OpenStax-CNX module: m16978 1

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Normal Distribution: Homework

Susan Dean

Barbara Illowsky, Ph.D.

This work is produced by OpenStax-CNX and licensed under the

„
Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0

Exercise 1 (Solution on p. 7.)

According to a study done by De Anza students, the height for Asian adult males is normally
distributed with an average of 66 inches and a standard deviation of 2.5 inches. Suppose one Asian
adult male is randomly chosen. Let X =height of the individual.
a. X∼_______(_______,_______)
b. Find the probability that the person is between
65 and 69 inches. Include a sketch of the graph
and write a probability statement.
c. Would you expect to meet many Asian adult males over 72 inches? Explain why or why not,
and justify your answer numerically.
d. The middle 40% of heights fall between what two values? Sketch the graph and write the
probability statement.

Exercise 2
IQ is normally distributed with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Suppose one
individual is randomly chosen. Let X =IQ of an individual.
a. X∼_______(_______,_______)
b. Find the probability that the person has an IQ greater than 120. Include a sketch of the graph
and write a probability statement.
c. Mensa is an organization whose members have the top 2% of all IQs. Find the minimum IQ
needed to qualify for the Mensa organization. Sketch the graph and write the probability
statement.
d. The middle 50% of IQs fall between what two values? Sketch the graph and write the probability
statement.

Exercise 3 (Solution on p. 7.)

The percent of fat calories that a person in America consumes each day is normally distributed
with a mean of about 36 and a standard deviation of 10. Suppose that one individual is randomly
chosen. Let X =percent of fat calories.
a. X∼_______(_______,_______)
b. Find the probability that the percent of fat caloriesa person consumes is more than 40. Graph
the situation. Shade in the area to be determined.
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c. Find the maximum number for the lower quarter of percent of fat calories. Sketch the graph
and write the probability statement.

Exercise 4
Suppose that the distance of y balls hit to the outeld (in baseball) is normally distributed with
a mean of 250 feet and a standard deviation of 50 feet.
a. If X = distance in feet for a y ball, then X∼_______(_______,_______)
b. If one y ball is randomly chosen from this distribution, what is the probability that this ball
traveled fewer than 220 feet? Sketch the graph. Scale the horizontal axis X. Shade the region
corresponding to the probability. Find the probability.
c. Find the 80th percentile of the distribution of y balls. Sketch the graph and write the probability
statement.

Exercise 5 (Solution on p. 7.)

In China, 4-year-olds average 3 hours a day unsupervised. Most of the unsupervised children live
in rural areas, considered safe. Suppose that the standard deviation is 1.5 hours and the amount
of time spent alone is normally distributed. We randomly survey one Chinese 4-year-old living in a
rural area. We are interested in the amount of time the child spends alone per day. (Source: San
Jose Mercury News)

a. In words, dene the random variable X . X =

b. X∼
c. Find the probability that the child spends less than 1 hour per day unsupervised. Sketch the
graph and write the probability statement.
d. What percent of the children spend over 10 hours per day unsupervised?
e. 70% of the children spend at least how long per day unsupervised?

Exercise 6
In the 1992 presidential election, Alaska's 40 election districts averaged 1956.8 votes per district
for President Clinton. The standard deviation was 572.3. (There are only 40 election districts in
Alaska.) The distribution of the votes per district for President Clinton was bell-shaped. Let X =
number of votes for President Clinton for an election district. (Source: The World Almanac
and Book of Facts)

a. State the approximate distribution of X . X∼

b. Is 1956.8 a population mean or a sample mean? How do you know?
c. Find the probability that a randomly selected district had fewer than 1600 votes for President
Clinton. Sketch the graph and write the probability statement.
d. Find the probability that a randomly selected district had between 1800 and 2000 votes for
President Clinton.
e. Find the third quartile for votes for President Clinton.

Exercise 7 (Solution on p. 7.)

Suppose that the duration of a particular type of criminal trial is known to be normally distributed
with a mean of 21 days and a standard deviation of 7 days.
a. In words, dene the random variable X . X =
b. X∼
c. If one of the trials is randomly chosen, nd the probability that it lasted at least 24 days. Sketch
the graph and write the probability statement.
d. 60% of all of these types of trials are completed within how many days?

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Exercise 8
Terri Vogel, an amateur motorcycle racer, averages 129.71 seconds per 2.5 mile lap (in a 7 lap
race) with a standard deviation of 2.28 seconds . The distribution of her race times is normally
distributed. We are interested in one of her randomly selected laps. (Source: log book of Terri
Vogel)
a. In words, dene the random variable X . X =
b. X∼
c. Find the percent of her laps that are completed in less than 130 seconds.
d. The fastest 3% of her laps are under _______ .
e. The middle 80% of her laps are from _______ seconds to _______ seconds.
Exercise 9 (Solution on p. 7.)
Thuy Dau, Ngoc Bui, Sam Su, and Lan Voung conducted a survey as to how long customers at
Lucky claimed to wait in the checkout line until their turn. Let X =time in line. Below are the
ordered real data (in minutes):

0.50 4.25 5 6 7.25

1.75 4.25 5.25 6 7.25
2 4.25 5.25 6.25 7.25
2.25 4.25 5.5 6.25 7.75
2.25 4.5 5.5 6.5 8
2.5 4.75 5.5 6.5 8.25
2.75 4.75 5.75 6.5 9.5
3.25 4.75 5.75 6.75 9.5
3.75 5 6 6.75 9.75
3.75 5 6 6.75 10.75
Table 1

a. Calculate the sample mean and the sample standard deviation.

b. Construct a histogram. Start the x − axis at −0.375 and make bar widths of 2 minutes.
c. Draw a smooth curve through the midpoints of the tops of the bars.
d. In words, describe the shape of your histogram and smooth curve.
e. Let the sample mean approximate µ and the sample standard deviation approximate σ . The
distribution of X can then be approximated by X∼
f. Use the distribution in (e) to calculate the probability that a person will wait fewer than 6.1
minutes.
g. Determine the cumulative relative frequency for waiting less than 6.1 minutes.
h. Why aren't the answers to (f) and (g) exactly the same?
i. Why are the answers to (f) and (g) as close as they are?
j. If only 10 customers were surveyed instead of 50, do you think the answers to (f) and (g) would
have been closer together or farther apart? Explain your conclusion.
Exercise 10
Suppose that Ricardo and Anita attend dierent colleges. Ricardo's GPA is the same as the
average GPA at his school. Anita's GPA is 0.70 standard deviations above her school average. In
complete sentences, explain why each of the following statements may be false.

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a. Ricardo's actual GPA is lower than Anita's actual GPA.

b. Ricardo is not passing since his z-score is zero.
c. Anita is in the 70th percentile of students at her college.

Exercise 11 (Solution on p. 7.)

Below is a sample of the maximum capacity (maximum number of spectators) of sports stadiums.
The table does not include horse racing or motor racing stadiums. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s

40,000 40,000 45,050 45,500 46,249 48,134

49,133 50,071 50,096 50,466 50,832 51,100
51,500 51,900 52,000 52,132 52,200 52,530
52,692 53,864 54,000 55,000 55,000 55,000
55,000 55,000 55,000 55,082 57,000 58,008
59,680 60,000 60,000 60,492 60,580 62,380
62,872 64,035 65,000 65,050 65,647 66,000
66,161 67,428 68,349 68,976 69,372 70,107
70,585 71,594 72,000 72,922 73,379 74,500
75,025 76,212 78,000 80,000 80,000 82,300
Table 2

a. Calculate the sample mean and the sample standard deviation for the maximum capacity of
sports stadiums (the data).
b. Construct a histogram of the data.
c. Draw a smooth curve through the midpoints of the tops of the bars of the histogram.
d. In words, describe the shape of your histogram and smooth curve.
e. Let the sample mean approximate µ and the sample standard deviation approximate σ . The
distribution of X can then be approximated by X∼
f. Use the distribution in (e) to calculate the probability that the maximum capacity of sports
stadiums is less than 67,000 spectators.
g. Determine the cumulative relative frequency that the maximum capacity of sports stadiums is
less than 67,000 spectators. Hint: Order the data and count the sports stadiums that have
a maximum capacity less than 67,000. Divide by the total number of sports stadiums in the
sample.
h. Why aren't the answers to (f) and (g) exactly the same?

1 Try These Multiple Choice Questions

The questions below refer to the following: The patient recovery time from a particular surgical
procedure is normally distributed with a mean of 5.3 days and a standard deviation of 2.1 days.
Exercise 12 (Solution on p. 7.)
What is the median recovery time?
A. 2.7

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OpenStax-CNX module: m16978 5

B. 5.3
C. 7.4
D. 2.1

Exercise 13 (Solution on p. 7.)

What is the z-score for a patient who takes 10 days to recover?
A. 1.5
B. 0.2
C. 2.2
D. 7.3

Exercise 14 (Solution on p. 7.)

What is the probability of spending more than 2 days in recovery?
A. 0.0580
B. 0.8447
C. 0.0553
D. 0.9420

Exercise 15 (Solution on p. 7.)

The 90th percentile for recovery times is?
A. 8.89
B. 7.07
C. 7.99
D. 4.32

The questions below refer to the following: The length of time to nd a parking space at 9 A.M.
follows a normal distribution with a mean of 5 minutes and a standard deviation of 2 minutes.
Exercise 16 (Solution on p. 7.)
Based upon the above information and numerically justied, would you be surprised if it took less
than 1 minute to nd a parking space?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Unable to determine

Exercise 17 (Solution on p. 7.)

Find the probability that it takes at least 8 minutes to nd a parking space.
A. 0.0001
B. 0.9270
C. 0.1862
D. 0.0668

Exercise 18 (Solution on p. 7.)

Seventy percent of the time, it takes more than how many minutes to nd a parking space?
A. 1.24
B. 2.41
C. 3.95

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D. 6.05

Exercise 19 (Solution on p. 8.)

If the mean is signicantly greater than the standard deviation, which of the following statements
is true?
I . The data cannot follow the uniform distribution.
II . The data cannot follow the exponential distribution..
III . The data cannot follow the normal distribution.

A. I only
B. II only
C. III only
D. I, II, and III

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Solutions to Exercises in this Module

Solution to Exercise (p. 1)

a. N (66, 2.5)
b. 0.5404
c. No
d. Between 64.7 and 67.3 inches
Solution to Exercise (p. 1)

a. N (36,10)
b. 0.3446
c. 29.3

Solution to Exercise (p. 2)

a. the time (in hours) a 4-year-old in China spends unsupervised per day
b. N (3, 1.5)
c. 0.0912
d. 0
e. 2.21 hours

Solution to Exercise (p. 2)

a. The duration of a criminal trial

b. N (21, 7)
c. 0.3341
d. 22.77

Solution to Exercise (p. 3)

a. The sample mean is 5.51 and the sample standard deviation is 2.15
e. N (5.51, 2.15)
f. 0.6081
g. 0.64

Solution to Exercise (p. 4)

a. The sample mean is 60,136.4 and the sample standard deviation is 10,468.1.
e. N (60136.4, 10468.1)
f. 0.7440
g. 0.7167

Solution to Exercise (p. 4)

B
Solution to Exercise (p. 5)
C
Solution to Exercise (p. 5)
D
Solution to Exercise (p. 5)
C
Solution to Exercise (p. 5)
A
Solution to Exercise (p. 5)
D

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Solution to Exercise (p. 5)

C
Solution to Exercise (p. 6)
B

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