document.write( "Question 881649: Describe the characteristics of a normal distribution \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #532422 by jim_thompson5910(35256) $\"\"$ $\"About$

You can put this solution on YOUR website!
It is symmetric about the mean $\"mu\"$ (pronounced \"myoo\", it's a greek letter). So the mean $\"mu\"$ is the center of the distribution.\r
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "It is bell shaped. The center of the bell, or the peak of the bell, is where the mean is. This represents the idea that most of the values lie around the mean.\r
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The normal distribution looks like this\r
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "

\n" ); document.write( "(Image Source: http://www.philender.com/courses/multivariate/notes2/norm-1a.gif)\r
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The standard deviation $\"sigma\"$ (the greek letter sigma) tells you how spread out the normal distribution is. So it determines if the distribution is tall/narrow or wide/flat or somewhere in between. \n" ); document.write( "

\n" );