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The normal distribution is often used as a model in practical situations. When a problem is set in a practical context the first task is to convert the information into the language of the normal distribution. If the variable X is normally distributed with mean \mu and standard deviation \sigma then
\qquad \qquad P(X \le x) = \displaystyle \Phi \left(\frac{x-\mu}{\sigma}\right)

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## Glossary

### mean

the sum of all the members of the list divided by the number of items in the list.

### normal distribution

A key distribution in statistics which is used to model many naturally occurring phenomena, such as heights and weights; its distribution is bell-shaped.

### standard deviation

The square root of the variance; a measure of dispersion.

### union

The union of two sets A and B is the set containing all the elements of A and B.

### variable

A value which is unknown and free to vary, often denoted by x or y.

Full Glossary List

## This question appears in the following syllabi:

SyllabusModuleSectionTopicExam Year
AQA A-Level (UK - Pre-2017)S1The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
AQA A2 Maths 2017StatisticsThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in Context-
AQA AS/A2 Maths 2017StatisticsThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in Context-
CCEA A-Level (NI)S1The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
CIE A-Level (UK)S1The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
Edexcel A-Level (UK - Pre-2017)S1The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
Edexcel A2 Maths 2017StatisticsThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in Context-
Edexcel AS/A2 Maths 2017StatisticsThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in Context-
I.B. Higher Level5The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
I.B. Standard Level5The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
Methods (UK)M15The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
OCR A-Level (UK - Pre-2017)S2The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
OCR A2 Maths 2017StatisticsThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in Context-
OCR MEI A2 Maths 2017StatisticsThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in Context-
OCR-MEI A-Level (UK - Pre-2017)S2The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
Pre-U A-Level (UK)ProbThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
Universal (all site questions)NThe Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-
WJEC A-Level (Wales)S2The Normal DistributionProbabilities in context-