STATISTICS &
PROBABILITY
QUARTER 3 – MODULE 3
The Normal
Distribution
Lesson 1 – The Normal
Distribution
and Its Properties
Lesson 2 – The Standard Normal
Distribution
Lesson 1:
The Normal Distribution
and Its Properties
The following are the properties
that can be observed from the
graph of a normal distribution, also
known as Gaussian distribution.
1. The graph is a continuous curve
and has a domain -∞ < X < ∞.
- this means that X may
increase or decrease without
bound.
2. The graph is asymptotic to the x-
axis. The value of the variable gets
closer and closer but will never be
equal to 0.
- As the x gets larger and larger in the
positive direction, the tail of the curve
approaches but will never touch the
horizontal axis. The same thing when the x
gets larger and larger in the negative
direction.
3. The highest point on the curve
occurs at x = μ (mean).
- the mean (μ) indicates the
highest peak of the curve and is
found at the center.
- take note that the mean is
denoted by this symbol μ and the
standard deviation is denoted by
this symbol σ.
- the median and mode of the
distribution are also found at the
center of the graph. This
indicates that in a normal
distribution, the mean, median
and mode are equal.
4. The curve is symmetrical about the
mean.
- this means that the curve will have
balanced proportions when cut in halves
and the area under the curve to the right
of mean (50%) is equal to the area under
the curve to the left of the mean (50%).
5. The total area in the normal
distribution under the curve is
equal to 1.
- since the mean divides the
curve into halves, 50% of the
area is to the right and 50% to
its left having a total of 100% or
1.
6. In general, the graph of a
normal distribution is a bell-
shaped curve with two inflection
points, one on the left and
another on the right. Inflection
points are the points that mark
the change in the curve’s
concavity.
• Inflection point is the point at which
a change in the direction of curve at
mean minus standard deviation and
mean plus standard deviation.
• Note that each inflection point of
the normal curve is one standard
deviation away from the mean.
7. Every normal curve corresponds to
the “empirical rule”
(also called the 68.3 – 95.4 - 99.7%
rule):
• about 68.3% of the area under the curve
falls within 1 standard deviation of the
mean.
• about 95.4% of the area under the curve
falls within 2 standard deviations of the
mean.
• about 99.7% of the area under the curve
falls within 3 standard deviations of the
mean.
QUIZ
Consider the following examples:
1. Suppose the mean is 60 and the standard
deviation is 5, sketch a normal curve for the
distribution. This is how it would look like.
2. A continuous random variable X is
normally distributed with a mean of 45 and
standard deviation of 6. Illustrate a normal
curve and find the probability of the
following:
a. P (39 < X < 51) =68.3%
_______
*Since the area
covered is 1
standard of the
deviation to the
left and to the
b. P (33 < X < 63) =97.55%
________
*Since the area
covered is 2 standard
of deviation to the
left (47.7) and 3
standard deviation to
the right (49.85), the
probability is 97.55%.
c. P (X > 45) = 50%
______
* Since the
area
covered is
half curve.
d. P (X < 39) =15.85%
________
*Since the area
covered is below 1
standard of
deviation to the
left of the mean
therefore,
50% - 34.15% =
15.85%
