E370

5/13/17
Continuing
Continuous
Distributions Part
3the Normal
Actually,a family of distributions,
each defined by a unique mean
and unique standard deviation.
Normals are
continuous distributions
f(x) is a really complicated formula
the curve is bell shaped and symmetric
about X =
the curve is defined from - to +
mean = median = mode =
The Normal
Distribution
 Data that are influenced by many small
and unrelated random effects are
approximately normally distributed.
For example, a students SAT score is
the result of genetics, nutrition,
illness, last nights beer party, whether
it was hard to find a parking spot the
day the test was taken and cultural
factors.
When you include ALL the factors, you
get the Normal!

Why is the NORMAL so important?

Remember the binomial as n
increases?
. . . any asymmetry is overwhelmed as n gets
large.
When n gets large enough, the binomial
resembles a smooth, symmetric curve, that is
bell-shaped the NORMAL
The Normal is Everywhere:
stock market fluctuations
student weights
yearly temperature averages
SAT scores
Natural Processes such as plant growth

The Normal is an example of a distribution

to which we can apply the Normal Rule.

As n increases . . .
The normal American male will
spend 2,965 hours shaving during
his lifetime.
What does this mean?
What does it mean to be normal?
Describe in words what the shape of
the normal distribution is saying about
the observations that make it up.
Talk this over a little bit. . .

What does normal mean?

Thenormal is a two
parameter distribution, like
the binomial and the uniform.
Itis completely defined by the
parameters and
We will represent it with this
notation:
X ~ N( , )

Normal notation
Alittle review of linear
transformations: If X is
continuous with a mean of x, and
a standard deviation of x,
how is distributed?

A little puzzle and practice

Two New Excel Commands:
=NORM.DIST(X,, , 1)
o X is the value of the random
variable where the desired area
stops.
o is the mean of the distribution.
o is the standard deviation of
the distribution.
o 1 means that the area is
Excel and the
accumulated beginning at .

normal
All alcoholic beverages served at
all bars in the Bellagio Resort,
Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas are
dispensed electronically from the
"Pump Room" in the basement of
the complex. For mixed drinks, the
system is calibrated to dispense
1.5 ounces of distilled spirits per
drink on average, however, the
actual amount dispensed is a
normally distributed random
variable with a standard deviation
At the Bellagio
of 0.1 ounces.
. . .
 Suppose the
Bellagio knows
that customers
will begin to
complain if the
amount of alcohol
in a mixed drink
falls below 1.35
ounces. What is
the probability
that customers
will begin to
complain on any
given day?

=NORM.DIST(1.35,1.5,0.1,1) = 0.0668
o A nice feature of
continuous
distributions is
that they can be
inverted, so not
only can we
calculate
probabilities, but
we can determine
the value of the
random variable
that corresponds
to a known area
or probability.

More Excel and the normal

 o =NORM.INV(, , )
o is the probability to the
left of the value you are
seeking.
o is the mean of the
distribution
o is the standard
deviation of the
Thedistribution.
command and arguments
 Bellagiopublicists
wish to be able to
guarantee the
amount of alcohol
in a mixed drink.
What amount of
alcohol will the
publicists
guarantee is in a
mixed drink if they
wish to replace
drinks less than
2% of the time?

=NORM.INV(0.02,1.5,0.1)=1.2946
=NORM.DIST(x, ,
, 1)
What is the
probability that
a drink at the
Bellagio will
have no more
than 1.63 oz of
distilled spirits
in it?
=NORM.DIST(1.63, 1.5, 0.1,
1) = 0.9032
=NORM.INV(, ,
)
Thirty-five
percent of
drinks at the
Bellagio will
have no more
than how many
ounces of
distilled spirits
in them?

=NORM.INV(0.35, 1.5, 0.1) = 1.46

What about right
tailed areas?
We do the same as we
did with the binomial,
but we have another
command to think
about.
What is the
probability
that a drink
at the
Bellagio will
have at
least 1.48
ounces of
distilled
spirits in it?
=1-NORM.DIST(1.48, 1.5, 0.1,
1) = 0.5793
At least
how many
ounces of
distilled
spirits will
the
strongest
15% of
drinks at
the
Bellagio
=NORM.INV(1-0.15, 1.5,
have?
0.1) = 1.604