STUDY GUIDE

STATISTICS & PROBABILITY | UNIT 7

The Central Limit Theorem

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
Test Your Prerequisite Skills ........................................................................................................ 4
Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Lesson 1: Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean (When the Variance Is Known)
- Warm Up! ........................................................................................................................... 5
- Learn about It! ................................................................................................................... 6
- Let’s Practice! ..................................................................................................................... 7
- Check Your Understanding! ............................................................................................ 12
Lesson 2: Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean (When the Variance Is
Unknown)
- Warm Up! ......................................................................................................................... 13
- Learn about It! ................................................................................................................. 14
- Let’s Practice! ................................................................................................................... 15
- Check Your Understanding! ............................................................................................ 19
Lesson 3: The Central Limit Theorem
- Warm Up! ......................................................................................................................... 20
- Learn about It! ................................................................................................................. 20
- Let’s Practice! ................................................................................................................... 22
- Check Your Understanding! ............................................................................................ 33
Lesson 4: Sampling Distribution Using the Central Limit Theorem
- Warm Up! ......................................................................................................................... 34
- Learn about It! ................................................................................................................. 35
- Let’s Practice! ................................................................................................................... 35
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- Check Your Understanding! ............................................................................................ 42

Challenge Yourself! ..................................................................................................................... 43
Performance Task ....................................................................................................................... 43
Wrap-up ....................................................................................................................................... 46
Key to Let’s Practice! .................................................................................................................... 47
References ................................................................................................................................... 49

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Table of Contents
GRADE 11/12 | STATISTICS & PROBABILITY

UNIT 7

The Central Limit Theorem

Research has played an important role in the improvement of civilization. A lot of essential
questions such as “What is the average life expectancy of a person?” and “What is the
average height of a person?” can be answered through the use of research.

Normally, if we want to know the average height of a

population, we would conduct a survey among every
member of the population. The government does this
through the use of census. Researchers do this by going through every household to
conduct the survey.

However, it is often difficult to conduct a survey among

every member of the population, especially when the
population comprises the entire country. It is impractical
and difficult to conduct a survey among everyone in the
country just to know their height.

In such instances that we need to conduct a research about a population with a lot of
members, we can apply statistics to make the process easier. This is the time when the
study of the sampling distribution of the sample mean comes in handy.

In this unit, we will learn the importance of the sampling distribution of a sample mean
and how the Central Limit Theorem plays an important role in the sampling distribution.

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Test Your Prerequisite Skills

 Constructing a frequency distribution table

 Solving for the combination of objects taken at a time
 Solving for the mean of a given set of objects

Before you get started, answer the following items on a separate sheet of paper. This will
help you assess your prior knowledge and practice some skills that you will need in
studying the lessons in this unit. Show your complete solution.

1. Twenty grade 12 students are asked what strand they are taking in senior high school.
Their responses are as follows:
STEM ICT ABM HE ICT
ABM HUMMS ICT STEM HUMMS
HUMMS ABM STEM HUMMS HE
STEM ICT ABM ICT HUMMS

Construct a frequency distribution table of the students’ responses.

2. Solve for the following combinations.

a.
b.
c.

3. Solve for the mean of the following sets of numbers.

a. 19, 15, 13, 18, 19
b. 6, 7, 8, 4, 10, 2, 9, 1, 14, 5
c. 21, 25, 26, 28, 27, 29, 30, 35, 19, 31
d. 91, 84, 91, 74, 85

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Objectives

At the end of this unit, you should be able to

 define the sampling distribution of the sample mean for normal population when
the variance is (a) known and (b) unknown;
 illustrate the central limit theorem; and
 define the sampling distribution of the sample mean using the central limit
theorem.

Lesson 1: Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean

(When the Variance Is Known)

Warm Up!

Getting Closer to the Mean!

Materials Needed: none

Instructions:
1. This activity will be done in groups, then as a class.
2. Divide your class into four groups, with equal members per group.
3. For every member of the group, think of any integer from to . Get the mean of
the numbers for each group.
a. The mean of the first group will be .
b. The mean of the second group will be .
c. The mean of the third group will be .
d. The mean of the fourth group will be .
4. Obtain the mean of the entire class. Name the mean as .
5. Compare with , , , and . What can you observe?
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Learn about It!

In gathering data, it is sometimes impractical to obtain data from every member of the
population. This is why we just get data from a representative of the population, which is
a sample. In Warm Up!, the entire class is considered a population and each group
represents a sample. You may have noticed that the mean of the population is different
from the mean of the sample. This variation makes it difficult to determine how far is
from .

The sample mean varies from sample to sample. These sample means can be written as a
distribution, which is called the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

The sampling distribution of the sample mean shows all possible samples from the
population, along with their sample means. The sampling variability shows how the
sample mean varies from sample to sample. It makes it difficult to know how far a given
is from . However, there are several relationships that can be observed between the
mean and variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean, and the mean and
variance of the population.

If the population is normally distributed, then the sampling distribution of the sample
mean is also normal with mean equal to the population mean .

Moreover, the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is equal to the
population variance divided by the sample size .

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By taking the square root of the variance, we can obtain the standard deviation. Thus, the
standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is the population
standard deviation divided by the square root of the sample size .

The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean, which is also
called the standard error, is used to measure the accuracy with which the sample
represents the population. The formula varies if the sample size is a significant fraction of
the population size. For this lesson, it is assumed that the sample size is not large enough
compared to the population size.

Let’s Practice!

Example 1: A group of students took an aptitude test. The scores have a normal
distribution. Its population mean is with variance . Determine
the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean of the scores with a sample size of 36.

Solution:
Step 1: Determine the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

The mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is equal to the
population mean.

Thus, the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is 90.

Step 2: Determine the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
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Use the formula for the variance of a sampling distribution of the sample
mean of a normally distributed population. Then take its square root to get
the standard deviation.

Thus, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is 0.5.

Try It Yourself!

The population mean of a normally distributed set of data is and its variance is
. Determine the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the
sample mean with a sample size of .

Example 2: The sampling distribution of the sample mean with sample size from
a normally distributed population has mean with standard
deviation . Determine the population mean and population standard
deviation.

Solution:
Step 1: Determine the population mean .

Since the given population is normally distributed, the mean of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean is equal to the population mean. Thus,
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Step 2: Determine the population standard deviation .

Since the given population is normally distributed, .

Thus, the population standard deviation is .

Try It Yourself!

The sampling distribution of the sample mean with sample size from a
normally distributed population has mean with standard deviation
. Determine the population mean and population standard deviation.

Example 3: Given a normally distributed population with variance , determine the

sample size such that the sampling distribution of the sample mean has a
standard deviation .

Solution:
Step 1: Determine the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

The variance is the square of the standard deviation.

Thus, .

Step 2: Determine the sample size .

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Use the formula for the variance of a sampling distribution of the sample
mean of a normally distributed population.

Thus, the sampling distribution of the sample mean has a standard deviation
if the sample size is .

Try It Yourself!

Given a normally distributed population with variance , determine the

sample size such that the sampling distribution of the sample mean has a standard
deviation .

Real-World Problems

Example 4: The grades of students in a certain university follow a normal distribution

with mean and standard deviation . Determine the mean
and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean of
the students’ grades with a sample size of .

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Solution:

Step 1: Determine the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Since the grades are normally distributed, the mean of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean is equal to the population mean. Thus,
.

Step 2: Determine the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean.

Since the grades are normally distributed, .

Thus, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean of the students’ grades is approximately .

Try It Yourself!

The heights of students in a certain school follow

a normal distribution with mean cm and
standard deviation cm. Determine the
mean and standard deviation of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean of the students’
grades with a sample size of .

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Check Your Understanding!

1. Solve the following.

a. Given a normally distributed set of data with and , what is the
mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean
with a sample size of 25?
b. Given a normally distributed set of data with and , what is the mean
and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean with a
sample size of 4?
c. Given a normally distributed set of data with and , what is the
mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean
with a sample size of 4?

2. Determine the population mean and population standard deviation given the
following information about the sampling distribution of the sample mean of a
normally distributed population.
a. , , A
b. , ,
c. , ,

3. Given a normally distributed population with standard deviation ,

determine the sample size such that the sampling distribution of the sample
mean has a standard deviation .

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Lesson 2: Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean

(When the Variance Is Unknown)

Warm Up!

The Mean is Sinking!

Materials Needed: pen and paper, fish bowl or any container.

Instructions:
1. This activity will be done as a class.
2. Each student will choose a random integer from 1 to 5. No one may change
numbers during the activity.
3. Form groups with four members each. For each group, determine the mean of
the integers of the members. Write this mean on a piece of paper and place it
on the fish bowl.
4. Form new groups with four members each. Make sure that no one is on the
same group as the previous one. Determine the mean of the group. Write down
the mean on a piece of paper and place it on the fish bowl.
5. For the last time, form new groups with four members each. Make sure that no
one is on the same group as the previous two groups. Determine the mean of
the group. Write down the mean on a piece of paper and place it on the fish
bowl.
6. Collect all the means from the fish bowl. Arrange the means in order and
construct a frequency distribution table of the means. What do you notice on
the frequency distribution?

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Learn about It!

In Warm Up!, you may have noticed that there are many possible samples of size from
your class. The different groupings that you had may not have covered all the possible
samples of your class. The activity illustrates how the sample mean varies using different
samples.

In the previous lesson, we learned the relationship between the population parameters
and the parameters of the sampling distribution of the sample mean of a normally
distributed population. That is, given a sample size, we can solve for the mean and
standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean if we know the
population mean and population standard deviation. However, in most applications, the
population standard deviation is unknown. In these cases, we can use the sample
standard deviation instead.

If a population is normally distributed and the population standard deviation is unknown,

the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is estimated by

where is a sample variance, which is an unbiased estimate of , and is the sample

size.

Moreover, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is
estimated by

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Let’s Practice!

Example 1: Given a normally distributed set of data with mean and a sample
standard deviation , what is the mean and standard deviation of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean with a sample size of 81?

Solution:

Step 1: Determine the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Since the given population is normally distributed, the mean of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean is equal to the population mean. Thus,

Step 2: Determine the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean.

Since the given population is normally distributed and the population

standard deviation is unknown, we will use the given sample standard
deviation to estimate the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
the sample mean.

Thus, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is approximately .

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Try It Yourself!

Given a normally distributed set of data with mean and a sample standard
deviation , what is the mean and standard deviation of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean with a sample size of 100?

Example 2: Given a normally distributed set of data with a sample standard deviation
, estimate the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean with a sample size of 200.

Solution:

Step 1: Determine a sample variance.

We can use the given sample standard deviation in the problem to determine
a sample variance. Since , we have .

Step 2: Determine the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Since the given population is normally distributed and the population

variance is unknown, we will use the sample variance from Step 1 to estimate
the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Thus, the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is .

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Try It Yourself!

Given a normally distributed set of data with mean with a sample standard
deviation , estimate the variance of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean with a sample size of 10.

Example 3: If the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean of
a normally distributed set of data is estimated by using the sample
variance , determine the sample size of the sampling distribution.

Solution: Since the given population is normally distributed and the population
standard deviation is unknown, we can estimate the standard deviation of
the sampling distribution of the sample mean using a sample standard
deviation. Since the given sample variance is , we have the sample
standard deviation .

Thus, the sample size of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is .

Try It Yourself!

If the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean of a

normally distributed set of data is estimated by using the sample variance
, determine the sample size of the sampling distribution.
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Real-World Problems

Example 4: The weight of mangoes in a certain plantation

follow a normal distribution with mean g.
Using a sample standard deviation of g,
determine the mean and standard deviation of
the sampling distribution of the sample mean of
the weight of mangoes with a sample size of .

Solution:

Step 1: Determine the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Since the given population is normally distributed, the mean of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean is equal to the population mean. Thus,
g.

Step 2: Determine the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean.

Since the given population is normally distributed and the population

standard deviation is unknown, the standard deviation of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean can be estimated using the sample standard
deviation.

Thus, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is estimated at g.

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Try It Yourself!

The weekly view count of music videos of a Filipino

band follows a normal distribution with mean
views. Using a sample standard deviation
of views, determine the mean and standard
deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean of the views with a sample size of .

Check Your Understanding!

1. Solve the following.

a. Given a normally distributed set of data with mean and a sample
standard deviation , what is the mean and standard deviation of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean with a sample size of 36?
b. Given a normally distributed set of data with mean and a sample
standard deviation , what is the mean and standard deviation of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean with a sample size of 49?
c. Given a normally distributed set of data with mean and a sample
standard deviation , what is the mean and standard deviation of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean with a sample size of 121?

2. Determine the population mean and sample standard deviation used given the
following information about the sampling distribution of the sample mean of a
normally distributed population whose population standard deviation is unknown.
a. , , A
b. , ,
c. , ,
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Lesson 3: The Central Limit Theorem

Warm Up!

Getting Closer and Closer!

Materials Needed: none

Instructions:
1. This activity will be done as a class. One student will act as facilitator.
2. Each student will think of a random integer from 1 to 5.
3. The facilitator will select three random students and get the mean of the
integers that they had in mind. The facilitator will record that mean on the
board.
4. Select another student and ask for his/her integer. Include him in the previous
three students take the new mean. The facilitator will record the new mean on
the board.
5. Continue the process until all students have been selected.
6. The final mean that you obtained is the population mean. Observe the behavior
of the means obtained in the process and compare it to the population mean.
How would you compare the population mean to the rest of the means?

Learn about It!

You may have observed in Warm Up! that the mean gets closer and closer to the
population mean as the number of students included in the computation increases.
Clearly, the sample mean approaches the population mean as the sample size increases.
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A similar concept can be observed in the sampling distribution of the sample mean. In a
population with an infinite number of values, as the sample size increases, the histogram
of the sampling distribution of the sample mean approaches a bell-shaped graph.

The sampling distribution of the sample mean,

regardless of the distribution of the population,
with large enough sample size, would form an
approximately bell-shaped graph. Recall that a
bell-shaped graph is the graph of a set of data that
is normally distributed. Thus, as the number of
samples increases, the sampling distribution of the sample mean of a set of data tends to
become normally distributed. This is the concept behind the Central Limit Theorem.

The Central Limit Theorem states that given a large enough sample size, the sampling
distribution of the sample mean will have a normal distribution, or have an approximately
normal distribution, regardless of the distribution of the population. Moreover, the mean
of the sampling distribution of the sample mean will be equal to the population mean
and the standard error will be . For populations with finite size, the standard deviation

of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is given by , where N is the

population size.

The Central Limit Theorem is a fundamental theorem in Statistics. It implies that as long
as we have a sufficient amount of sample, any distribution slowly approaches a normal
distribution. As a result, we can apply different statistical procedures that are only
applicable to normally distributed sets of data to any population given a large sample size.

Note that for a sample size to be “large enough,” many factors can be considered such as
the ratio of the sample size to the population size, type of data, or even the context of the
problem where the theorem is applied. But as a rule of thumb, the sample size is
considered large enough if it is at least .

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Let’s Practice!

Example 1: Consider a population with and ,. is taken. Find the mean and
the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean with
a sample size of .

Solution: By the Central Limit Theorem, since the sample size is at least , the
sampling distribution of the sample mean will be normally distributed. Since
we know that and , we can solve for the mean and standard
deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

The mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is equal to the
population mean.

Thus, the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is 50.

Moreover, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is equal to the quotient of the population standard deviation and the
square root of the sample size.

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Thus, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean approximately 0.91.

Try It Yourself!

A population has mean and standard deviation . A sample of size

15 is taken from the population. What is the mean and the standard deviation of
the sampling distribution of the sample mean?

Example 2: A set of data consists of the values 10, 20, 30, and 40. A sample of size 2,
which is considered large enough, is taken from the population. Verify that
the histogram of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is
approximately bell-shaped.

Solution:

Step 1: Determine the number of possible samples from the given population.

The problem states that a sample of size 2 is taken from the population.
Since there are four members in the population and the sample size is 2, the
number of samples is determined by .

Thus, there are 6 possible samples of size 2 from the given population.

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Step 2: Determine the samples from the given population and compute for their
sample means.

Sample Sample Mean

10, 20 15
10, 30 20
10, 40 25
20, 30 25
20, 40 30
30, 40 35

Step 3: Construct the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Determine the probability of each sample mean by counting of its number of

occurrence over the number of possible sample means.

Sample Mean Probability

15

20

25

30

35

Step 4: Construct the histogram of the sampling distribution of the sample mean
and verify whether the histogram is approximately bell-shaped.

Use the x-axis for the sample means and the y-axis for the probability of each
sample mean.

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0.51

0.34

0.17

0
15 20 25 30 35

It can be observed from the histogram that it forms an approximately bell-

shaped distribution.

Try It Yourself!

A set of data consists of the values 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60. A sample of size 3, which
is large enough, is taken from the population. Verify that the histogram of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean is approximately bell-shaped.

Example 3: A population consists of the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18. A sample of size 3,
which is large enough, is taken from the population. Verify the application of
the Central Limit Theorem by comparing:
a. the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean and the
population mean.
b. the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean
and the population standard deviation.

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Solution:

Step 1: Determine the number of possible samples from the given population.

The given population consists of six values and three are taken to form the
sample. Thus, the number of possible samples is given by .

Thus, there are 20 possible samples of size from the given population.

Step 2: Determine all possible samples and their sample means.

The table below illustrates the different samples of size and their sample
means.

Sample Sample Mean

3, 6, 9 6
3, 6, 12 7
3, 6, 15 8
3, 6, 18 9
3, 9, 12 8
3, 9, 15 9
3, 9, 18 10
3, 12, 15 10
3, 12, 18 11
3, 15, 18 12
6, 9, 12 9
6, 9, 15 10
6, 9, 18 11
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6, 12, 15 11
6, 12, 18 12
6, 15, 18 13
9, 12, 15 12
9, 12, 18 13
9, 15, 18 14
12, 15, 18 15

Step 3: Construct the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Sample Mean Probability

10

11

12

13

14

15

Compare the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean and the
population mean.

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The population mean is obtained by adding all the members of the

population then dividing the sum by the population size.

The mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean can be obtained
using the formula .

6 0.3

7 0.35

8 0.8

9 1.35

10 1.5

11 1.65

12 1.8

13 1.3

14 0.7

15 0.75

Solve for the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean by
adding all the values in the column .

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Thus, the population mean and the mean of the sampling distribution of the
sample mean are equal.

Next, compare the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the

sample mean and the population standard deviation.

To compute for the standard deviation of the population, we use the

following formula.

3 9
6 36
9 81
12 144
15 225
18 324

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The standard deviation of the sampling distribution can be obtained using

the formula .

6 36 1.8

7 49 2.45

8 64 6.4

9 81 12.15

10 100 15

11 121 18.15

12 144 21.6

13 169 16.9

14 196 9.8

15 225 11.25

Solve for the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean using the formula . We will use this formula since the

population size is finite.

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Thus, the relationship between the population standard deviation and the
standard deviation of the sampling distribution holds true.

Try It Yourself!

Using the same population that consists of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 and a sample of
size 3, verify the application of the Central Limit Theorem by checking if the
histogram of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is approximately bell-
shaped.

Real-World Problems

Example 4: The population mean of the age of the residents in a

certain city is 56.12 years with a standard deviation
of 15.3 years. A group of residents from a
certain barangay in the city is taken as a sample. If
the population of the city 150 000, find the mean and
standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean of the
residents’ ages.

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Solution:

Step 1: Determine the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

By the Central Limit Theorem, the sampling distribution of the sample mean
of the ages of the residents in the city tends to form a normal distribution
since the sample size is at least . Thus, the population mean and the mean
of the sampling distribution of the sample mean are equal.

Thus, the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is

years.

Step 2: Determine the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample
mean.

There is a finite number of population given in the problem, that is, 150 000.
Thus, we will use the following formula to compute for the standard
deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean.

Therefore, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is 0.34 years.

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Try It Yourself!

The average number of visitors per week in a certain

store is 215.13 people with a standard deviation of 61.75
people. The past 2 weeks is taken as a sample. If the
store has been open for 12 weeks already, find the
mean and standard deviation of the sampling
distribution of the sample mean.

Check Your Understanding!

1. Determine the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the
sample mean with a sample size of and whose population mean and population
standard deviation are as follows:
a. c.
b. d.

2. A population consists of the following values: 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, and 200. A
sample of size 2 is taken from the population. Verify the application of the Central
Limit Theorem by showing that:
a.

b.

c. The histogram of the sampling distribution is approximately bell-shaped.

3. The Grade 12 students of a certain city has a population of 30 000. The recent
standardized test shows that the mean of their scores is 32.61 with a standard
deviation of 6.71. 3 000 students are taken as a sample for further testing. Find the
mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean of
the scores.
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Lesson 4: Sampling Distribution Using the Central Limit

Theorem

Warm Up!

Frayer’s Model

Materials Needed: pen and paper

Instructions:
1. This activity will be done individually.
2. On a paper, create a Frayer’s model, as shown below, to organize the things that
you have learned so far in this unit.

Definition: Properties:

Central Limit Theorem

Histogram: Example:

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Learn about It!

The Central Limit Theorem is an essential theorem in Statistics. It assures us that the
sampling distribution of the sample mean will tend to have a normal distribution given
that the sample size is large enough. Thus, normal distributions can be used to analyze
sampling distributions of the sample mean.

Consequently, we can analyze the data of any population, regardless of its distribution, as
if it is normally distributed. One important application is that we can determine the
percentage of the population that follows a certain score using its corresponding z-scores.

A good rule of thumb for sampling distributions of the sample mean is that a sufficient
sample size is . The appropriate value of depends on the shape of the population
from which you sample as well as how you want to use the approximation. The following
guidelines may help:

 If the population is normal, then the sampling distribution of will also be normal
regardless of the sample size used.
 If the population is approximately symmetric, the sampling distribution of the
sample mean becomes approximately normal for relatively small values of .
 If the population is skewed, the sample size must be larger, with at least 30,
before sampling distribution of the sample mean becomes approximately normal.

Let’s Practice!

Example 1: A normally distributed population has and . What is the

probability that a random sample of size 20 has a sample mean less than or
equal to ?
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Solution: Since the given population is normally distributed, the sampling distribution
of the sample mean will also be normal with mean . Thus, the
sampling distribution of the sample mean has mean . Since the mean
is also the median in a normal distribution, half of the sample means fall
below it. Therefore, the probability that a random sample of size has a
sample mean less that or equal to is .

Try It Yourself!

A normally distributed population has and . What is the probability

that a random sample of size 15 has a sample mean of at least 110?

Example 2: A population has mean and standard deviation . What is the

probability that a random sample of size 36 will have a mean greater than
47?

Solution: Since the sample size is at least 30, by the Central Limit Theorem, the
sampling distribution of the sample mean follows a normal distribution.

Step 1: Determine the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
the sample mean.

The population mean is equal to the mean of the sampling distribution of the
sample mean, that is, . On the other hand, we will use the formula
to determine the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
the sample mean.

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Therefore, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is 2.5.

Step 2: Determine the z-scores of the given normal random variable.

Using the formula , we can determine the z-score of the .

Step 3: Determine the area to the right of in the standard normal curve.

Therefore, the area to the right of is . Consequently,

.

Step 4: Determine the probability that a random sample of size 36 will have a mean
greater than 47.

Since the area under the normal curve to the right of in the sampling
distribution of the sample mean with sample size is 0.0026, the
probability that a random sample of size will have a mean greater than
is .
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Try It Yourself!

A population has mean of and standard deviation . What is the

probability that a random sample of size 30 will have a mean greater than 140?

Example 3: A population which has a size of has a mean of and a

standard deviation of . What is the probability that a random sample
of size will have a mean between and ?

Solution: We will use to represent the mean of the sample and to represent the
standard deviation of the sample.

Step 1: Determine the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
the sample mean.

By the Central Limit Theorem, since the sample size is at least , the
sampling distribution of the sample mean follows a normal distribution with
. This is assured to us by the Central Limit Theorem.

Since the population is finite, we will solve for the standard deviation of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean using the following formula.

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Therefore, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample

mean is approximately 1.343.

Step 2: Determine the z-scores of the given normal random variables.

Using the formula , we can determine the z-score of the normal

random variables and .

For , we have

For , we have

Step 3: Determine the area under the standard normal curve between and
.

Therefore, the area under the standard normal curve between and
is . Consequently, .
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Step 4: Determine the probability that a random sample of size will have a
mean between 78 and 83.

Since the area under the normal curve between of and in the
sampling distribution of the sample mean with sample size is 0.9190,
the probability that a random sample of size will have a mean between
and is .

Try It Yourself!

A population which has a size of has a mean of and a standard

deviation of . What is the probability that a random sample of size will
have a mean between 49 and 52?

Real-World Problems

Example 4: The average Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is normally

distributed with and standard deviation .
What is the probability that a random sample of people
will have an average IQ between 90 and 110?

Solution:
Step 1: Determine the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
the sample mean.

Since the population is normally distributed , the sampling distribution of the

sample mean follows a normal distribution with .

The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample mean is

given by .

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Step 2: Determine the z-scores of the given normal random variables.

Using the formula , we can determine the z-scores of and

For , we have

For , we have

Step 3: Determine the area under the standard normal curve between and
.

Therefore, the area under the standard normal curve between and
is . Consequently, .

Step 4: Determine the probability that a random sample of people will have an
average IQ between and .

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Since the area under the normal curve between of and in the
sampling distribution of the sample mean of a normally distributed
population is 0.8638, the probability that a random sample of people will
have an average IQ between 90 and 110 is .

Try It Yourself!

The average height of a Filipino male is 162 cm with

standard deviation of 7 cm. What is the probability that
a random Filipino’s height is less than 152 cm?
Note that height is normally distributed.

Check Your Understanding!

1. Solve the following.

a. A normally distributed population has a mean of and a standard
deviation of . What is the probability that a randomly selected score is less
than 35?
b. A normally distributed population has a mean of and a standard
deviation of . What is the probability that a randomly selected score is
between 105 and 125?
c. A normally distributed population has a mean of and a standard
deviation of . What is the probability that a random sample of size 9 will
have a mean of less than 43?
d. A normally distributed population which has a size of with mean
and standard deviation . What is the probability that a random sample of
size will have a mean greater than ?

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2. Teenagers spend an average of 3.5 hours a day in front of a computer with

standard deviation of 1.1 hours. What is the probability that a random teenager
spends between 2 and 3 hours a day in front of a computer?

Challenge Yourself!

1. In the middle of Christine’s experiment of measuring the academic performance of

students in Math, she realized that her data is not normally distributed. What can
you recommend to her so that the sampling distribution of the sample mean of her
data will be normal?
2. Why is it that it is more likely that the sample mean is close to the population
mean?
3. What is the importance of the histogram being approximately bell-shaped in the
sampling distribution of the sample mean?
4. How can you approximate the mean of a population whose size is infinite?
5. In a population of size , we can say for certain that the sampling
distribution of the sample mean with sample size of at most follow a normal
distribution. Why?

Performance Task

You are a statistician who is assigned to gather data about the average amount of sleep of
Grade 12 students. You have to conduct an interview of 5 students. Using the data that
you have gathered, you are going to determine all possible combination 2 students who
will serve as a sample and construct the sampling distribution of the sample mean and its
histogram.

Your report should include the following:

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 Short interview on the students’ sleeping patterns

 The sampling distribution of the sample means of the given data
 The histogram of the sampling distribution of the sample mean
 Interpretation of the histogram

Your report will be used by a psychological institution in order to understand the sleeping
patterns of the students. It is a must that the report is thorough, detailed, and precise.

Performance Task Rubric

Below Needs Successful Exemplary

Criteria Expectation Improvement Performance Performance
(0–49%) (50–74%) (75–99%) (99+%)
Accuracy is
Accuracy is not barely
observed in the observed in
sampling the sampling Accuracy is Accuracy is
distribution distribution observed in highly
and the and the the sampling observed in
histogram of histogram of distribution the sampling
the group. The the group. and the distribution
Accuracy sampling There are a lot histogram of and the
distribution of errors that the group. histogram of
and the can be Minor errors the group.
histogram observed in can be The work is
constructed is the report. observed in free from any
totally incorrect There are the report. errors.
and some parts
incomplete. that are
incomplete.
The report The report The report The report
barely shows shows the shows the clearly shows
Thoroughness any information of information the
information the of the information
about the participants, participants. of the
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participants. though there Some minor participants.

Several errors are errors errors are The
can be noted. present. The present. The presented
There are no presented presented explanation
explanations explanations explanations clearly details
given about barely gives a gives a the reason
why students reason why plausible why students
sleep the way students sleep reason why sleep the way
they do. the way they students they do.
do. sleep the way
they do.
The report The report is
does not show The report is neat and
The report is
any barely neat. professionally
neat. The
professionalism The layout made. The
layout shows
at all. The barely shows layout shows
Overall a distinction
distinction any distinction a clear
Presentation between the
between the between the distinction
different
different parts different between the
discussions
of the proposal discussions of different
of the data.
is not the data. discussions
observed. of the data.

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Wrap-up

Central Limit
Theorem

The sample mean is equal to .

is equal to the standard deviation of the

population divided by the square root of the
sample size.

The set of data tends to have a normal distribution,

given that , regardless of the shape of the
distribution of the population.

Key Terms/Formulas

Term Definitions
Sampling Distribution It is the probability distribution of all possible sample
of the Sample Mean means from samples of size taken from a population.

Term Formula
Mean of the Sampling
Distribution of the
Sample Mean from a
Normal Population
Standard Deviation of
the Sampling
Distribution of the
Sample Mean from a
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Normal Population with

a Finite Population Size
Standard Deviation of
the Sampling
Distribution of the
Sample Mean from
Normal Population with
an Infinite Population
Size

Key to Let’s Practice!

Lesson 1
1.
2. ,
3.
4. cm, cm

Lesson 2
1. ,
2.
3.
4. views, views

Lesson 3
1.

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2.
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
45 46.6 48.3 50 51.6 53.3 55

The graph is approximately bell-shaped.

3.
0.2

0.1

0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

The histogram of the population is approximately bell-shaped.

4.

Lesson 4
1. 0.5
2. 0.9969
3. 0.6454
4. 0.0764 48

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References

Cherry, Kendra. “What an Average IQ Means and Indicates” Accessed September 21, 2018.
[Link]

Ocampo Jr., Jose M. and Wilmer G. [Link] Math & Beyond: Statistics and
Probability. Quezon City: Brilliant Creations Publishing, Inc., 2016

Bataller, Ramil T. Math Activated: Engage Yourself and Our World – Statistics and Probability.
Makati City: Don Bosco Press, Inc., 2016

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