝟏𝟓.
Find the raw score such that 70% of the cases are below
it.

70%

0.5 0.2

𝟎
?
0.52
EXAMPLE 5: The results of a nationwide aptitude test in
mathematics are normally distributes with 𝝁 = 𝟖𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝝈 = 𝟏𝟓.
Find the raw score such that 70% of the cases are below
it.
𝑋−𝜇
𝑧= ;
𝜎

70% 𝑋 = 𝑧𝜎 + 𝜇
0.5 0.2 𝑋 = 0.52 15 + 80
𝟎 𝑿 = 𝟖𝟕. 𝟖
?
0.52 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
In this distribution. 70% of the scores are below
the score 88.
EXAMPLE 6: Having obtained a score of 85 in a recently concluded
unit test in Mathematics, Bob wanted to know how he fared in
comparison with his classmates. His teacher told him that he scored
at the 90th percentile. What is the corresponding z-score of 90th
percentile?

90%

0.5 0.4

𝟎
?
Thus, the 90th percentile of a 1.28
standard normal curve is 1.28
EXAMPLE 7: A normally distributed data has a mean 𝜇 = 45
and 𝜎 = 6. Find the value of 𝑋 that has 13% of the area
below it.
𝑃 𝑧 < ? = 0.13
0.5
0.5 − 0.13 = 0.37
0.37
0.13

𝟎
?
EXAMPLE 7: A normally distributed data has a mean 𝜇 = 45
and 𝜎 = 6. Find the value of 𝑋 that has 13% of the area
below it.
𝑃 𝑧 < ? = 0.13
0.5
0.5 − 0.13 = 0.37
0.37
To find the value of X: 0.13

𝑋 = 𝑧𝜎 + 𝜇 𝟎
?
-1.13
𝑋 = −1.13 6 + 45
𝑿 = 𝟑𝟖. 𝟐𝟐
EXAMPLE 8: Human heights are normally distributed. Assume
the average height for women is 63.6 inches with standard
deviation of 2.5 inches; find the height that separates
the bottom 90% of all women from the top 10%.
𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛; 𝜇 = 63.6; 𝜎 = 2.5
𝑋 = 𝑧𝜎 + 𝜇

90%
𝑋 = 1.28 2.5 + 63.6

0.5 0.4 𝑿 = 𝟔𝟔. 𝟖

𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
𝟎 The height 66.8 inches, she will be taller than
? 90% and only shorter than 10%.
1.28
EXAMPLE 9: Suppose the average score of Mrs. Peraz class in
Statistics and Probability is normally distributed with a mean of 87
and the standard deviation of 12. If the students who belong to the
bottom 5% of the class will have to take a remedial class, what
should be the score of the students who will be required to take the
remedial classes?

𝑋 = 𝑧𝜎 + 𝜇

?
EXAMPLE 10: The average monthly salary of selected journalists
in the Philippines is P28,500. If the salaries follow a normal
distribution with a standard deviation of P5,000; What are the
salaries of the 20% lowest paid journalists?

𝑋 = 𝑧𝜎 + 𝜇

?
 DLP # 4
Solve the following and sketch each curve.
1. Find the 70th percentile (𝑃𝟕𝟎 ) of a standard normal
curve.
2. The final exam scores in a statistics class were
normally distributed with a mean of 63 and standard
deviation of 5. Find the 97.5th percentile.
3. The average monthly salary of selected journalists in
the Philippines is P28,500. If the salaries follow a
normal distribution with a standard deviation of P5,000,
What should be the monthly salary of a journalist to be
included in the top 25% highest paid journalists?