Chapter06 Normal
Chapter06 Normal
Slides from
Meldenhall, Beaver & Beaver, “Introduction to
Probability and Statistics,” 13e Ed.
Source http://people.math.umass.edu/~hsieh/stat501/chapter06.ppt
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.
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 µ and standard deviation σ, standardize
or rescale the interval in terms of z.
Find the appropriate area using Table 3.
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
Using MS Excel
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.