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©
© Tal
Tal Ellinson
Ellinson &
& Edrolo
Edrolo 2022
2022
 VCE GENERAL MATHEMATICS UNITS 3&4

CHAPTER 1: INVESTIGATING DATA DISTRIBUTIONS

The
Clicknormal
to edit distribution
lesson
Presented by Tal Ellinson

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
What's in this lesson?
Study design dot point

• [the normal model for bell-shaped The normal distribution1

distributions and the use of the 68-95-99.7%
rule to estimate percentages and to give 68-95-99.7% rule2
meaning to the standard deviation1,2,3]; Converting percentages to amounts3
standardise scores (z-scores) and their use
in comparing data values across distributions

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
The normal distribution

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
The normal distribution

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
The normal distribution

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
The normal distribution
Key takeaway
The normal distribution is a bell-shaped
distribution, that is symmetric. The mean,
median and mode are all the same.

Deep dive
• The normal distribution is defined by two
parameters; the mean, , and the
standard deviation, . The higher is, the
more spread out the data is from the
mean.
• The total area under a normal distribution
curve equals 1 (or ‘100%’ if we’re
working in percentages).

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Multiple choice activity

Which is false about the variables A and B?

A. Both are normally distributed variables.

B. The mean of variable A is higher than

the mean of variable B.

C. The mean, median and mode of variable B

are all about 130.

D. The standard deviation of variable A

is higher than the standard deviation
of variable B.

E. I don’t know.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Multiple choice – response

Which is false about the two variables A and

B?

A. Both are normally distributed variables.

B. The mean of variable A is higher than the

mean of variable B.

C. The mean, median and mode of variable B

are all about 130.

D. The standard deviation of variable A

is higher than the standard deviation
of variable B.

E. I don’t know.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
68-95-99.7% rule

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
68-95-99.7% rule

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
68-95-99.7% rule

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
68-95-99.7% rule
Key takeaway
68% of the observations lie within one
standard deviation of the mean.

95% of the observations lie within two

standard deviations of the mean.

99.7% of the observations lie within three

standard deviations of the mean.

Teacher’s tip! 13
© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022 Always draw yourself a picture to give yourself direction!
Multiple choice activity

In Huntingdale, the UberEats delivery times A. 81.5%

distribution is approximately normal, with
a mean of 20 minutes and a standard B. 68%
deviation C. 47.5%
of 5 minutes.
D. 83.85%
What percentage of UberEats deliveries
are between 10 and 25 minutes? E. I don’t know.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Multiple choice – response

In Huntingdale, the UberEats delivery times A. 81.5%

distribution is approximately normal, with
a mean of 20 minutes and a standard B. 68%
deviation C. 47.5%
of 5 minutes.
D. 83.85%
What percentage of UberEats deliveries are
between 10 and 25 minutes? E. I don’t know.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Converting percentages to amounts
Key takeaway
Find the percentage using the 68-95-99.7% rule.

To find of a total number, use:

% of a total number
(formula)
total

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Worked example

In Huntingdale, the distribution UberEats delivery times are approximately normal,

with a mean of 20 minutes and a standard deviation of 5 minutes.

In one week, 700 deliveries are made in Huntingdale. How many are expected to be
delivered between 5 and 10 minutes?

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Multiple choice activity

The distribution of raw study scores A. 18 students

in a VCE subject has a mean of 30 and
a standard deviation of 7. B. 1 student

In a sample of 700 Victorian students chosen C. 35 students

at random, to the nearest whole number, D. 22 students
how many students are expected to get
a study score above 44? E. I don’t know.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Multiple choice – response

The distribution of raw study scores A. 18 students

in a VCE subject has a mean of 30 and
a standard deviation of 7. B. 1 student

In a sample of 700 Victorian students chosen C. 35 students

at random, to the nearest whole number, D. 22 students
how many students are expected to get
a study score above 44? E. I don’t know.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Summary What’s coming next
Z-scores in lesson 1I. The last lesson of Chapter
1!

• The normal distribution is a symmetric bell-shaped distribution defined by the mean and
standard deviation of the data.

• The normal distribution is defined by two parameters; the mean, , and the standard
deviation, . The higher is, the more spread out the data is from the mean.

• The total area under a normal distribution curve equals 100%.

• To find % of a total number, use:

% of a total number
(formula)
total

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
Image credits and question sources
Image attribution:
• Page 1: Image created by upklyak – freepik.com
Question sources:
• All questions are written by Tal Ellinson.

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022
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We do our best to make these slides comprehensive and up-to-date, however

there may be errors. We'd appreciate it if you pointed these out to us!

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© Tal Ellinson & Edrolo 2022