http://www.ck12.org Chapter 4. Probability Distributions
CHAPTER
(^4) Probability Distributions
Chapter Outline
4.1 Normal Distributions
4.2 BINOMIALDISTRIBUTIONS
4.3 BINOMPDFFUNCTION
4.4 BINOMCDFFUNCTION
4.5 GEOMETRICDISTRIBUTIONS
Introduction
For a standard normal distribution, the data presented is continuous. In addition, the data is centered at the mean and
is symmetrically distributed on either side of that mean. This means that the resulting data forms a shape similar to
a bell and is, therefore, called a bell curve. Binomial experiments are discrete probability experiments that involve
a fixed number of independent trials, where there are only 2 outcomes. As a rule of thumb, these trials result in
successes and failures, and the probability of success for one trial is the same as for the next trial (i.e., independent
events). As the sample size increases for a binomial distribution, the resulting histogram approaches the appearance
of a normal distribution curve. With this increase in sample size, the accuracy of the distribution also increases. An
exponential distribution is a distribution of continuous data, and the general equation is in the formy=abx. The
closer the correlation coefficient is to 1, the more likely the equation for the exponential distribution is accurate.