First, this section talks about how to describe continuous distributions and compute related probabilities, including some basic facts about the normal distribution. Then, it covers how to compute probabilities related to any normal random variable and gives examples of using -score transformations. Finally, it defines tail probabilities and illustrates how to find them.
Areas of Tails of Distributions
Exercises
Basic
1. Find the value of that yields the probability shown.
b.
c.
d.
3. Find the value of that yields the probability shown.
5. Find the indicated value of . (It is easier to find
and negate it.)
7. Find the value of
that yields the probability shown, where
is a normally distributed
random variable
with mean
and standard deviation
.
9. is a normally
distributed random variable
with mean
and standard
deviation
. Find the values
and
of
that are symmetrically located with respect to the mean of
and
satisfy
. (Hint. First
solve the corresponding problem for
.)
Applications
11. Scores on a national exam are normally distributed with mean and standard deviation
.
b. Find the score that is the
13. The monthly amount of water
used per household in a small community is normally distributed with
mean gallons and standard deviation
gallons. Find the
three quartiles for the amount of water used.
15. Scores on the common final
exam given in a large enrollment multiple section course were normally
distributed with mean and standard deviation
. The
department has the rule that in order to receive an A in the course his
score must be in the top
of all exam scores. Find the minimum
exam score that meets this requirement.
17. Tests of a new tire developed
by a tire manufacturer led to an estimated mean tread life of
miles and standard deviation of
miles. The
manufacturer will advertise the lifetime of the tire (for example, a "
mile tire") using the largest value for which it is expected
that
of the tires will last at least that long. Assuming tire
life is normally distributed, find that advertised value.
19. The weights of eggs
produced at a particular farm are normally distributed with mean
ounces and standard deviation
ounce. Eggs whose
weights lie in the middle
of the distribution of weights of
all eggs are classified as "medium". Find the maximum and minimum
weights of such eggs. (These weights are endpoints of an interval that
is symmetric about the mean and in which the weights of
of the
eggs produced at this farm lie.)
21. All students in a large
enrollment multiple section course take common in-class exams and a
common final, and submit common homework assignments. Course grades are
assigned based on students' final overall scores, which are
approximately normally distributed. The department assigns a to
students whose scores constitute the middle
of all scores. If
scores this semester had mean
and standard deviation
,
find the interval of scores that will be assigned a
.
Additional Exercises
23. A machine for filling
-liter bottles of soft drink delivers an amount to each bottle that
varies from bottle to bottle according to a normal distribution with
standard deviation
liter and mean whatever amount the machine
is set to deliver.
b. Find the minimum setting of the mean amount delivered by the machine so that at least