To analyze the weight of male babies less than 2 months old, we can use the normal distribution with the given parameters: a mean (\( \mu \)) of 11.6 pounds and a standard deviation (\( \sigma \)) of 2.8 pounds. Below are the steps you can take on a TI-83 Plus or TI-84 Plus calculator, along with some examples of the types of questions you might want to answer.
Using the Calculator for Normal Distribution Calculations
-
Finding the Probability of a Range: To find the probability that a randomly selected male baby weighs between two values (e.g., between 10 pounds and 13 pounds):
- Press
2nd
followed byVARS
to access theDISTR
menu. - Select
2:normalcdf(
. - Input the parameters for the lower bound, upper bound, mean, and standard deviation in the format:
normalcdf(lower, upper, mean, standard deviation)
. - Example: For the range 10 to 13, you would input: \[ \text{normalcdf(10, 13, 11.6, 2.8)} \]
- Press
-
Finding the Z-score: To find out how many standard deviations a certain weight is from the mean:
- Use the formula: \[ Z = \frac{(X - \mu)}{\sigma} \]
- Example: For a weight of 9 pounds, the Z-score would be calculated as: \[ Z = \frac{(9 - 11.6)}{2.8} = \frac{-2.6}{2.8} \approx -0.9286 \]
-
Finding the Weight for a Certain Percentile: To find the weight below which a certain percentage of babies fall (e.g., the 25th percentile):
- Press
2nd
followed byVARS
to access theDISTR
menu. - Select
3:invNorm(
. - Input the desired percentile, followed by the mean and standard deviation in the format:
invNorm(percentile, mean, standard deviation)
. - Example: For the 25th percentile: \[ \text{invNorm(0.25, 11.6, 2.8)} \]
- Press
Examples
-
Find the probability that a baby weighs less than 9 pounds: \[ \text{normalcdf(-\infty, 9, 11.6, 2.8)} \] This calculates the probability of a weight less than 9 pounds.
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Find the weight corresponding to the 90th percentile: \[ \text{invNorm(0.90, 11.6, 2.8)} \] This will give you the weight below which 90% of the male babies fall.
Rounding
- Make sure all final answers are rounded to four decimal places as specified.
If you have specific values or questions you'd like to calculate, please provide those, and I can help you through the calculations!