Transcript Ch 5
Normal Distribution
The most commonly used distribution for continuous random variable
f(x)
μ
x
“Bell Shaped”
Symmetrical
Mean, Median and Mode are Equal
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Examples of Normal Distribution
Examples:
Heights and weights of people
Students’ test scores
Amounts of rainfall in a year
Average temperature in a year
Characteristics:
Most of the time, the value is around the mean;
The higher (lower) a value is from the mean, the less likely it happens;
The probability a value is higher than the mean is the same as the probability
that the value is lower than the mean;
It could be extremely higher or lower than the mean.
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Understanding the Curve
One striking assumption of continuous random variables is:
The curve doesn’t represent a probability.
The area below the curve does!
We don’t study the probability that the random variable takes one
value. We care about the range.
f(x)
E.g. we don’t care about
the likelihood of a person’s income
is $50,102 per year. We care
the percentage a person’
income falls in the range of
$50,000~$60,000
x
a
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Characteristics of Normal Distribution
f(x)
σ
μ
μ
Location is determined by the mean (expected value), μ
Spread is determined by the standard deviation, σ
The shape of the normal distribution is decided based on μ and σ
In theory, the random variable has an infinite range: from - to +
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Rules to assign probability for
normal distribution
Events:
Typical events we care about:
x<100 lbs, x>300K, 50<x<60, etc.
Think: what are the complement events for the above events?
Basic Rules:
1. P(-< x < +) = 1
~ x is certainly between - and +
f(x)
P( x μ) 0.5
P(μ x ) 0.5
2. P(x = a) = 0 for any given a.
(It is almost impossible to find that x equals to a
specific value. E.g. it is impossible to find a person
with a height exactly as 6.1334 feet.)
3. P(x > ) = P(x ) = P(x < ) = P(x ) = 0.5
– symmetry.
0
. μ
5
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Determine the probability for normal
distribution (2)
More rules:
3. P(x<+b)= 0.5 + P(<x<+b)
f(x)
P ( x +b )
0.5
+b
x
4. P( - b<x<) = P( <x< +b)
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Exercise
Assume that =3, P(3<x< 4)=0.2, determine the following probabilities:
f(x)
2
3
4
x
P(x< 4)?
P(2 <x< 3)?
P(2<x< 4)?
P(x<2)?
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Empirical Rules
The probability that x falls in to
the range (μ-1σ, μ+1σ) is 0.6826
(or 68.26%)
That is, the area under the curve
is 0.6826
Derivation:
A half of the area will be 0.6826/2
= 0.3413
f(x)
P(μ-σ<x<μ)=0.6826
34.13%
σ
f(x)
μ1σ
σ
σ
σ
μ
μ+1σ
x
f(x)
68.26%
34.13%
P(μ<x<μ+σ)=0.6826
μ1σ
μ
μ+1σ
P(μ-σ<x<μ+σ)=0.6826
σ
x
μ1σ
μ
μ+1σ
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Empirical Rules
More Derivation:
Derivation:
The tailed area is 0.5-0.3413
=0.1587
f(x)
P(x<μ-σ)=0.1587
15.87%
The complement of tailed area is
1-0.1587=0.8413
f(x)
σ
μ1σ
μ
P(x>μ-σ)=0.8413
84.13%
σ
μ+1σ
x
f(x)
μ1σ
σ
μ
μ+1σ
x
f(x)
15.87%
84.13%
P(x>μ+σ)=0.1587
P(x<μ+σ)=0.8413
σ
μ1σ
μ
σ
μ+1σ
x
μ1σ
μ
μ+1σ
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Exercise
A supermarket (Walmart) wants to reward its customers. Based on the past
experience, the accumulative expenditure of each customer in a month follows
a normal distribution with mean $700 and standard deviation $300.
The criterion to reward the customer is that if a customer spend more than
$1000 will receive a reward of free digital camera.
If you randomly select a customer to check whether he/she receives a digital
camera, what is the probability that you will get a confirmative answer?
If all the customers whose accumulative expenditure in Oct exceeds $400 will
receive a free burger from McDonalds, what is the probability that you meet a
customer gets a burger?
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More Empirical Rule
μ ± 2σ covers about 95% of x’s
2σ
2σ
μ
μ ±3σ covers about 99.7% of x’s
x
95.44%
3σ
3σ
μ
x
99.72%
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Exercise
Problem 5.40 (Page 210)
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Use the normal table to compute the
probability for any range:
Concept 1: z score
The z score of x is computed based on
1. the value of x,
2. the mean of the normal distribution , and
3. the standard deviation of the normal distribution .
x μ
Formula: z
σ
Z score represents how many standard deviation x
is from the mean.
•
E.g. if x= , z =0. no deviation.
if x = + , z = 1. one standard deviation above.
if x = - , z = -1. one standard deviation below.
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Use the table to compute the
probability
Standard normal table: (Page 595)
Use the z score to figure out the probability.
The z-score has to be positive.
The table shows the probability between the mean to
the value.
f(x)
The area is the probability
P(<x<a).
a
x
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How to use the table?
Steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
f(x)
Calculate the z-score. (z = (4-3)/1.5=0.667)
Round the z-score to two decimals (z =0.67)
Find the integer and first decimal part from the row
Find the 2nd decimal from the column
Find the corresponding value the probability.
=1.5
3
4
z
…
0.06
0.07
0.08
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
0.5
…
0.2123
0.2157
0.2190
…
0.6
…
0.2454
0.2486
0.2517
…
0.7
…
0.2764
0.2794
0.2823
…
x
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…
…
…
…
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…
Other cases: drawing helps!
Case 1:
3<x<4
f(x)
Case 3:
x<4
P=0.2486
f(x)
4
3
x
Case 4:
x>2
f(x)
4
4
P=0.5+0.2486=0.7486
Case 2:
2<x<3
f(x)
f(x)
x
x
3
Case 5:
x>4
P=0.5-0.2486=0.2514
Case 6:
x<2
f(x)
P=0.2486
x
2
3
x
x
2
2
3
P=0.5+0.2486=0.7486
3
P=0.5-0.2486=0.2514
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Advanced Cases
f(x)
f(x)
f(x)
x
x
3 4 5
3 4 5
x
3 4 5
f(x)
?
x
1
2 3
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More advanced case
f(x)
x
2
5
Use the normal table, you should be able to figure out any probability!
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Exercise.
Page 210
Problem 5.45
Problem 5.52
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