➢ In a normal distribution, data is symmetrically distributed with no skew.

When
plotted on a graph, the data follows a bell shape, with most values clustering
around a central region and tapering off as they go further away from the
center.
➢ Normal distributions are also called Gaussian distributions or bell curves
because of their shape.
1. The normal probability distribution is bell-shaped.
2. The curve is symmetric about its center.
3. The mean, median, & mode coincide at the center.
4. The tails of the curve flatten out indefinitely along the horizontal axis but never
touch it (the curve is asymptotic to the base line)
5. The spread of the curve depends on the standard deviation of the distribution.
6. The area under the curve is 1.
• A normal distribution can have any mean and any positive standard
deviation.
• The mean gives the location of the line of symmetry.
• The standard deviation describes the spread of the data.
The empirical rule, or the 68-95-99.7 rule, tells you where most of your values lie
in a normal distribution:
• Around 68% of values are within 1 standard deviation from the mean.
• Around 95% of values are within 2 standard deviations from the mean.
• Around 99.7% of values are within 3 standard deviations from the mean.
You collect SAT scores from students in a new test preparation course. The data
follows a normal distribution with a mean score (M) of 1150 and a standard
deviation (SD) of 150.
Following the empirical rule:
• Around 68% of scores are between
1000 and 1300, 1 standard deviation
above and below the mean.
• Around 95% of scores are between
850 and 1450, 2 standard deviations
above and below the mean.
• Around 99.7% of scores are between
700 and 1600, 3 standard deviations
above and below the mean.
For any value of x, you can plug in the mean and standard deviation into the
formula to find the probability density of the variable taking on that value
of x.
Step 1: Sketch the normal distribution and indicate the mean. The mean
coincides with z = 0.
Step 2: Identify the region under the curve by drawing vertical line through
each z value.
Step 3: Shade the required region.
Step 4: Determine the area of the required region (shaded) by looking for the
area that corresponds to z value.
Step 5: Express the result, using probability notation “P(a < z < b)”.
1. Find the proportion of the area that corresponds to z = 1.
2. Find the proportion of the area between z = 1 and z = -0.5.
3. Find the proportion of the area greater than z = 1.25.
4. Find the proportion of the area between z = 1.75 and z = 2.5.
➢ it determines the proportion of the total area greater than, in between, or
less than an empirical value.
➢ It transforms the raw score into units of standard deviation.
 𝑥−𝜇
𝑧=
𝜎
where: z – z score
x – raw score
𝜇 – population mean
𝜎 – standard deviation
1. A Mathematics score is 74. If it is given that 𝜇 = 80 and 𝜎 = 6, what is the
corresponding z score?
2. In population of reading scores, the mean 𝜇 = 68, and the standard
deviation 𝜎 = 5. Find the z value that corresponds to a score x = 73.
3. In Statistics examination, the mean grade is 78 and the standard deviation
is 10. Find the following:
a. The corresponding z-score of two students whose grade are 93 and 62
respectively.
b. The grades of two students whose z-scores are 0.6 and 1.2 respectively.