Unit 7: The Normal Distribution

7.1 Continuous Probability Distributions

This unit is a combination of units 4 and 5. Probability Distributions with one variable stats used quite a bit.

Recall from Unit 4 when creating a graph of the distribution, the likelihood that an outcome would occur was proportional to the length of the line on the graph. Since the data was discrete, the outcomes were represented by points. In this unit, the data is continuous, so we have an infinite number of outcomes, all of the outcomes put together form a curve.

Graphs of Continuous Probability Distributions

positive skew

negative skew

unimodal

bimodal

Types of Continuous Probability Distributions

Uniform

Exponential

Normal

Ex 1 the driving time between Toronto and North Bay is found to ranger evenly between 195 and 240 minutes. What is the probability that the drive will take less than 210 minutes?

Ex 2 The average time between phone calls to a company switchboard is 2 minutes. Calculate the probability that the time between 2 consecutive phone calls is less than 3 minutes.

p. 419# 1, 2b, 3, 4, 6, 7