6.

50 Men’s Heights problem

Suppose College men’s heights are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 70.0 inches and a
population standard deviation of 3 inches. What height is at the 20 th percentile? Include an
appropriately labeled normal curve to support your answer.

The solution

Lex x be the height

Let the population mean be 70

Let the population standard deviation be 3

P(X<x) =0.20

For bottom 20%, the equation is p {z<x-70/3} =0.20…… (1)

The z-score corresponding to the area of 0.20 is -0.8416

(Using the excel function formula =NORMSINV (0.20))=-0.8416

Therefore, p (z<-0.8416) =0.20…………………………….. (2)

Comparing (1) and (2),

X-70/3=-0.8416

x=70-0.8416……………… (3)

=67.4752 or 67.48

Therefore, the height at the 20th percentile is 67.475

It can also be expressed graphically as follows: