Application of z-Scores Solutions
Example 4
Determine the area of the shaded and unshaded regions. Then find the area above .
Plan
Find areas on the z-table
Calculate the shaded region
Calculate the unshaded region
Shaded region:
Unshaded region:

Example 5
The heights of college basketball players were measured. The average height was 195 cm, with a standard deviation of 6.5 cm. If sixteen players were randomly selected from all the college players, does the data appear to be normally distributed? Explain.
Plan
List the normal distribution to
Tally the data points
Explain
The data is normally distributed because the values are centered around the mean, and all the values fall within . The actual tally of data also aligns with the predicted tally.
| Player Height (cm) | |||
| 198 | 194 | 199 | 205 |
| 193 | 193 | 205 | 200 |
| 192 | 199 | 192 | 192 |
| 197 | 183 | 184 | 191 |
|
Basketball Player Height Distribution
|
|||||
|
z
|
–2
|
–1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
|
Area < z
|
0.02
|
0.16
|
0.5
|
0.84
|
0.98
|
|
Predicted: 16z
|
8
|
||||
|
|
|||||
|
Actual Count
|
none
|
2
|
9
|
14
|
all 16
|
Example 6
According to the United States Mint, the average diameter of a nickel is 21.21 millimeters. The likelihood of a nickel having a diameter less than 21.288 mm is 94.7%.
- Determine the standard deviation for the diameter of a nickel.
- Determine .
Plan
Write a proportionality statement
Determine the z-score
Solve
