REVIEW

1. What is a discrete v ariable?

2. Giv e an ex ample of a discrete
random v ariable.
3. What is a continuous random
variable?
4. Giv e an ex ample of a
continuous random v ariable.
What can you
say about the
picture?
 NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of lesson students are
expected to:

• define and de scribe the

c hara cteristic s of a normal
random varia ble;
• illustrate a norma l ra ndom
variable and its c haracteristics;
a nd
• Construct a normal c urve
 NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
• the most important and most widely used distribution in
statistics.
• It is sometimes called the "bell curve, or "Gaussian
curve" after the mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss.
• is a probability distribution that is symmetric about the
mean, showing that data near the mean are more frequent
in occurrence than data far from the mean.
 • a bell-shaped curve which shows the
NORMAL probability distribution of a continuous
CURVE random variable
• represents a normal distribution.
• The total area under the normal curve
logically represents the sum of all
probabilities for a random variable.
Hence, the area under the normal curve is
one.
NORMAL
CURVE • the standard normal curve represents a
normal curve with mean 0 and standard
deviation 1
• Thus, the parameters involved in a
normal distribution is mean ( μ ) and
standard deviation ( σ ).
 PROPERTIES OF A NORMAL CURVE

1. The curve of the distribution

is a bell-shaped

2. The curve is symmetrical

about the mean
 PROPERTIES OF A NORMAL CURVE

3. The mean, median, and mode of the

distribution are equal and located at the
center of the distribution.

4. The width of the curve is determined

by the standard deviation of the
distribution
 PROPERTIES OF A NORMAL CURVE
5. The curve extend indefinitely
approaching the x-axis but never
touching it. Thus, the curve is
asymptotic to the line

6. The total area under the curve of

the probability density function is
equal to 1.
 68-95-99.7 also referred to as the three-sigma
rule or 68-95-99.7 rule, is a
EMPIRICAL
statistical rule which states that
RULE
for a normal distribution, almost
all observed data will fall within
three standard deviations
(denoted by σ) of the mean or
average (denoted by µ)
 68-95-99.7 EMPIRICAL RULE
Under this rule,

68% of the 95% percent

data falls within two
within one standard
standard deviations, and
deviation,

99.7% within three standard deviations from the

mean.
EXAMPLE 1

If the diameter of a basketball is normally distributed, with a

mean (µ) of 9″, and a standard deviation (σ) of 0.5″, what is
the probability that a randomly chosen basketball will have a
diameter between 9.5″ and 10.5″?
SOLUTION

Since the σ = 0.5″ and the µ = 9″, we are evaluating the

probability that a randomly chosen ball will have a diameter
between 1 and 3 standard deviations above the mean. The
graphic below shows the portion of the normal distribution
included between 1 and 3 SDs:
The percentage of the data spanning the 2nd and 3rd SDs is 13.5% +
2.35% = 15.85%
The probability that a randomly chosen basketball will have a
diameter between 9.5 and 10.5 inches is 15.85%.
EXAMPLE 2

If the depth of the snow in my yard is normally distributed,

with µ = 2.5″ and σ = .25″, what is the probability that a
randomly chosen location will have a snow depth between
2.25 and 2.75 inches?
SOLUTION

2.25 inches is µ − 1σ, and 2.75 inches is µ + 1σ, so the area

encompassed approximately represents 34% + 34% = 68%.

The probability that a randomly chosen location will have a

depth between 2.25 and 2.75 inches is 68%.
EXAMPLE 3

If the height of women in the United States is normally

distributed with µ = 5′ 8″ and σ = 1.5″, what is the
probability that a randomly chosen woman in the United
States is shorter than 5′ 5″?
SOLUTION
This one is slightly different, since we aren’t looking for the
probability of a limited range of values. We want to evaluate the
probability of a value occurring anywhere below 5′ 5″. Since the
domain of a normal distribution is infinite, we can’t actually
state the probability of the portion of the distribution on “that
end” because it has no “end”! What we need to do is add up the
probabilities that we do know and subtract them from 100% to
get the remainder.
Recall that a normal distribution always has 50% of the data on
each side of the mean. That indicates that 50% of US females
are taller than 5′ 8″, and gives us a solid starting point to
calculate from. There is another 34% between 5′ 6.5″ and 5′ 8″
and a final 13.5% between 5′ 5″ and 5′ 6.5″.
 Ultimately that totals: 50% + 34% + 13.5% = 97.5%. Since 97.5%
of US females are 5′ 5″ or taller, that leaves 2.5% that are less than 5′
5″ tall
 Activity:
Direction: Construct a normal curve and find
the probability of the given problem
1. A normally distributed data set has µ = 10 and σ = 2.5, what is
the probability of randomly selecting a value greater than 17.5
from the set?

2. A normally distributed data set has µ = .05 and σ = .01, what

is the probability of randomly choosing a value between .05 and
.07 from the set?

3. A normally distributed data set has µ = 514 and an unknown

standard deviation, what is the probability that a randomly
selected value will be less than 514?
Solutions

1. If µ = 10 and σ = 2.5, then 17.5 = µ + 3σ. Since we are looking

for all data above that point, we need to subtract the probability
that a value will occur below that value from 100%: The
probability that a value will be less than 10 is 50%, since 10 is the
mean. There is another 34% between 10 and 12.5, another 13.5%
between 12.5 and 15, and a final 2.35% between 15 and 17.5.
100% −50% −34% −13.5% −2.35% = 0.15% probability of a
value greater than 17.5
Solutions

2. 0.05 is the mean, and 0.07 is 2 standard deviations above the

mean, so the probability of a value in that range is 34% +
13.5% = 47.5%

3. 514 is the mean, so the probability of a value less than that is

50%.
ASSIGNMENT
In your ctivity notebook, fill in the blanks with the appropriate word or phrase to make
meaningful statements.

1. The curve of a probability distribution is formed by __________.

2. The area under a normal curve is ____________.
3. The important values that best describe a normal curve are ______________.
4. There are ________ standard deviation units at the baseline of a normal curve.
5. The curve of a normal distribution extends indefinitely at the tails but does not ___________.
6. The area under a normal curve may also be expressed in terms of ________ or __________or
___________.
7. The mean, median, and mode of a normal curve are ___________
8. A normal curve is used ________________
"The normal curve teaches us that there will always
be ups and downs in life. Keep pushing through the
lows and celebrating the highs."

-Anonymous
THANK YOU