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More on Normal Distributions


  1. Because the normal distribution is continuous, the probability of any one specific point is 0.

  2. Because the normal distribution is continuous, the probability of any one specific point is 0. The solution is to round off and consider any value from 5.5 to 6.5 to represent an outcome of 6 tails. Using this approach, we figure out the area under a normal curve from 5.5 to 6.5.

  3. In order to include 7 flips, you need to start a little below it (6.5), and to include 13 flips, you need to go a little past it (13.5). So, you calculate the area from 6.5 to 13.5.

  4. It is most accurate for p=.5 because that makes the binomial distribution symmetric and closer to a normal distribution.

  5. The binomial distribution approaches a normal distribution as the sample size increases. Therefore the approximation is best when the sample size is highest.