17-Oct-22

Chapter 7

Continuous Random Variables

Chapter Outline
7.1 Continuous Probability Distributions
7.2 The Uniform Distribution
7.3 The Normal Probability Distribution

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7.1 Continuous Probability

Distributions
◼ A continuous random variable may assume
any numerical value in one or more intervals
◼ Car mileage
◼ Temperature

◼ Use a continuous probability distribution to

assign probabilities to intervals of values

7-3

Continuous Probability
Distributions Continued
◼ The curve f(x) is the continuous probability
distribution of the continuous random variable
x if the probability that x will be in a specified
interval of numbers is the area under the
curve f(x) corresponding to the interval

◼ Other names for a continuous probability

distribution are probability curve and
probability density function

◼ We will look at the uniform, normal, and

exponential distributions 7-4

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Properties of Continuous
Probability Distributions
◼ Properties of f(x): f(x) is a continuous
function such that
1. f(x) ≥ 0 for all x
2. The total area under the curve of f(x) is equal
to 1

◼ Essential point: An area under a continuous

probability distribution is a probability

7-5

7.2 The Uniform Distribution

 1
 for c  x  d
f ( x )=  d − c
0
 otherwise
b−a
P (a  x  b ) =
d −c

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The Uniform Distribution Mean

and Standard Deviation
c+d
X =
2
d −c
X =
12

7-7

The Uniform Probability Curve

7-8
Figure 7.2 (b)

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Royal Footwear is a shoe manufacturing company. Royal Plus is a newly

launched shoe. The retail price of the new brand varies from Rs 750 to Rs
800. Assume that these prices are uniformly distributed. If a shoe is
randomly selected from a retail store, what is the probability that its price will
be between Rs 770 to Rs 780? Also calculate the average price, standard
deviation, and the variance of the distribution.

Figure Uniform probability distribution for

Example

Example 7.1 Elevator Waiting

Time
◼ Elevator wait time
◼ Uniform 0 - 4
◼ c=0
◼ d=4
 1 1
= = 1 for 0  x  4
f (x ) =  d − c 4 − 0 4
 0 Otherwise
c+d 0+4
x = = =2
2 2
d −c 4−0
x = = = 1.1547
12 12
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The Normal Probability

Distribution
2
1  x − 
1 −  
2  
f( x) = e
σ 2π

π = 3.14159
e = 2.71828

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The Normal Probability Distribution

Continued

7-12
Figure 7.3

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Properties of the Normal

Distribution
1. There are an infinite number of normal
curves
◼ The shape of any individual normal curve
depends on its specific mean and standard
deviation
2. The highest point is over the mean
◼ Also the median and mode
3. The curve is symmetrical about its mean
◼ The left and right halves of the curve are
mirror images of each other
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Properties of the Normal

Distribution Continued
4. The tails of the normal extend to infinity in
both directions
◼ The tails get closer to the horizontal axis but
never touch it

5. The area under the normal curve to the

right of the mean equals the area under the
normal curve to the left of the mean
◼ The area under each half is 0.5

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The Position and Shape of the

Normal Curve

7-15
Figure 7.4

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Normal Probabilities

7-16
Figure 7.5

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Three Important Percentages

7-17
Figure 7.6

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Standard Normal Probability Distribution

▪ A random variable that has a normal distribution with mean 0 and standard
deviation 1 is said to have a standard normal probability distribution. This
particular normal random variable is commonly designated by a letter z.

z Formula for standardizing a normal random variable

▪ z score can be defined as the number of standard deviation that a value, x is
above or below the mean of the distribution.
▪ From the z formula, this is clear that if the value of x is less than the mean, the
z score is negative; if the value of x is more than the mean, the z score is
positive and if the value of x is equal to the mean, the z score is zero.

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The standard normal curve with mean = 0 and standard deviation = 1

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Probability of P(0.00 ≤ z ≤ 2.00)

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Finding Normal Curve Areas

x−
z=
Figure 7.7  7-21

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The Cumulative Normal Table

z = -2.33, probability = 0.0099

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Top of Table 7.1

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Examples

7-23
Figures 7.8 and 7.9

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Examples Continued

7-24
Figures 7.10 and 7.11

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Examples Continued

7-25
Figures 7.12 and 7.13

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Finding Normal Probabilities

1. Formulate the problem in terms of x values
2. Calculate the corresponding z values, and
restate the problem in terms of these z
values x−
z=

3. Find the required areas under the standard
normal curve by using the table

Note: It is always useful to draw a picture

showing the required areas before using the
normal table
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Finding a Point on the Horizontal

Axis Under a Normal Curve

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Figure 7.19

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Example: Determine the probability for the portion of the normal

distribution described as below:

▪ P (z ≥1.96)
▪ (b) P(1.42 < z < 2.82)
▪ (c) P(−2.62 ≤ z ≤1.12)
▪ (d) P(−2.02 < z ≤ −0.85)

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Example: A placement company has conducted a written test to recruit people

in a software company. Assume that the test marks are normally distributed
with mean 120 and standard deviation 50.

Calculate the following:

(a) Probability of randomly obtaining scores greater than 200 in the test.
(b) Probability of randomly obtaining a score that is 180 or less.
(c) Probability of randomly obtaining a score less than 80.
(d) Probability of randomly selecting a score between 70 to 170 for the
exam.
(e) Probability of randomly obtaining a score between 80 to 110.

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7.4 Approximating the Binomial

Distribution by Using the Normal
Distribution (Optional)
◼ Suppose x is a binomial random variable
◼ n is the number of trials
◼ Each having a probability of success p

◼ If np  5 and nq  5, then x is approximately

normal with a mean of np and a standard
deviation of the square root of npq

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Approximating the Binomial

Probability Using the Normal Curve

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Figure 7.23

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7.5 The Exponential

Distribution (Optional)
◼ Suppose that some event occurs as a Poisson
process
◼ That is, the number of times an event occurs is a
Poisson random variable

◼ Let x be the random variable of the interval between

successive occurrences of the event
◼ The interval can be some unit of time or space

◼ Then x is described by the exponential distribution

◼ With parameter λ, which is the mean number of events
that can occur per given interval
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The Exponential Distribution Continued

e − x for x  0
f ( x )= 
0 otherwise

P(a  x  b ) = e −a − e −b

and
P( x  c ) = 1 − e −c and P( x  c ) = e −c

 X = 1  and  X = 1 
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The Exponential Distribution Continued

7-34
Figure 7.25

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Example 7.9 The Air Safety Case:

Traffic Control Errors
◼ λ = 20.8 errors per year
◼ λ = 0.4 errors per week
◼ Probability of one to two weeks

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The Normal Probability Plot

(Optional)

◼ A graphic used to visually check to see if

sample data comes from a normal distribution

◼ A straight line indicates a normal distribution

◼ The more curved the line, the less normal the

data is distributed

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Creating a Normal Probability Plot

1. Rank order the data from smallest to largest
2. For each data point, compute the value
𝑖/(n + 1)
◼ 𝑖 is the data point’s position in the list
1. For each data point, compute the
standardized normal quantile value (O𝑖)
◼ O𝑖 is the z value that gives an area 𝑖 /(n + 1)
to its left
2. Plot data points against O𝑖
3. Straight line indicates normal distribution

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Sample Normal Probability Plots

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Figures 7.27, 7.28 and 7.29

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