document.write( "Question 663874: For a certain mathematics class, the scores are normally distributed with a mean of 75 and a standard deviation of 8. The teacher wishes to give A’s to the top 6% of the students and F’s to the bottom 6%. The next 16% in either direction will be given B’s and D’s, with the other students receiving C’s. Find the bottom cutoff for the grades.\r
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document.write( "I have tried this problem about a dozen different ways, and I'm just confusing myself further. Any hints on how to get started the correct way? Thank you! \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #413103 by Theo(13342)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! it was a bit of a chore but i have the numbers you are looking for. \n" ); document.write( "the problem comes in because the normal distribution curve doesn't stop at 100 but goes on indefinitely in both directions even though the percentages are very small. \n" ); document.write( "i was, however, able to account for that by taking into account the area under the curve from 100 to infinity and then adding that to the 6% at the top end so that the percentages would work out. \n" ); document.write( "to provide you with the details right now would take more time than i have so i'll just give you the answer and you can come back with further questions if you have them. \n" ); document.write( "the numbers you are looking for are in the following table: \n" ); document.write( " \r\n" ); document.write( "from to percentage under the normal distribution curve\r\n" ); document.write( "0 62.56184 6%\r\n" ); document.write( "62.56184 68.82248 16%\r\n" ); document.write( "68.82248 81.152 55.91%\r\n" ); document.write( "81.152 87.376 16%\r\n" ); document.write( "87.376 100 6%\r\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "the total percent under the normal distribution curve comes out to be 99.91% \n" ); document.write( "the remaining .09% is the area under the distribution curve that represents a score above 100. \n" ); document.write( "that's where the difficulty was and what took the most time to figure out. \n" ); document.write( "i started assuming 6% from the extreme right of the distribution curve but that gave me problem so i did a little digging and came up with the solution you see.\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |