Lecture_6
Lecture_6
Lecture 6
The Normal Probability
Distribution
CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLES
Continuous random variables can assume the infinitely
many values corresponding to points on a line interval.
Examples:
Heights, weights
length of life of a particular product
experimental laboratory error
CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLES
A smooth curve describes the probability
distribution of a continuous random variable.
1
2
f ( x) e for x
2
e 2.7183 3.1416
and are the population mean and standard deviation.
• The shape and location of the normal
curve changes as the mean and standard
deviation change.
THE STANDARD NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION
To find P(a < x < b), we need to find the
area under the appropriate normal curve.
To simplify the tabulation of these areas,
we standardize each value of x by
expressing it as a z-score, the number of
standard deviations it lies from the mean
.
x
z
THE STANDARD
NORMAL (Z)
DISTRIBUTION
Mean = 0; Standard deviation = 1
When x = , z = 0
Symmetric about z = 0
Values of z to the left of center are negative
Values of z to the right of center are positive
Total area under the curve is 1.
Table 1: binomial
Table 2: Poissons
P(z >1.36)
= 1 - .9131 = .0869
P(-1.20 z 1.36) =
.9131 - .1151 = .7980
USING TABLE 3
To find an area to the left of a z-value, find the area
directly from the table.
To find an area to the right of a z-value, find the area
in Table 3 and subtract
Remember
Rememberfrom
the 1.
theEmpirical
EmpiricalRule:
Rule:
To find the area between two
Approximately
Approximately 95% values
99.7% of the of z, find the two
of the
areas in Table 3,measurements
measurementslie
and subtractlieone
within
within23
from the other.
standard
standarddeviations
deviationsof
ofthe
themean.
mean.
4. What percentile
does this value
represent? 25th percentile,
or 1st quartile (Q1)
WORKING BACKWARDS
Find the value of z that has area .05 to its right.
1. The area to its left will be 1 - .05
= .95
2. Look for the four digit area
closest to .9500 in Table 3.
3. Since the value .9500 is
halfway between .9495 and
.9505, we choose z halfway
between 1.64 and 1.65.
4. z = 1.645
FINDING PROBABILITIES FOR THE
GENERAL NORMAL RANDOM VARIABLE
To find an area for a normal random variable x
with mean and standard deviation , standardize
or rescale the interval in terms of z.
Find the appropriate area using Table 3.
P(.80 x .85)
P(2 z 1.5)
.0668 .0228 .0440
EXAMPLE
What is the weight of a package
such that only 1% of all packages
exceed this weight?
P( x ?) .01
? 1
P( z ) .01
.1
? 1
From Table 3, 2.33
.1
? 2.33(.1) 1 1.233
THE NORMAL APPROXIMATION TO
THE BINOMIAL
We can calculate binomial probabilities using
The binomial formula
The cumulative binomial tables
Java applets
When n is large, and p is not too close to zero or one,
areas under the normal curve with mean np and
variance npq can be used to approximate binomial
probabilities.
APPROXIMATING THE BINOMIAL
Make sure to include the entire rectangle
for the values of x in the interval of interest.
This is called the continuity correction.
Standardize the values of x using
x np
z
npq
10.5 12
P( x 10) P( z )
2.683
P( z .56) .2877
EXAMPLE
A production line produces AA batteries with a
reliability rate of 95%. A sample of n = 200
batteries is selected. Find the probability that at
least 195 of the batteries work.
The normal
Success = working battery n = 200 approximation
p = .95 np = 190 nq = 10 is ok!
194.5 190
P( x 195) P( z )
200(.95)(.05)
P( z 1.46) 1 .9278 .0722
KEY CONCEPTS
I. Continuous Probability Distributions
1. Continuous random variables
2. Probability distributions or probability density functions
a. Curves are smooth.
b. The area under the curve between a and b
represents the probability that x falls between a
and b.
c. P (x a) 0 for continuous random variables.