standard normal
distribution
The Standard Normal Distribution
The standard normal distribution, also called the
z-distribution, is a special normal distribution
where the mean is 0 and the standard deviation
is 1.
The Standard Normal Distribution
It is often helpful to convert data values x to z-scores, by
using the z-score formulas:
If the original distribution of x values is a normal distribution,
then the corresponding distribution of z-scores will also be a
normal distribution.
The Standard Normal Distribution
See Figure 13.7. It has a
mean of 0 and a standard
deviation of 1.
The Standard Normal Distribution
Tables and calculators are often used to determine the area under a portion of the
standard normal curve. We will refer to this type of area as an area of the
standard normal distribution.
Normal curve table gives the approximate areas of the standard normal
distribution between the mean 0 and z standard deviations from the mean.
The Standard Normal Distribution
Because the standard normal distribution is
symmetrical about the mean of 0, we can also use
normal curve table to find the area of a region that is
located to the left of the mean.
This process is explained in Example 3.
Example 3 – Use Symmetry to Determine an Area
Find the area of the standard normal distribution between ?z
= –1.44 and z = 0.
Solution:?Because the standard normal distribution is
symmetrical about the center line z = 0, the area of the standard
normal distribution between z = –1.44 and z = 0 is equal to the
area between z = 0 and z = 1.44.
Example 3 – Solution
The entry in normal curve table
associated with z = 1.44 is
0.425.
Thus the area of the standard
normal distribution between
z = –1.44 and z = 0 is 0.425
square unit.
The Standard Normal Distribution
In Figure 13.10, the region to the right
of z = 0.82 is called a tail region. A tail
region is a region of the standard
normal distribution to the right of a
positive z-value or to the left of a
negative z-value.
To find the area of a tail region, we subtract the entry in normal
curve table from 0.500.
The Standard Normal Distribution
Because the area of a portion of the standard normal distribution can be interpreted as
a percentage of the data or as a probability that the variable lies in a particular
interval, we can use the standard normal distribution to solve many application
problems.
Example 5 – Solve an Application
A soda machine dispenses soda into 12-ounce cups. Tests show that the
actual amount of soda dispensed is normally distributed, with a mean
of 11.5 oz and a standard deviation of 0.2 oz.
a. What percent of cups will receive less than 11.25 oz of ? soda?
b. What percent of cups will receive between 11.2 oz and ? 11.55 oz
of soda?
c. If a cup is filled at random, what is the probability that the machine
will overflow the cup?
Example 5 – Solution
a. We know that the formula for the z-score for a data value ? x is
The z-score for 11.25 oz is
Example 5 – Solution
Normal curve table indicates that 0.394 (39.4%) of the ?
data in a normal distribution are between z = 0 and ?
z = 1.25.
Because the data are normally distributed, 39.4% of
the ? data is also between z = 0 and z = –1.25.
b. The z-score for 11.55 ounces is
Normal curve table indicates that 0.099 (9.9%) of the? data in a normal
distribution is between z = 0 and ? z = 0.25. The z-score for 11.2 oz is
Normal curve table indicates that 0.433 (43.3%) of the? data in a
normal distribution are between z = 0 and ? z = 1.5.
Example 5 – Solution
The percent of data to the left of
z = –1.25 is ?50% – 39.4% = 10.6%.
See Figure 13.11.
Thus 10.6% of the cups filled by the soda machine will receive less
than 11.25 oz of soda.
Example 5 – Solution
Because the data are normally distributed,
43.3% of the data are also between z = 0
and z = –1.5. See Figure 13.12.
Thus the percent of the cups that the vending machine will fill with
between 11.2 oz and 11.55 oz of soda is ?43.3% + 9.9% = 53.2%.
c. A cup will overflow if it receives more than 12 oz of ? soda.
The z-score for 12 oz is
Normal curve table indicates that 0.494 (49.4%) of the data in the standard
normal distribution are between ? z = 0 and z = 2.5.
The percent of data to the right of z = 2.5 is determined by subtracting 49.4%
from 50%.
Example 5 – Solution
See Figure 13.13.
Thus 0.6% of the time the machine produces an overflow, and the
probability that a cup filled at random will overflow is 0.006.
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