Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
distribution is
and the cumulative distribution function is
h e normal distribution is therefore used when the mean is both the most
frequent and the most likely value. h e probability of deviations is equal in
either direction and decreases with increasing distance from the mean.
h e
standard normal distribution
is a special member of the normal
distribution family that has a mean of
zero
and a standard deviation of
one
.
We can transform the equation for a normal distribution by substituting
z
=(
x
-ʼ)/˃. h e probability density function of this distribution is
h is dei nition of the normal distribution is ot en called the
z distribution
.
b
a
Fig. 3.7 a
Probability density function
f
(
x
), and
b
cumulative distribution function
F
(
x
), of a
Gaussian or normal distribution with a mean ʼ=3 and various values for standard deviation ˃.
