Unit 7 – A & A Chapter 21 The Normal Distribution Lesson 4

D. Quantiles
Goal: To learn how to use the probability from a Standard Normal Distribution to
determine a desired quantity

Lesson C involved finding z-scores but sometimes you may not know a different
𝑥− 𝜇
variable in the z-score equation 𝑧 = . This lesson will first deal with finding the
𝜎
x-value then how to solve for either the mean ( ) or the standard deviation (𝜎).

When a percentage is given (k) in order to find the appropriate x–value it is referred
to as a quantile and the inverse normal function is used on the calculator to find the
x–value. The quantile is the percentage of area that is known.

For example, a population of crabs where the length of a shell, X mm, is normally
distributed with mean 70 mm and standard deviation 10 mm. A biologist wants to
protect the population by allowing only the largest 5% of crabs to be harvested. He
therefore asks the question: “95% of the crabs have lengths less than what?” To
answer the question we need to find k such that P(X  k) = 0.95. The number k is
known as the quantile, and in this case the 95% quantile.

Example 1: If X ~ N(21.4, 3.22), find the k for which P(X < k) = 0.85

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Unit 7 – A & A Chapter 21 The Normal Distribution Lesson 4

Example 2: If Z is the standard normal distribution, find k such that P(Z > k) = 0.65.
Interpret the result

Example 3 Mrs. Montanari decides 75% of the candidates applying to IB will be

accepted. The entrance exam marks are approximately normally distributed
with a mean of 82 and a standard deviation of 5. Find the cutoff score
necessary to be accepted into IB.

When the unknowns are the mean ( ) or the standard deviation (𝜎) then
converting to z–scores is necessary in order to find the answer.

Example 4: A tomato crop is known to be normally distributed with a standard

deviation of 12.2 g. If 20% of the tomatoes weigh less than 104.7 g,
find the mean weight of the crop.

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Unit 7 – A & A Chapter 21 The Normal Distribution Lesson 4

Example 5: Find the mean and standard deviation of a normally distributed

random variable X if P(X  24) = 0.2 and P(X  34) = 0.05.

Practice: pages 523-524 #1–10

pages 525-526 #1–10

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