What is a Normal Distribution?
The normal distribution, also known as the Gaussian distribution, is a probability distribution that is symmetric about its mean, depicting that data near the mean are more frequent in occurrence than data far from the mean. It follows the Empirical Rule or the 68-95-99.7 rule, which provides a quick estimate of the spread of data in a bell-shaped distribution.
Here's a simple illustration of the normal distribution:
Properties
- Mean = Median = Mode
- Symmetrical
- Asymptotic
- Defined by two parameters: the mean (μ) and the standard deviation (σ)
Applications
The normal distribution is widely used in statistics, natural sciences, and social sciences for real-valued random variables whose distributions are not known. Some typical applications include:
- Height measurement of individuals
- Measurement errors
- Grades on a test
- IQ scores
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