Probabilities
on the Normal Distribution |
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The
Problem: Given a normal distribution X with mean m and standard deviation s, what is the probability that X is between a and b? P(a<X<b) |
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The Solution:
Press
and arrow to the STAT picture. Press
and you'll be in the STAT mode. Press
(DIST for distribution), then
(NORM for Normal). You'll see three choices. For this problem, press
( Ncd for Normal, cumulative distribution). Enter the a value in
the row that says Lower:. and . Enter the b
value (in the row Upper:) and . The next value to type in is
the standard deviation s.
Press
and type in the mean m. Now press
(yes, twice) to see the results.
(Note: the Save Res row is there if you want to Save Results.)
If you want to compute P(X < b),
then make a very small.
If you want to compute P(X > a), then make b very large. |
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Examples: A
normal distribution X has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 8.
- What is the probability that X is
between 90 and 110?
- What is the probability that X is
larger than 120?
Solutions: (Once in STAT
mode)
(DIST)
(NORM)
(Ncd)

(DIST)
(NORM)
(Ncd)

Answers:
- p=0.78870045, z:Low = -1.25, z:Up
= 1.25
- p=6.2097E-03
(that is, 0.0062097), z:Low = 2.5, z:Up = 112.5
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Inverse
Probabilities on the Normal Distribution |
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The
Problem: Given a normal distribution X with mean m and standard deviation s, what
x-value is larger than
a percentage p of the data? (p must be between 0 and 1, naturally.)
I.e., for what x is P( X < x) = p? |
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The Solution:
Press
and arrow to the STAT picture. Press
and you'll be in the STAT mode. Press
(DIST for distribution)
(NORM for Normal) You'll see three choices. For this problem, press
( InvN for inverse normal). You will see the first row darkened in
- Tail:Left. We want this for our problem. (But you can press
if your problem is P(X > x) = p or
if your problem is P(-x < X < x) = p.) Press . The next row says Area: type in
the p value and . Next type in the standard
deviation s
and . Finally, enter the
m value and press
(yes, twice) for the results. |
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Examples: A
normal distribution has a mean of 20 and a standard deviation of 3.
- Find x such that P(X < x) = 70%
- Find x such that P(X > x) = 80%
- Find x such that P(-x < X < x)
= 42%
Solutions: (Once in
STAT mode)
(DIST)
(NORM)
(InvN) Press (Tail: Left)

(DIST)
(NORM)
(InvN) Press
(Right)

(DIST)
(NORM)
(InvN) Press
(Right)

Answers:
- x = 21.5732015
- x = 17.4751363
- x:Low =
18.3398458 x:Up = 21.6601552
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