Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region VII, Central Visayas
Schools Division of Dumaguete City
Junob National High School
Talay, Dumaguete City
Applied Subject: Statistics and Probability
Quarter 3- Week 8
The Probabilities and Percentiles under the Normal Curve
Learning Objective:
At the end of the learning episode, you are expected to:
1. compute probabilities and percentiles using the standard
normal table.
The probability, or proportion, or the percentage associate with the specific
sets of measurement values. The value of probability is a number from 0 to 1. All
probabilities ass ociated with the standard normal random variables can be shown as
areas under the standard normal curve. In finding the probabilities under the normal
curve, we will use the z-Table which is also known as Table of Areas under the Normal
Curve and probability notation in equating the desired probability of an area.
The Probability Notations Under the Normal Curve
The following mathematical notations for a random
variable are used in various solutions concerning the normal
curve.
P ( z < a ) denotes the probability that the z-score is less than a
P ( z > a ) denotes the probability that the z-score is greater than a
P ( a < z < b ) denotes the probability that the z-score is between a and
b where: a and b are z-score values.
Note: It is important to correctly interpret the phrases such as:
P(z<a) P(z>a) P(a<z<b)
less than z greater than z z is between a and
b
at most z at least z
not more than z more than z
below z above z
to the left of z to the right of z
Example 1: Find the probability of the area below z = 0.50.
Step 1: Draw a normal
curve.
Step 2: Locate the z-score
value.( (Note: please refer to Z
table, Week 6 module
1
,Understanding the Normal
Distributionp.6-8)
Step 3: Draw a line through z = 0.50
Step 4: Shade the region to the left of z = 0.50
Step 5: Consult the z-Table and find the area that corresponds to z = 0.50
Step 6: Examine the graph and use probability notation P(z < a) P
(z < 0.50) = 0.6915 or
P (z < 0.50) = 69.15%
P(z<0.50) =
0.6915 or
69.15% µ 0.50
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Z
Thus, the probability of the area below z = 0.50 is 0.6915 or 69.15%.
Example 2: Find the area that is at least z = -2.
Step 1: Draw a normal
curve. Step 2: Locate the z-
score value.
Step 3: Draw a line through z = -2.00
Step 4: Shade the region to the right of z =-2.00.
Step 5: Consult the z-Table and find the area that corresponds to z =-2.00
and it is 0.0228
Step 6: Examine the graph and use probability notation P(z > a) = 1 – P(z < a) P (z > -
2.00) = 1 – P(z<-2.00)
= 1 – 0.0228
P(z >-2) = 0.9772 or 97.72%
Example 3: Find the area between z = -1.5 and z = 2.
Step 1: Draw a normal
curve.
Step 2: Locate the z-score
value.
Step 3: Draw a line through z = -1.5 and z = 2.
Step 4: Shade the region between z = -1.5 and z = 2.
Step 5: Consult the z-Table and find the area that corresponds to z =2 and
P(-1.5<z<2) = P(z<2) – P(z<-1.5)
= 0.9772 – 0.0668
= 0.9104
P(-1.5<z<2) = 0.9104 or 91.04%
P(-1.5<z<2)
= 0.9104 or
91.04%
-1.5 µ
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Z
2
Thus, the probability of the area between z = -1.5 and z = 2 is
0.9104 or 91.04%.
Example 4: Find the 85th percentile of a normal distribution.
Step 1: Draw the appropriate normal curve.
Step 2: Express the given percentage as
probability.
Step 3: Refer to the z-Table. Locate the area
0.8500.
Step 4: Find z by interpolation. Since 0.8500 is between two z-values
1.03
and 1.04, find its average as follows 1.03+1.04 = 2.07 = 1.035
2 2
Step 5: Locate z = 1.035 under the curve in Step 1.
Step 6: Draw a line and shade the region to the left of z = 1.035.
Step 7: Describe the shaded region.
The shaded region under the normal curve is the 85th percentile
The 85th percentile of the distribution is the shaded region to
the left of z = 1.035 as shown in the normal curve.
Example 5: In a job fair sponsored by the 3 big companies, 2500 applicants
applied for a job. Their mean age was found to be 35 with a standard deviation of 5
years.
a. Draw a normal curve distribution showing the z-scores and the raw scores.
b. What is the probability of the job applicants who are below 33 yearsold?
c. How many applicants have ages between 28 and 44 years?
d. Find the percentage of the applicants who are above 39 yearsold.
3
Step 4: Find the 88.33% of 2500.
(0.8833)(2500)=2,202.25 (Note: Round – up 2,202.25 is 2,203.)
Thus, the number of applicants ages between 28 and 44 years is2,203.
4
“Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.”
--Ernest Shackleton--
5
Name: _________________________________________ Date: _________________
Grade level & Section:______________________________ Score:________________
ACTIVITY 1
Direction: Answer the following and illustrate each under the normal curve:
1. Compute the probability area to the left of z = -1.25.
2. Compute the probability area above z = 1.
3. Find the probability area between z = -0.25 and z = 1.5.
4. Find the 90th percentile of a normal curve.
5. Compute the upper 5% of the normal curve.
ACTIVITY 2
Direction: In Barangay Mapagkalingap, there are 500 families who are members of
SAP. Their mean of family members is 6 with a standard deviation of 2.
1. What is the probability of the families with less than 7 members?
2. How many families have 4 to 11 members?
3. Find the percentage of families with more than 9
Activity 3
A. Compute for the probabilities/percentiles of the following areas using the
standard normal table, then illustrate under the normal curve.
1. the area less than z = 0
2. the area above z = 1.75
3. the area in between z = -3 and z = -1.03
4. the 75th percentile of the distribution
5. above 25th percentile of the distribution
B. Given the 600 points in a loyalty card of a customer with the mean
µ = 150 and standard deviation σ = 25.
1. What is the probability for less than 125 points of the costumer?
2. How many points are in between 100 and 200?
3. What is the percentage of above 220 points of the costumer?