DETERMINING

PROBABILITIES
DEN MARK L. ASEBO
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

● find the areas between two paired z-scores;

● find probabilities for the standard normal random
variable z; and
● express areas under the normal curve using
probability notation.
STANDARD NORMAL DISTRIBUTION – is
the normal distribution that has a mean of 0
and a standard deviation of 1.
Probability Notations under the Normal Curve
●   denotes the probability that the z-score is between and
●

● denotes the probability that the z-score is greater than

● denotes the probability that the z-score is less than
where and are the z-score values.
 Sign Notation Operation

less than, at
most, no Add 0.5 to the
more than, not positive P(z < a) corresponding area
greater than,
to the left

less than, at
most, no Subtract the area
more than, not Negative P(z < -a) corresponds to the given
greater than, from 0.5.
to the left
 Sign Notation Operation
greater than, to the Subtract the area
right, at least, more Positive P(z > a) corresponds to the
than, above given from 0.5.
greater than, to the Add 0.5 to the
Negative
right, at least, more P(z > -a) corresponding area
than, above
less than, at most, no Add 0.5 to the
more than, not greater Positive P(z < a) corresponding area
than, to the left
less than, at most, no Subtract the area
more than, not greater Negative corresponds to the
P(z < -a)
than, to the left given from 0.5.
 Sign Notation Operation
Same P(a < z < b) Subtract the
sign biggest area by the
smallest area
Between a
and b Different P(a < z < -b) Add the biggest
sign P(-a < z < b) area to the smallest
area
Example:
●
to
 
denote the area between and , we use the notation :

“ The probability that the z – score falls between

and is ”
●
With
 
continuous probability distributions such as the normal
distribution, his means that with indefinitely many different
possible values, the probability of getting any one exact value
is 0.
 Example 1:
● Find the proportion of the area above z = -1

= 0. 3413

0. 3413 + 0.5 = 0.8413

 
0.3413 + 0.5 = 0.8413
 Example 2:
● Find the area greater than z = 1

= 0. 3413

0.5 – 0.3413 = 0.1578

 
0.5 – 0.3413 = 0.1578
 Example 3:
● Find the area below z = 1.5

= 0. 4332

0.5 + 0.4332 = 0.9332

 
0.5 + 0.4332 = 0.9332
 Example 4:
● Find the area above z = 1.46

= 0. 4279

0.5 - 0.4279 = 0.0721

 
0.5 - 0.4332 = 0.0721
FINDING THE AREA
BETWEEN TWO
PAIRED Z - SCORES
 Sign Notation Operation
Same P(a < z < b) Subtract the biggest
sign area by the smallest
area
Between a
and b Different P(a < z < -b) Add the biggest
sign P(-a < z < b) area to the smallest
area
Example 1:
● Find the area between z = - 2 and z = -1.5
 

= 0.4772
 

= 0. 4332

0.4772 – 0.4332 = 0. 0440

 
0.4772 – 0.4332 = 0. 0440
Example 2:
● Find the area under the normal curve between z = 0.5 and z
= 2.37

 
0.2996