Ch.5 Practice Test - Normal Distributions
Ch.5 Practice Test - Normal Distributions
Problems and applications on normal distributions are presented. The answers to these
problems are at the bottom of the page. Also an online normal distribution probability
calculator may be useful to check your answers.
2. A radar unit is used to measure speeds of cars on a motorway. The speeds are
normally distributed with a mean of 90 km/hr and a standard deviation of 10
km/hr. What is the probability that a car picked at random is travelling at more
than 100 km/hr?
3. For a certain type of computers, the length of time bewteen charges of the
battery is normally distributed with a mean of 50 hours and a standard deviation
of 15 hours. John owns one of these computers and wants to know the
probability that the length of time will be between 50 and 70 hours.
a) what is the probability that the length of this component is between 4.98 and
5.02 cm?
b) what is the probability that the length of this component is between 4.96 and
5.04 cm?
7. The time taken to assemble a car in a certain plant is a random variable having a
normal distribution of 20 hours and a standard deviation of 2 hours. What is the
probability that a car can be assembled at this plant in a period of time
8. A large group of students took a test in Physics and the final grades have a mean
of 70 and a standard deviation of 10. If we can approximate the distribution of
these grades by a normal distribution, what percent of the students
Hence P(x < 40) = P(z < 2.5) = [area to the left of 2.5] = 0.9938
Hence P(x > 21) = P(z > -2.25) = [total area] - [area to the left of -2.25]
= 1 - 0.0122 = 0.9878
Hence P(30 < x < 35) = P(0 < z < 1.25) = [area to the left of z = 1.25] - [area to
the left of 0]
P(x > 90) = P(z >, 1) = [total area] - [area to the left of z = 1]
= 1 - 0.8413 = 0.1587
The probability that a car selected at a random has a speed greater than 100
km/hr is equal to 0.1587
3. Let x be the random variable that represents the length of time. It has a mean of
50 and a standard deviation of 15. We have to find the probability that x is
between 50 and 70 or P( 50< x < 70)
P( 50< x < 70) = P( 0< z < 1.33) = [area to the left of z = 1.33] - [area to the left of
z = 0]
The probability that John's computer has a length of time between 50 and 70
hours is equal to 0.4082.
4. Let x be the random variable that represents the scores. x is normally ditsributed
with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100. The total area under the
normal curve represents the total number of students who took the test. If we
multiply the values of the areas under the curve by 100, we obtain percentages.
= 0.6826
= 0.9544
= 0.0062
= 0.4938
= 0.4013
= 0.3413
8. a) For x = 80, z = 1
Area to the right (higher than) z = 1 is equal to 0.1586 = 15.87% scored more
that 80.
b) For x = 60, z = -1
Area to the right of z = -1 is equal to 0.8413 = 84.13% should pass the test.
Area to the left (less than) of z = -0.5 is equal to 0.3085 = 30.85% earn less than
$40,000.
Area between z = -0.25 and z = 0.75 is equal to 0.3720 = 37.20 earn between
$45,000 and $65,000.
c)For x = 70000, z = 1
Area to the right (higher) of z = 1 is equal to 0.1586 = 15.86% earn more than
$70,000.