WHAT IS A

NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION?

 The NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION or
simply as normal curve
is a bell-shaped
distribution which has
important role in
inferential statistics. It
provides a graphical
representation of
statistical values that
are needed in
describing the
characteristics of
population as well as in
making decisions.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF A NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION

 The distribution
curve is bell-shaped.
 The curve is
symmetrical about its
center.

 The mean, median,

mode coincide at the
center.
 The tails of the curve
flatten indefinitely
along the horizontal
axis, always
approaching axis but
never touching it. That
is called asymptotic.
 The total area under
the normal curve is
equal to 1 or 100%.
EMPIRICAL RULE
What it tells us is that for
a normally distributed
variable, the following
are true:
• Approximately 68% of
the data lie within 1
standard deviation of the
mean.
Pr ( - < X < + )
μ σ μ σ
• Approximately 95% of
the data lie within 2
standard deviation of the
mean.
Pr( - < X < + )
μ 2σ μ 2σ
• Approximately 99.7% of
the data lie within 3
standard deviation of the
mean.
Pr( - < X < + )
μ 3σ μ 3σ
Example
The following data
represents the weight
of newly born babies
(in kg) in Apex
Hospital.
 2.42 2.5
1.45 3.12
3.23 2.03
2.91 1.12
What is the frequency
and relative frequency
of babies’ weights that
are within:

a. One standard
deviation from the
mean

b. Two standard
deviation from the
mean
c. Three standard
deviation from the
mean
SEATWORK
Solve for the
standard deviation of
the normal
distribution where
99.7% of the values
fall between 52 and
82.

a. Find the mean

b. Compute the
standard deviation
c. Construct the
normal curve