If a particular standardized test has a mean score of 500 and standard deviation of 100, what

percentage of test-takers score between 500 and 600?

95%
68%
34%
50%

Your information has been submitted. Result:

Correct!
100 is one standard deviation above the mean (600-500 =100= 1*100 = 1*stdev).  We know
that approximately 68% of the distribution is within 1 standard deviation of the mean.
Therefore 34% must fall beyond 1 standard deviation above the mean.

Previous QuestionQuestion 3 of 22Next Question

To better assess student understanding of confidence intervals, a professor gives a test to a

random sample of 15 students. The grades for those students are provided below.
Calculate the 90% confidence interval for the true average grade on the text.
First, calculate the mean and standard deviation of the sample grades using formulas
=AVERAGE(A2:A16) and =STDEV.S(A2:A16) in any of the open cells. The values are
approximately 76.93 and 11.73 respectively. 

Second, calculate the margin of error. Because the sample size is less than 30, use the
function CONFIDENCE.T(alpha, standard_dev, size) to find the margin of error using the t-
distribution. Here, alpha is 0.1 and the sample size is 15. For the standard deviation value,
you need to reference the cell in which you calculated the standard deviation.  The result is
approximately =CONFIDENCE.T(0.1,11.73,15) = 5.34. 

Alternatively, you could use the Descriptive Statistics tool to calculate the mean, standard
deviation, and margin of error. To include the margin of error calculation to the Descriptive
Statistics output, check the “Confidence Interval” box and adjust the confidence level to
90%. Note that the Descriptive Statistics tool uses CONFIDENCE.T by default to calculate
the margin of error.  

The lower bound of the 90% confidence interval is the mean minus the margin of error,
approximately 76.93–5.34=71.60. The upper bound of the 90% confidence interval is the
mean plus the margin of error, approximately 76.93+5.34=82.27. You must link directly to
cells in all of your calculations in order to obtain the correct answer.
You can also use a single formula to complete each of the calculations:
=AVERAGE(A2:A16)-CONFIDENCE.T(0.1, STDEV.S(A2:A16),15) for the lower bound, and
=AVERAGE(A2:A16)+CONFIDENCE.T(0.1, STDEV.S(A2:A16),15) for the upper bound.

For a normal distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 10, find the probability of
obtaining a value less than or equal to 118.

The cumulative probability associated with the value 118 is

NORM.DIST(118,B1,B2,TRUE)=0.96, or 96%. Approximately 96% of the population has
values less than or equal to 118.  Note that because the normal distribution is continuous,
the probability of an outcome being equal to single, discrete value (such as 118) is 0.  Thus
the probability of obtaining a value less than 118 is equivalent to obtaining a value less than
or equal to 118. You must link directly to cells to obtain the correct answer.

For a normal distribution with mean 425 and standard deviation 50, find the value
associated with the cumulative probability of 25%.
We use the NORM.INV function to find values at cumulative probabilities. Since
NORM.INV(0.25,B1,B2)=391, 391 is the value that corresponds to a cumulative probability
of approximately 25%. That is, 391 is the 25th percentile of this distribution. You must link
directly to cells to obtain the correct answer.

6 of 22

Calculate the 90% confidence interval for the true population mean based on a sample
with  =15, s=2, and n=20.
Because our sample has fewer than 30 cases, we cannot assume that the distribution of
sample means will be normal, and must use the t-distribution. The margin of error is based
on the significance level (1-confidence level, or 1-0.90=0.10), the standard deviation (in B2)
and the sample size (in B3), and We can compute the margin of error using the Excel
function CONFIDENCE.T(0.10,B2,B3). The lower bound of the 90% confidence interval is
the sample mean minus the margin of error, that is B1–CONFIDENCE.T(0.10,B2,B3)=15-
0.77=14.23. The upper bound of the 90% confidence interval is the sample mean plus the
margin of error, that is B1+CONFIDENCE.T(0.10,B2,B3)= 15+0.77=15.77. You must link
directly to cells to obtain the correct answer.

Question 7 of 22
For a standard normal distribution, find the probability of obtaining a value less than z=1.5

Recall that the mean of the standard normal distribution is 0 and the standard deviation is 1.
Because we know the z-value, we can use the NORM.S.DIST function, which assumes the
standardized distribution. NORM.S.DIST(1.5,TRUE)=0.93 or 93%. Alternatively, we can use
the NORM.DIST function and explicitly give the mean and standard deviation as 0 and 1
respectively: NORM.DIST(1.5,0,1,TRUE)=0.93, or 93%. 93% of the population is less than
z=1.5. 
For a normal distribution with mean 425 and standard deviation 50, find the probability of
obtaining a value greater than 365.

First find the cumulative probability associated with the value 365 using the function
NORM.DIST(365,B1,B2,TRUE) = 12%; this is the percentage of cases with values less than
365.  To find the percentage of cases with values greater than 365, subtract the cumulative
probability of 365 from 100%. 100% – NORM.DIST(365,B1,B2,TRUE)=100% - 12% = 88%.
Approximately 88% of the population is greater than 365. You must link directly to cells to
obtain the correct answer.

If the average IQ is 100 and the standard deviation is 15, approximately what percentage of people
have IQs above 130? 
 10%
2.5%
5%
50%

Your information has been submitted. Result:

Correct!
130 is two standard deviations above the mean (130-100=30=2*15=2*stdev).  We know that
approximately 95% of the distribution is within 2 standard deviations of the mean. Therefore
5% must fall beyond 2 standard deviations, 2.5% at the top and 2.5% at the bottom.

Calculate the 80% confidence interval for the true population mean based on a sample
with  =225, s=8.5, and n=45.

The margin of error is based on the significance level (1-confidence level, in this case,
100%-80%=20%), the standard deviation (in cell B2) and the sample size (in cell B3).  We
can compute the margin of error using the Excel function
CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.20,B2,B3)=1.62. The lower bound of the 80% confidence interval
is the sample mean minus the margin of error, that is B1–
CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.20,B2,B3)=225-1.62=223.38. The upper bound of the 80%
confidence interval is the sample mean plus the margin of error, that is
B1+CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.20,B2,B3)= 225+1.62=226.62. You must link directly to cells to
obtain the correct answer.

For a normal distribution with mean 47 and standard deviation 6, find the value
associated with the top 10% of outcomes.

To solve problems like this, we can think in terms of cumulative probabilities and use the
NORM.INV function. The value associated with the top 10% is the same as the value
corresponding to the bottom 90%, so we need to find the value associated with a
cumulative probability of 90%. Using NORM.INV(0.90,B1,B2)=55, we find that 90% of the
distribution’s values are less than 55; thus 10% of the distribution’s values are greater than
55. If we wish, instead of first computing 100%–10%=90%, we can embed that formula in
the function using NORM.INV(1–0.10,B1,B2)=55. You must link directly to cells to obtain
the correct answer.

Calculate the 90% confidence interval for the true population mean based on a sample
with  =225, s=8.5, and n=10.
Because our sample has fewer than 30 cases, we cannot assume that the distribution of
sample means will be normal, and must use the t-distribution. The margin of error is based
on the significance level (1-confidence level, or 1-0.90=0.10), the standard deviation (in B2)
and the sample size (in B3). We can compute the margin of error using the Excel function
CONFIDENCE.T(0.10,B2,B3) and it is approximately 4.93.  The lower bound of the 90%
confidence interval is the sample mean minus the margin of error, that is B1–
CONFIDENCE.T(0.10,B2,B3)=225-4.93=220.07. The upper bound of the 90% confidence
interval is the sample mean plus the margin of error, that is
B1+CONFIDENCE.T(0.10,B2,B3)= 225+4.93=229.93. You must link directly to cells to
obtain the correct answer.

Question 14 of 22
For a normal distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 10, find the probability of
obtaining a value greater than 70 but less than 80.
First find the cumulative probability associated with the value 80 using the function
NORM.DIST(80,B1,B2,TRUE) = 2.275%; this is the percentage of outcomes with values
less than 80. Then calculate the cumulative probability 70 using the function
NORM.DIST(70,B1,B2,TRUE)=0.01375%; this is the percentage of cases with values less
than 70. Then find the difference between the two: NORM.DIST(80,B1,B2,TRUE)–
NORM.DIST(70,B1,B2,TRUE)=0.02275-0.00135=0.02140, or 2.140%. 2.140% of the
population has values between 70 and 80. You must link directly to cells to obtain the
correct answer.

Q 16
Calculate the 99% confidence interval for the true population mean for the BMI data. Recall
that the new sample contains 15 people and has a mean of 25.97 kg/m 2 and a standard
deviation of 7.10 kg/m2.
Because our sample has fewer than 30 cases, we cannot assume that the distribution of
sample means will be normal, and must use the t-distribution. The margin of error is based
on the significance level (1-confidence level, or 1-0.99=0.01), the standard deviation (in B2)
and the sample size (in B3).  We can compute the margin of error using the Excel function
CONFIDENCE.T(0.01,B2,B3). The lower bound of the 99% confidence interval is the
sample mean minus the margin of error, that is B1–CONFIDENCE.T(0.01,B2,B3)= 25.97-
5.46=20.51. The upper bound of the 99% confidence interval is the sample mean plus the
margin of error, that is B1+CONFIDENCE.T(0.01,B2,B3)= 25.97+5.46=31.43. We can be
99% confident that the true mean BMI of all U.S. citizens is between 20.51 kg/m 2 and 31.43
kg/m2. You must link directly to cells to obtain the correct answer.

Previous QuestionQuestion 17 of 22Next Question

For a normal distribution with mean 425 and standard deviation 50, find the value
associated with the top 30%.
Recall that the z-value associated with a value measures the number of standard deviations the value
is from the mean. If a particular standardized test has an average score of 500 and a standard
deviation of 100, what z-value corresponds to a score of 350?

-150
-1.50
1.50
150

Your information has been submitted. Result:

Correct!
z=(x-µ)/σ. Here x= 350, µ=500, the population mean, and σ=100, the population standard
deviation. Thus z = (350-500)/100 = (-150)/100 = -1.5

For a normal distribution with mean 47 and standard deviation 6, find the upper value and
lower value of the range of outcomes associated with the middle 25%.
Because the normal curve is symmetrical, the middle 25% corresponds to the 12.5% range
below the mean and the 12.5% range above the mean. Thus we need to find the cumulative
probabilities associated with 50%–12.5%=37.5% and with 50+12.5%=62.5%. Since
NORM.INV(0.375,B1,B2)=45 and NORM.INV(0.625,B1,B2)=49, the middle 25% of the
probability lies between 45 and 49. Note that these values define a symmetric range
centered at the mean.  You must link directly to cells to obtain the correct answer.
You can separate the calculations into separate formulas or you can combine them into one
calculation. The margin of error is based on the significance level (1-confidence level, or 1-
0.90=0.1), the standard deviation (in B2), and the sample size (in B3). We can compute the
margin of error using the Excel function CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.10,B2,B3). The lower
bound of the 90% confidence interval is the sample mean minus the margin of error, that is
B1–CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.10,B2,B3)=14.67. The upper bound of the 90% confidence
interval is the sample mean plus the margin of error, that is
B1+CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.10,B2,B3)=15.33. You must link directly to cells to obtain the
correct answer.

For a normal distribution with mean 47 and standard deviation 6, find the probability of
obtaining a value less than 45 or greater than 49.
First find the cumulative probability associated with the value 45 using the function
NORM.DIST(45,B1,B2,TRUE)=37%; this returns the percentage of outcomes with values
less than 45. Then find the percentage of outcomes with values greater than 49 by
subtracting the cumulative probability associated with the value 49 from 100% using the
function 100% – NORM.DIST(49,B1,B2,TRUE) = 100% – 63% = 37%. Then add the two
together: NORM.DIST(45,B1,B2,TRUE)+1–NORM.DIST(49,B1,B2,TRUE)= 37% + 37% =
74%. 74% of the population is less than 45 or greater than 49.  You must link directly to
cells to obtain the correct answer.

Calculate the 95% confidence interval for the true population mean based on a sample
with  =15, s=2, and n=100.
The margin of error is based on the significance level (1-confidence level, or 1-0.95=0.05),
the standard deviation (in B2) and the sample size (in B3). We can compute the margin of
error using the Excel function CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.05,B2,B3). The lower bound of the
95% confidence interval is the sample mean minus the margin of error, that is B1–
CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.05,B2,B3)=15-0.39=14.61. The upper bound of the 95%
confidence interval is the sample mean plus the margin of error, that is
B1+CONFIDENCE.NORM(0.05,B2,B3)=15+0.39=15.39. You must link directly to cells to
obtain the correct answer.