The Normal

Distribution
TRUE OR FALSE?
Tell whether the following statements
are either TRUE or FALSE.
 1
The normal curve is asymmetric.
FALSE
The normal curve is symmetric about the mean.
 2
The normal distribution is credited to Carl
Friedrich Gauss.
TRUE
The normal distribution is credited to Carl Gauss because he
developed its equation. Abraham de Moivre was the first to
develop the normal distribution.
 3
A normal distribution can have at least one
mode.
FALSE
A normal curve is always unimodal. It can only have one
and only one mode.
 4
The shape of a normal curve is determined
by its 𝜇 mean; while, its position is
determined by its 𝜎 standard deviation.
FALSE
The shape is determined by its 𝝈 standard deviation, and its
𝝁 mean determines its position.
 5
The wider the normal curve, the larger its
𝜎: the narrower the normal curve, the
smaller the 𝜎.
TRUE
The shape of the normal curve is determined by its 𝝈
standard deviation.
Finding the area under the
standard normal
distribution Curve
1. Find the area between 𝑧 = 0 and 𝑧 = 1.80.
Case 1: Between 0 and any
z value
0.00 … 0.09
0.0 …
0.1 …
… … … …
𝑨 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟔𝟒𝟏 𝒐𝒓 𝟒𝟔. 𝟒𝟏%
1.8 0.4641
2. Find the area between 𝑧 = 1.52 and 𝑧 = 2.5.
Case 3: Between two z values
on the same side of the mean.
0.00 … 0.02
0.0 …
… … … …
𝑨𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟑𝟓𝟕
𝑨𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟗𝟑𝟖 1.5 … 0.4357
𝑨 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟗𝟑𝟖 − 𝟎. 𝟒𝟑𝟓𝟕 … … …
= 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟖𝟏 𝒐𝒓 𝟓. 𝟖𝟏% 2.5 0.4938
3. Find the area between 𝑧 = −0.33 and 𝑧 = 2.14.
Case 4: Between two z values
on the opposite side of the
𝐴1 𝐴2
0.00 mean
… 0.03 0.04

0.0 …

… … … …
𝑨𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟐𝟗𝟑
0.3 … 0.1293
𝑨𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟖𝟑𝟖
𝑨 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟖𝟑𝟖 + 𝟎. 𝟏𝟐𝟗𝟑 … … …

= 𝟎. 𝟔𝟏𝟑𝟏 𝒐𝒓 𝟔𝟏. 𝟑𝟏% 2.1 0.4838

4. Find the area to the left of 𝑧 = −1.23.
Case 2: In any two tails
0.00 … 0.03
0.0 …
0.1 …

𝑨 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎 − 𝟎. 𝟑𝟗𝟎𝟕 … … … …
= 𝟎. 𝟏𝟎𝟗𝟑 𝒐𝒓 𝟏𝟎. 𝟗𝟑% 1.2 0.3907
Standard scores
(z scores)
 Standard Scores
- The standard score or z-score measures how many standard
deviations a given value (x) is above or below the mean.
- It is used to compare observed values based on a relative standard
which uses the mean and standard deviation.
- A positive z-score indicates that the value is above the mean,
whereas a negative z-score indicates that the value is below the
mean.

−𝑧 𝜇 +𝑧
 Standard Scores
- The z-score or standard score for a value is obtained by subtracting
the mean from the value and dividing the result by the standard
deviation, that is, 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑧=
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Sample: Population:
𝑥−𝑥ҧ 𝑥−𝜇
𝑧= 𝑧 =
𝑠 𝜎
where, 𝑥 = 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 where, 𝑥 = 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
𝑥ҧ = 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 μ = 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑠 = 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 σ = 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Example 1) In a normal distribution, the sample mean is
75 and the sample standard deviation is 4. Find the
corresponding standard score of 69.
Given: 𝑥−𝑥ҧ
𝑧=
𝑠
𝑥ҧ = 75 69−75 6 3
s=4 𝑧= = − = − = −1.50
4 4 2
𝑥 = 69
∴69 lies 1.50 standard deviations
below 75.
 Remember:
When all data for a variable are transformed into z
scores, the resulting distribution will have a mean of
zero (0) and a standard deviation of one (1).
Example 2) In a normal distribution, the population
mean is 60 and the population standard deviation is 3.2.
Find the corresponding standard score of 68.
𝑥−𝜇
Given: 𝑧=
𝜎
𝜇 = 60 68−60 8
𝑧= = = 2.50
𝜎 = 3.2 3.2 3.2
𝑥 = 68
∴68 is 2.50 standard deviations
above 60.
Example 3) A student scored 65 on a Calculus test that
had a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Find
the corresponding standard score for the student’s score.
𝑥−𝜇
Given: 𝑧=
𝜎
𝜇 = 50 65−50 15
𝜎 = 10 𝑧= = = 1.50
10 10
𝑥 = 65
∴65 is 1.50 standard deviations
above 50.
Example 4) A male student scored 60 on a Filipino test that
had a mean of 40 and a standard deviation of 10; he scored
30 on a History test with a mean of 25 and a standard
deviation of 5. Compare his standing on the two tests.
Filipino Test: ∴Since the z-score for
60−40 20 Filipino is larger, his class
𝑧= = = 2.00
10 10 standing in the Filipino
History Test: class is higher than his
30−25 5
𝑧= = = 1.00 standing in his History
5 5
class.
Example 5) The mean height of the students in Grade 1-
Newton is 125cm and the standard deviation is 3.5cm.
Assuming the heights are normally distributed, what
percent of the heights is:
a. 135cm
b. less than 128cm
c. between 115cm and 130cm
Given: 𝜇 = 125𝑐𝑚 𝜎 = 3.50𝑐𝑚
a. 𝑥 = 135𝑐𝑚
• Transform the score to a standard score:
135−125 10
𝑧= = = 2.8571 ≈ 2.86
3.50 3.5
• Construct the normal curve
and shade the area needed:
Between 125 & 135
• Determine the area:
The area needed is between 0 and the z score, so just look up the area in
the table.
𝐴 = 0.4979 𝑜𝑟 49.79%
Given: 𝜇 = 125𝑐𝑚 𝜎 = 3.50𝑐𝑚
b. 𝑥 = 128𝑐𝑚
• Transform the score to a standard score:
128−125 3
𝑧= = = 0.8571 ≈ 0.86
3.50 3.5
• Construct the normal curve
and shade the area needed:
Less than 128
• Determine the area:
The area needed is less than a z score greater than the mean, so look up
the area in the table and add 0.5000.
𝐴 = 0.3051 + 0.5000 = 0.8051 𝑜𝑟 80.51%
Given: 𝜇 = 125𝑐𝑚 𝜎 = 3.50𝑐𝑚
b. 𝑥1 = 115𝑐𝑚 and 𝑥2 = 130𝑐𝑚
• Transform the scores to standard scores:
115−125 10
𝑧1 = = − = −2.8571 ≈ −2.86
3.50 3.5
130−125 5
𝑧2 = = = 1.4286 ≈ 1.43
3.50 3.5
• Construct the normal curve
and shade the area needed:
Between 115 and 130
• Determine the area:
The area needed is between two z scores on the opposite side of
the mean, so look up the areas in the table and add the areas.
𝐴 = 0.4979 + 0.4236 = 0.9215 𝑜𝑟 92.15%
 Practice Exercises
Think Pair-Share

On Exercise 2.2 (Unit 2 pp. 24 – 27):

Math Groupie A. nos. 13-16
Math Smash no. 26
 Enrichment

On Exercise 2.2 (Unit 2 pp. 24 – 27):

Math Smash nos. 27 - 31