Basic Statistics

Quarter 3 – Module 4
Areas Under the Normal Curve

AREAS UNDER THE NORMAL CURVE

 The entries in the table below are the areas under the standard normal curve from Z= 0 to ±
Z. But the negative Zs are no longer written, because the normal curve is symmetrical or in
proportion about the mean. We should always remember that that the given areas in the table are
from Z= 0 and that the area to the right and to the left of Z = 0 is each equal to 0.5000. The area
under the whole of a normal distribution curve is 1, or 100 percent.

Most often, probabilities are used in place of areas. A sketch of the curve , plus the
shading of the regions, will facilitate the finding of the desired area.

The standard normal distribution table is a compilation of areas from the standard

normal distribution, more commonly known as a bell curve, which provides the area of the
region located under the bell curve and to the left of a given Z-score to represent probabilities of
occurrence in a given population.
HOW TO USE THE TABLE of the AREAS under the NORMAL CURVE

1. The entries in the leftmost column are the Z’s in one decimal place from 0.0 to
3.9.
2. The entries on top which represent the columns are the hundredth’s place in the
Z-scores.
3. Always round off the value of Z to two decimal places since we are using a table whose Z
scores are given in two-decimal places.

EXAMPLE 1 :
 To find the area when Z= 1.56, locate 1.5 in the leftmost column and the 6 across the top.
This gives 0.04406.
Likewise, the area when Z= -1.56 can be found in the intersection of Z = 1.5 and column 6.
This gives us the same value of 0.04406.

EXAMPLE 2 :
What is the area when Z = 1.4 ? (refer to column z for 1.4 then at column 0.00)
Answer : 0.4192

EXAMPLE 3 :
Find the area of Z = 0.48 (refer to column z for 0.4, then at column 0.08)
Answer : 0.1844

LET’S DO THIS !

Find the area of the following : ( use the Standard Normal Table)

1. 1.46
2. 2.3
3. 0.78
4. 3.39
5. 2.61
6. 0.05
7. 3.12
8. 0.9
9. 1.86
10. 2.24

STEPS IN FINDING THE AREA

1. Draw the normal curve.

2. Shade the required area.
3. Use the table to get the area.

Problems in finding the area can be stated in two forms :

1. Find the area to the right of Z = 0 can be written as Find P (Z ≥ 0) which is read as
“Find the probability that Z will take the values greater than or equal to 0.
2. Find the area to the left of Z = 0 can be written as Find P (Z ≤ 0 ), which is read as
“ Find the probability that Z will take values less than or equal to 0.”
3. Find the area from Z = -2.41 to Z = 1.98 can be written as Find P ( -2.41 ≤ Z ≤ 1.98)
Which is read as ‘ Find the probability that Z will take values greater than or
equal to – 2.41 but less than or equal to 1.98.”

LET’S TRY THIS !

Write the following statements in another form :

Example : Find the area from Z= 0 to 1.5 P(Z ≤ 1.5)

1. Find the area from Z= 0 to Z = -1.5

2. Find the area from Z = -2.0 to Z = 2.5
3. Find the area to the right of 2.5

FINDING THE AREA

EXAMPLE 1.

Find the area from Z= 0 to Z = 1.28

SOLUTION :
Since the desired region is from Z = 0 , the area can be easily obtained from the table. From
the column of Z’s get 1.2. Then go to column 8 for the area from Z = 0 to Z = 1.28 which gives
us 0.3997

To illustrate :
 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

EXAMPLE 2

Find the area from Z= 0 to Z = -2.3

SOLUTION :
Since the desired region is from Z= 0, the area can be easily seen from the table. Remember
that the negative sign simply tells us that Z is on the left of Z = 0. From the column of Z’s, get
2.3. Then go to column 0 for the area from Z = 0 to
Z = -2.3 which gives us 0.4893.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

EXAMPLE 3

Find P (-2.0 ˂ Z ˃ 2.5)

SOLUTION :

Since Z = -2.0 is on the left of Z= 0 and Z = 2.5 is on the right of Z = 0. We have to add the
area from Z = -2.0 and the area from Z = 0 to Z = 2.5. thus,
Area from Z = 0 to Z = -2.0 = 0.4772
Area from Z = 0 to Z = 2.5 = 0.4938
Adding the areas, we obtain 0.9710
Therefore the area from Z = -2.0 to Z = 2.5 is 0.9710

To illustrate :
 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

EXAMPLE 4

Find P ( Z ≥ -2.5)

SOLUTION :

Since Z = -2.5 is on the left of Z = 0 , and we are asked to find the area to the right , then we
have to add the area from Z = 0 to Z = -2.5 and the area to the right of Z = 0, thus,
Area from Z = 0 to Z = -2.5 is 0.4938
Area from Z = 0 to the right is 0.5000
Adding the areas, we have 0.9938
Therefore the area to the right of Z = -2.5 is 0.9938

Illustration :

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

EXAMPLE 5

Find P(0.5 ˂ Z ˂ 2.5)

SOLUTION :

We have to get the area from Z = 0 to Z = 2.5 which includes the area from
Z = 0 TO Z = 0.5,the portion which we do not need. To get the required area, we have to
subtract the area from Z = 0 to Z = 0.5 from the area from Z = 0 to Z = 2.5.

Thus,
Area from Z = 0 to Z = 2.5 is 0.4938
Area from Z= 0 to Z = 0.5 is 0.1915
Subtracting the areas we have 0.3023

Therefore the area from Z = 0.5 to Z = 2.5 IS 0.3023

To illustrate :

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

EXAMPLE 6

Find the area to the left of Z = -1.53

SOLUTION ;

Since the area reflected in the table are the areas from Z = 0 to any Z, then the area from Z =
0 to Z = -1.53 is to the right of Z = -1.53.Therefore to get the area to the left of Z = -1.53, we
have to subtract the area from Z = 0 to Z = -1 53 from 0.5000 (the total area to the left of Z= 0).
It follows that :

Area from Z = 0 to the left is 0.5000

Area from Z = 0 to Z = -1.53 is 0.4370
Subtracting the areas we get 0.0630
Therefore , the area to the left of Z= -1.53 is 0.0630

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

EXAMPLE 7

The IQ of 300 students in ABC High School is approximately normally distributed with µ=
100 and ð = 15.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected student will have an IQ of 115 and above ?
SOLUTION :

To answer this problem, we will follow the following steps :

STEP 1. Find the Z corresponding to 115 : Z = 115 – 100 = 1.0

STEP 2. Since the required IQ is 115 and above , we have to find P(Z ≥ 1.0)

Area to the right of Z = 0 is 0.5000

Area from Z= 0 to Z = 1.0 is 0.3413
Subtracting the areas , we get 0.1587

STEP 3. Since the area is 0.1587, then the probability that a randomly selected
Students will have an IQ of 115 and above is 15.87%.

b. How many percent of the students will have IQ between 85 and 120 ?

SOLUTION :

STEP 1 Find the Z-scores corresponding to 85 and 120

Z = 85 – 100 = -1.0
15

Z = 120 – 100 = 1.33

STEP 2 Since the required IQ is between 85 and 120, we have to find

P(-1.0 ≤ Z≤1.33)

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Area from Z= 0 to Z = 1.33 is 0.4082

Area from Z = 0 to Z = -1.0 is 0.3413
 Adding the areas, we obtain 0.7495
74.95% of the students will have an IQ between 85 and 120

LET’S TRY THIS !

Direction : Draw the normal curve, shade the required area , then find the area:

1. the area from Z = 0 to Z = 1. 25

2. the area from Z = 0.45 to Z = 1.60
3. the area to the left of Z = 2.15
4. P(-2.5 ≤ Z ≤ 1.25)
5. P(Z ≥ -1.2)

Given the normal distribution with µ = 160 and ð = 15, find the area and percentage

a. above 170

b. from 140 – 165

SUMMATIVE TEST

Write the letter of the correct answer.

1. A normal distribution has this property
a. Mean = Median = Mode b. a bell shaped curve
c. Mean ˃ Median ˃ Mode d. both a and b
2. How many percent is the total area under the normal curve?
a. 25% b. 50% c. 75% d. 100%
3. Choose the correct formula in calculating the Z- Score.
 a. Z = X + µ b. Z = (X) µ c. Z = X - µ d. Z = X – σ
Σ σ σ µ
4. It measures how many standard deviation a particular value is above or below the mean.
a. Z- score b. T-test c. permutation d. probability
5. Using the table of the Areas of a Normal Curve, the entries of the Zs in the decimal place
from 0.0 to 3.9 are found in the
a. leftmost column b. rightmost column c. topmost row d. bottom row
6. Jun’s Z-score in Math is 1.0 and and 1.4 in English. What does that mean ?
a. Jun performed better in Math than in English.
b. Jun performed better in English then in Math.
c. Jun performed equally good n Math and English.
d. The data is not sufficient to determine Jun’s performance in Math and English
7. What does a Z – score of -2 mean ?
a. A particular value in the distribution is 2 standard deviation above the mean.
b. A particular value in the distribution is 2 standard deviation below the mean.
c. A particular value in the distribution is above the mean.
d. A particular value in the distribution is below the mean.
8. Fractiles which divide the distribution into 4 equal parts are called
a. deciles b. percentiles c. quartiles d. all of the above
9. Among the following Grade 7 students, who performed best ?
a. Lyn whose Z-score is 2.0 c. Rio whose Z-score is -1.5
b. Renan whose Z-score is 1.5 d. Glenda whose Z-score is -2.0
10. In a particular examination, the mean is 82 and the standard deviation (σ) is 1.3. If the
score of Jam is 85, what is the Z – score ?
a. 3.85 b. -3.85 c. 2.31 d. -2.31
11. If the area under the normal curve from Z = 0 to Z = 2.33 is 0.4901, then the area from Z = 0
to Z = -2.33 is
a. 0.4893 b. 0.4898 c. 0.4901 d. 0.4904
12. They are point measures which divide the distribution into a given number of equal parts.
a. probability b. standard deviation c. fractiles d. Z – score

13. A Z-score of 0 means that the

a. particular value in the distribution is above the mean.
b. particular value in the distribution is below the mean
c. particular value in the distribution is 1 standard deviation above the mean
d. particular value in the distribution is the mean
14. In a Math quiz, Alden has a Z-score of -2.12 while Daniel has a Z-score of -1.53. Which
among the following statements is/are not correct ?
a. Daniel performed better that Alden.
b. The scores of the two students are below the class mean.
c. Alden performed better than Daniel.
 d. Alden is 2.12 standard deviations below the mean.
In a particular examination, the mean grade is 78 and the standard deviation is 3.5.
15. What is the Z-score of a particular student whose grade is 82 ?
a. 4.0 b. 3.2 c. -1.4 d. 1.14
16. What is the grade of a student whose Z-score is -2.15?
a. 80 b. 70 c. 75 d. 78
17. What is the area from Z= 0 to Z= 1.38 ?
a. 0.4162 b. 0.9162 c. 0.0838 d. 0.5000
18. The area to the right of Z = 1.35 is
a. 0.0885 b. 0.4115 c. 0.9115 d. 0.2835
19.which is the correct illustration of the area from Z= 0 to Z= 2.5 ?

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
A B

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
C D