Mathematics

Grade 11• Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

LESSON 9.3
Calculating Percentiles Using the 𝒕-Distribution
Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Test Your Prerequisite Skills 2

DepEd Competency 2

Objective 3

Warm-Up! 3

Learn about It! 4

Let’s Practice 5

Check Your Understanding 11

Key Point 12

Photo Credits 12

Bibliography 12
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

Lesson 9.3
Calculating Percentiles Using the 𝒕-
Distribution

Fig. 1. Taking Examination

Introduction
When you were in Grade 9, do you remember taking your National Career Achievement
Examination? Do you still remember your percentile rank in each area that you take? In
school, you have experienced being ranked depending on our performance in the class.
Similarly, during our NCAE, you are also ranked relative to the value of the other scores of the
students who took the exam. The percentile rank shows your position in each area among all

1
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

the examinees.

When you were in Grade 10, you learned how to identify the percentile for ungrouped and
grouped data using a formula. However, in this lesson, you will learn to calculate percentiles
using the 𝑡-distribution.

Test Your Prerequisite Skills

Before you get started, answer the following items on a separate sheet of paper. This will
help you assess your prior knowledge and practice some skills that you will need in studying
this lesson. Show your complete solution.

1. Given the following set of data, solve for the given percentiles.

3, 5, 2, 5, 4, 6, 8, 7, 4

a. 𝑃30
b. 𝑃50
c. 𝑃85

DepEd Competency
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to identify percentiles using the 𝑡-
table (M11/12SP-IIIg-5).

2
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

Objective
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to correctly identify percentiles using
the 𝑡-table.

Warm-Up!

Line It Up!

Materials
● pen
● paper
● tape measure

Instructions
1. This activity will be done initially by group, and then as a class.
2. Divide the class into 4 groups. In each group, the members will measure their arm
span.
3. List down the measurements and arrange in increasing order.
4. Your teacher will ask a random member from each group to describe his or her arm
span relative to the measurements of the other students’.

3
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

Learn about It!

Comparing a measure relative to the value of the other scores in the data is a sample of
measures of position. In the given Warm-Up! activity, if your arm span is greater than half of
the arms span of your classmates, that means that your arms span represents the 50th
percentile.

Recall that percentiles are sets of scores that divide the whole set of data into 100 equal parts.
This means that the 95th percentile, for example, is the value that separates the lower 95%
and the upper 5% of the scores.

Essential Question
How do we identify percentiles using the 𝑡-table?

On a statistical distribution, a percentile is defined in a similar sense. That is, a percentile is

a number on a statistical distribution whose percentage is equal to the area to its left that is
under the curve.

For instance, the 90th percentile of the t-distribution is the value whose left-tail probability
(the area under the curve that is to the left of the t critical value) is 0.90 and whose right-tail
probability (the area under the curve that is to the right of the t critical value) is 0.10.

4
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

We can use the t-table (refer to the table in the previous lesson) to calculate and solve
problems involving percentiles.

Essential Question
How do you find the 𝑡-value given the percentile and degrees of freedom?

Let’s Practice
Example 1
If 𝑡 = 3.747 with degrees of freedom equal to 4, what percentile does this represent?

Solution
Let us look at the 𝑡-table.

The given 𝑑𝑓 is 4, so we need to look at the row containing 4 as the degrees of freedom. Then,
we locate the 𝑡-value equal to 3.747.

5
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

We will see that the upper-tail probability is equal to 0.01 or 1%. This means that to the right
of 𝑡 = 3.747 with 𝑑𝑓 = 4, the area under the curve is 0.01. Consequently, the area to the left
of the 𝑡-value must be 0.99.

Hence, the t-score given represents the 99th percentile.

Try It Yourself!
If 𝑡 = 1.093 with degrees of freedom equal to 10, what percentile does this represent?

Example 2
It was found out that in a sample of 24 students the 90th percentile of the first quarter grades
was 89. What is the corresponding 𝑡-value of this score?

Solution
Since we are looking for the 𝑡-value that represents the 90th
percentile, we need to look at the table with an upper-tail
probability of 0.10. We also need to consider that the degrees of
freedom is 𝑑𝑓 = 24 − 1 = 23.

Hence, the corresponding 𝑡-value of the 90th percentile score is

1.319, as shown.

6
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

Try It Yourself!
In a sample of 28 test takers, 5% got a score higher than 150. What is the corresponding 𝑡-
value of this score?

Example 3
Suppose 19 respondents were selected from a normal population. If the mean population
was 10, the sample mean is 11.35, and the standard deviation is 2.3, what percentile does the
𝑡-value of the given represent?

Solution
Step 1: Identify the degrees of freedom.

𝑑𝑓 = 19 − 1
= 18

Step 2: Calculate the 𝑡-value:

𝑥̅ − 𝜇
𝑡= 𝑠
√𝑛
11.35 − 10
=
2.3
√19
= 2.558

Step 3: Locate the upper tail probability using the computed 𝑡-value and 𝑑𝑓.

7
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

The closest value that we have in the tale is 2.552 and since the upper-tail probability of this
𝑡-value is 0.01, the given mean approximately represents the 99th percentile. This means
that only 1% of the all 𝑡-values will be greater than 2.552.

Try It Yourself!
Suppose 25 respondents were selected from a normal population. If the population mean
was 12, the sample mean is 13.06, and the standard deviation is 5, what percentile does the
𝑡-value of the given represent?

Real-World Problems
Example 4
A medical researcher conducted a study about the effect of an antiplaque
rinse on plaque buildup on teeth on seven people. A plaque index (a
measure of plaque buildup) was recorded for 15 days and are presented
below.

1.26, 1.54, 3.5, 7.8, 2.2, 0.8, 1.01

8
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

If the population mean of such sample is 1.53, determine the percentile of the sample mean.

Solution
Step 1: Find the mean by adding all the scores and then divide by seven:

1.26 + 1.54 + 3.5 + 7.8 + 2.2 + 0.8 + 1.01

= 2.587
7

Step 2: Calculate the sample standard deviation 𝑠.

𝒙 ̅
𝒙−𝒙 ̅)𝟐
(𝒙 − 𝒙
1.26 −1.32714 1.761308
1.54 −1.04714 1.096508
3.5 0.912857 0.833308
7.8 5.212857 27.17388
2.2 −0.38714 0.14988
0.8 −1.78714 3.19388
1.01 −1.57714 2.48738
∑(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2 = 36.69614

∑(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2
𝑠=√
𝑛−1

36.69614
=√
7−1
≈ 2.473

Step 3: Calculate the 𝑡-value:

9
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

𝑥̅ − 𝜇
𝑡= 𝑠
√𝑛
2.587 − 1.53
=
2.473
√7
= 1.13

Step 4: Locate the upper-tail probability using the calculated 𝑡-value and 𝑑𝑓.

Since the upper-tail probability is 0.15, the 𝑡-value of the sample mean is the 85th percentile
of the scores. This further means that the mean is higher than 85% of all the 𝑡-vallues.

Try It Yourself!
A botanist conducted a study about a fertilizer by measuring the
heights of 10 plants (in centimeters) after five days of using the
said fertilizer. Estimate the percentile rank of the sample mean if
the population mean is 4 cm.

Heights of the 10 plants: 3 cm, 7 cm, 8 cm, 5 cm, 1 cm, 1 cm, 10 cm, 5 cm, 7 cm, 5 cm

10
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

Check Your Understanding

1. Determine the percentile rank of the following 𝑡-scores and degrees of freedom.

𝒕-value 𝒅𝒇 Percentile Rank

0.711 7
2.821 9
2.249 15
0.859 21
1.703 27

2. Determine the 𝑡-value and the corresponding percentile rank of each of the following
sets of given (Note: use the nearest 𝑡-value that can be found on the 𝑡-distribution
table).

𝒏 ̅
𝒙 𝝁 𝒔 𝒕-value 𝒅𝒇 Percentile Rank
a. 13 45.008 43 2.7
b. 11 23 20 4.22
c. 19 31 30 4.1
d. 22 17 15.5 2.25
e. 23 19 20 1.91

3. A company statistician took 6 samples of the battery produced by the company and
tested how long each will last when used to power a flashlight continuously. The
following are the number of hours (h) the 6 batteries lasted:

11
 Mathematics
●

Grade 11 • Unit 9: Student’s 𝒕-Distribution

1.5 h, 2 h, 1.75 h, 2.1 h, 1.9 h, 2.2 h

If the population mean of such batteries is 1.7 hours, what is the percentile rank of the
sample mean of the 6 batteries?

Key Point

● Percentile is a number on a statistical distribution whose percentage is equal to the

area to its left that is under the curve.

Photo Credits
Fig 1. Taking Examination by Marco Verch is licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

Bibliography
Mendenhall III, William, Robert J. Beaver, and Barabara M. Beaver. Introduction to Probability
and Statistics. United States of America: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning, 2013.

Pennsylvania State University. “Students t-Distribution”. Accessed September 20, 2018.

https://online.stat.psu.edu/stat414/lesson/26/26.4

12