Suppose the head circumferences of adult males have a bell-shaped distribution with a mean of 55 cm and a standard deviation of 3 cm. (a) Explain whether or not it would be unusual for an adult male to have a 49-cm head circumference.

Answer :

Answer:

Z scores of -2 or lower are considered unusually low. Since the z-score of a 49-cm head circunference is -2, it is an unusual measure.

Step-by-step explanation:

Problems of normally distributed samples are solved using the z-score formula.

In a set with mean [tex]\mu[/tex] and standard deviation [tex]\sigma[/tex], the zscore of a measure X is given by:

[tex]Z = \frac{X - \mu}{\sigma}[/tex]

The Z-score measures how many standard deviations the measure is from the mean. After finding the Z-score, we look at the z-score table and find the p-value associated with this z-score. This p-value is the probability that the value of the measure is smaller than X, that is, the percentile of X. Subtracting 1 by the pvalue, we get the probability that the value of the measure is greater than X.

Z scores of -2 or lower are considered unusually low, and zscores of 2 or higher are considered unusually high.

In this problem, we have that:

[tex]\mu = 55, \sigma = 3[/tex]

49cm head circunference unusual?

[tex]Z = \frac{X - \mu}{\sigma}[/tex]

[tex]Z = \frac{49 - 55}{3}[/tex]

[tex]Z = -2[/tex]

Z scores of -2 or lower are considered unusually low. Since the z-score of a 49-cm head circunference is -2, it is an unusual measure.

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