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Data can be spread in various ways
Mathematics as a Tool
Data Management 05
(Normal Distributions) • Age of people found in a pre-school. • Age of people visiting a carnival.
• Age when kids lose their first tooth. • Age when people get married
• Age of bottles of wine found in a cellar. • Age when people got their first driver’s license
• Age of dogs found in the pound. • Age of people waiting in a pediatric clinic
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Normal Distribution Properties of a Normal Distribution
• A normal distribution forms a bell-shaped curve that is symmetric • Graph is symmetric about a vertical line through the mean of the
about a vertical line through the mean of the data. distribution.
• The mean, median and mode are equal.
• Some data sets that are often found to approximately follow a normal • The 𝑦-value of each point on the curve is the percent (expressed as a
distribution decimal) of the data at the corresponding 𝑥-value.
• Height • Areas under the curve that are symmetric about the mean are equal.
• Weight
• Temperature
• The total area under the curve is 1.
• Scores
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Empirical Rule for a Normal Distribution EXERCISE
• In a normal distribution, The weights of tomatoes for a certain shipment is approximately normally
approximately distributed with a mean of 0.61 lb and a standard deviation of 0.15 lb.
• 68% of the data lie within 1 a. What percent of the tomatoes weigh less than 0.76 lb?
standard deviation of the
mean
b. In a shipment of 6000 tomatoes, how many tomatoes can be expected to
• 95% of the data lie within 2 weigh more than 0.31 lb?
standard deviations of the
mean
c. In a shipment of 4500 tomatoes, how many tomatoes can be expected to
• 99.7% of the data lie within weigh between 0.31 lb to 0.91 lb?
3 standard deviations of the
mean
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The Standard Normal Distribution The Standard Normal Distribution
• The standard normal • Note: The z-score of a data
distribution is the normal value from any normal
distribution that has a mean of distribution converts that data
0 and a standard deviation of 1. value into its corresponding
value on a standard normal
distribution.
For data from a For data from a
population: sample:
𝑥−𝜇 𝑥 − 𝑥̅
𝑧 = 𝑧 =
𝜎 𝑠
Area under the standard normal curve*
• A is the area of the
shaded region.
… … … … … … …
*right hand area EXAMPLE
In a standard normal distribution, the area
from 𝑧 = a to 𝑧 = b represent
• the percentage of 𝑧-
values that lie in the
interval from a to b.
• the probability that 𝑧
lies in the interval a b
from a to b.
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EXERCISES EXERCISES
3. For a certain type of computer, the length of time between charges of
1. A radar unit is used to measure speeds of cars on a motorway. The the battery is normally distributed with a mean of 50 hours and a
speeds are normally distributed with a mean of 85 km/hr and a standard deviation of 15 hours. What is the probability that the length of
standard deviation of 10 km/hr. What is the probability that a car time will be between 40 and 70 hours?
picked at random is travelling at more than 100 km/hr? 4. Results of a state-wide reading exam of 6th grade students are normally
2. Entry to a certain university is determined by a national test. The distributed with a mean of 104 and a standard deviation of 16. The
scores on this test are normally distributed with a mean of 500 and students in the top 10% are to receive an award, and those in the bottom
14% will be required to take a special reading class.
a standard deviation of 100. To be admitted to this university, one
a. What score does a student need in order to receive an award?
must score better than at least 70% of the students who took the
b. What is the cut-off score that will be used to determine whether a student will be
test. Suppose Tom scores 585 on the exam, will he be admitted to required to take the special reading class?
this university?
Textbook exercises you can work on
independently: Exercise Set 4.4, pp. 141 -143
(not including data in a relative frequency distribution table)
