Porisma

Worked solution

Practise interval, left-tail and central probabilities

For X∼N(2,3)X\sim N(2,3), find

(i) P(1.8<X<2.9)P(1.8<X<2.9),

(ii) P(X<2.8)P(X<2.8) and

(iii) P(∣X−2∣<23)P(|X-2|<2\sqrt 3).

CJC · Lecture · Self-Practice 1

(i) An interval

Use mean 2 and standard deviation 3\sqrt 3: normalcdf(1.8,2.9,2,√3) gives 0.2442978362, so the answer is 0.244\boxed{0.244} (3 s.f.).

How did this part go?

(ii) A left tail

Use normalcdf(−10^99,2.8,2,√3) to obtain 0.6779163887, so P(X<2.8)=0.678P(X<2.8)=\boxed{0.678} (3 s.f.).

How did this part go?

(iii) Within two standard deviations

Convert ∣X−2∣<23|X-2|<2\sqrt 3 into 2−23<X<2+232-2\sqrt 3<X<2+2\sqrt 3. Use normalcdf(2−2√3,2+2√3,2,√3) to obtain 0.9544997361, giving 0.954\boxed{0.954} (3 s.f.). This agrees with the approximately 95.4% rule for two standard deviations.

How did this part go?

Common mistakes

The second parameter 3 is the variance. In (iii), the half-width 2√3 is twice the standard deviation, not twice the variance. The printed source provides short answers; these conversions and calculator steps explain them.

Read the hint