zscoreandUnitNormalTableExercises

Exercise1Mr.Joneshasgivenanexamtohismathclass.Belowyouwillfindthescoresfor6ofhis
studentswhotooktheexam.ThewayMr.Jonesgivesgradesisbasedonpercentiles.Anybodys
scoringabovethe85thpercentilegetsanA,betweenthe70thandthe85thpercentilestudentsgetaB,
betweenthe55thandthe70thpercentilestudentsgetaC,betweenthe40thandthe55thpercentile
studentsgetaD,andbelowthe40thpercentilestudentsgetanF.

Usingtheirexamscoresasastartingpoint,calculateagradeforeachofthesixstudentsbyfirst
calculatingazscore,thenusingthezscoretocalculateapercentile,andfinallymatchingtheir
percentiletoalettergrade.Themeanandstandarddeviationfortheexamaregivenbelowthescores.

Student Score zscore Percentile Grade

Aida 54 _______ _______ _______
John 52 _______ _______ _______
Lenore 67 _______ _______ _______
David 78 _______ _______ _______
Justin 69 _______ _______ _______
Sarah 59 _______ _______ _______

ExamMean 55
ExamSD 7

Exercise2MissRodriguezwastalkingaboutgradingtoMr.Jones,andlikedtheideaofgivingletter
gradesbasedonpercentiles.Sinceshehasalreadygivenoutfourexams,shedoesnotwanttogoback
andrecalculateeachstudentsscoreindividually.Instead,shewillcalculatethecutoffpointsforeach
ofthefourexams,givethesevaluestoherTA,andhavehimgobackandchangeallthegradesbasedon
thesevalues.

BelowyouaregiventhemeanandstandardaviationforeachofMs.Rodriguezsfourexams.Foreach
exam,calculatetheminimumscoreneededtogetaparticularlettergrade.UsethesamecriteriaasMr.
Jonesinthefirstexercise,abovethe85thpercentileisanA,betweenthe70thandthe85thpercentilesis
aB,betweenthe55thandthe70thpercentilesisaC,betweenthe40thandthe55thpercentilesisaD,and
belowthe40thpercentileisanF.

Minimumpointsforlettergrade
Exam Mean SD A B C D
Exam1 55 5 ______ ______ ______ ______
Exam2 58 7 ______ ______ ______ ______
Exam3 62 8 ______ ______ ______ ______
Exam4 45 4 ______ ______ ______ ______
Exercise3Mr.Smithhas100studentsinhisclass.Thelastexamhegavewasnormallydistributedwith
ameanof82andastandarddeviationof10.Usethisinformationtoanswerthefollowingquestions.

1. IfSuescoreda90,andJohnscoreda95,whatistheprobabilityofastudentscoringmorethan
SuebutlessthanJohn?

2. Howmanystudentsscoredabovean80?

3. Whatistheprobabilityofastudentscoringmorethan70,butlessthan90?

4. Ifthebottom25%getanF,whatwouldbetheminimumscoreneededtogetatleastatD?

5. Ifonlythetop10%getanA,whatscorewouldyouneedtogetanAontheexam?

6. Ifthemiddle30%getaC,whatwouldbetheminimumandmaximumscoresastudentcouldget
toearnaCintheexam?

7. Howmanystudentsscoredbetweena70andan85ontheexam?

8. Whatistheprobabilitythatastudentscoredlessthan75pointsontheexam?

9. Whatpercentageofstudentsscoredbetween70and80pointsontheexam?

10. Whatproportionofstudentsscoredbetween85and90pointsontheexam?

Exercise4Youareinchargeofenrollmentataprestigiousuniversity.Theuniversityonlyacceptsthe
top10%ofGREscores,andusesthesescorestoorganizestudentsinto4tierstodeterminetheorderin
whichtheycanpicktheirclasses.Thetop5%getfirstchoice,thenthenext5%,andsoon.Youalready
knowthattheGREhasameanof500,andastandarddeviationof100.WhatGREscoreswoulddefine
thesefourtiers?

Tier MinimumScore
First Top2.5% _________
Second 2.5%5.0% _________
Third 5.0%7.5% _________
Fourth 7.5%10% _________

Answerrs

Exercise1
1Toanswerthesequestionsyouwilln needtoconveerteachscoreintoazscoore,andthenuse
thatvalue
etolookinth
heunitnormaaltableforthepercentageeofthecurveethanliesbelowit.Your
answerssshouldbeasffollows:

Student Score
e zscore Percentile
Aida 54 0.14 44.43
John 52 0.43 33.36
Lenore 67 1.71 95.64
David 78 3.29 99.95
Justin 69 2.00 97.72
Sarah 59 0.57 71.57

ExamMeaan 55
ExamSD 7

Toanswertheseyoushouldbeginb bydrawinga
distributioon,andmapppingeachofthesixstuden
nts
ontoitliketheimageo
ontheright.

Onceyouhavetheimaagemade,the eproblemcanbeconcepttualizedalittlleeasier.Forrexample,loo oking

attheimaageofthedisstributiononttheleftwew wouldexpecttthezscorefoorAidatobealittlebitless
thanzero,andthepercentilealittle elessthan500.Sinceeach halfofthedistributionacccountsforhaalfof
it,thenalittlelessthanhalfshouldbealittlebittless
thanapercentilescore eof50.

Nowthatyouhavedraawnoutthep problemandyyou
haveagoodideaofwh hatvaluesyoushouldbe
expectingg,youcanstarttocalculate
etheprecise
values.

X 54 55 1
z= = = = 0.14
7 7

Onceyouhaveazscore,youcanlo ookinthetab
bleto
findthecorrespondinggvalueforthe eareayouare
interesteddin.Youshouuldlookforth
hevalueinth
heC
columnoffthetableforacorrespon ndingzscore
valueof0
0.14.Rememberthatthettabledoesno otuse
negativevvalues.Thevvalueyougetis0.4443,whhich
translatesstoapercenttileof44.43.
Exercise2Theeasieestwaytobeggintoanswerrtheseprobleems
ulatethezsco
istocalcu oresthatdefinethepercentilesofinterrest.
Inotherwwords,wewanttoknoww whatzscoresdefinethetoop
15%,thettop30%,thetop45%,and dthetop60%
%.Soletsskeetch
outadistributionandidentifytheaareasweareiinterestedin..
Thenweccancalculatewhatzscore eswoulddefinnethoseareaas.

Grade Percentile zscore

A 85 1.04
B 70 0.52
C 55 0.13
D 40 0.25
5

Tocalculaatethefirstzscorewenee mal
edtolookinttheunitsnorm
tablefortthevalueforz.Beginbyccomparingyoursketchoftthe
problem((toprightimaage)totheimmagesatthestartoftheta ble.

Itshouldb
beeasytoseethattheprooblemweare etryingtosollve
looksliketheimageonnthetopleftofthetopoftheunitnorm
mal
table.WeewanttofindthevalueofzwhenCequ uals15%or
.1500.

Oncethezscoresareiidentified,the ecompleted bycalculatinggthecorresp

etablecanbe pondingscoreesfor
hefourexamss.
eachofth
ForExam1,theanswe erswouldbeccalculatedasfollows:

X=(z*)+
+=(1.04*5
5)+55=5.200+55=60.20
0
X=(z*)+
+=(0.52*5
5)+55=2.600+55=57.60
0
X=(z*)+
+=(0.13*5
5)+55=0.655+55=55.65
5
X=(z*)+
+=(0.25* 5)+55=1.2
25+55=53.7
75

Minimumpoin tsforletterggrade
Exam Mean SD A B C D
Exam1 55 5 60.20 57.60 55.65 53.75
Exam2 58 7 65.28 61.64 58.91 56.25
Exam3 62 8 70.32 66.16 63.04 60.00
Exam4 45 4 49.16 47.08 45.52 44.00

Exercise3
3Beginbyssketchingoutthequestion
n.Rememberrthemeanwas82,andthestandard
deviationwas10.

1. IfSuescoredaand90,andJo ohnscoreda95,whatisthhe
probabilityofaastudentsco oringmorethanSuebutleess
thhanJohn?

Thhepictureonntherightillustratesthequestion.Were
in
nterestedintheareashade edingray,whhichistheareea
betweenasco oreof90andascoreof95.

Fiirstweneedttocalculatezscoresforsccoresof90annd
955.Sincetheu
unitnormaltableonlyhasszscores,wee
needtohavezzscorestobe eabletouseiit.

X 90 82 8
z= = = = 0.80
10 10
0
X 95
9 82 13
z= = = = 1.30
10 10

Onceyouknow
O wthevaluefo
orthezscore esthat
coorrespondto90and95,yo oucanstartttolookfortheearea.Thisp particularpro
oblemisalittllebit
trrickyinthatth heareawewwantdoesnotthavethemeeanorthetaillasoneofitssboundaries.
Thhereareactu uallyseveralw
waysthatwecansolvethissproblemusingourtools..Basically,w we
knnowthatthewholedistrib butionaccoun ntsfor100%oofitselfor1.00000.Ifweccanfigureouttthe
whiteareas,th
w henthegrayaareamustbeoneminusthhewhiteareaa.

ifB+X
X+C=1.0000
0thenX==1.0000BC
 Wecancalcula
W atethewhiteareaintwop
pieces,onethhepiecetoth
heleftofthegrayarea,an
ndthe
ottherthepiece
etotherightt.

B=.7881;C=.0968therefo oreX=1.00000.7881.09968=.1151

AnswerThere eisa.1151probabilityofaastudentgetttingascoreb
between90aand95.

2. Howmanystudentsscoredabovean80?
X 8 82 2
80
z= = = = 0.20
10 10
0

Thheproportionnoftheareaaboveazscooreof.20is
.55793.Sinceth
hereare100sstudents,theremustbe1000*.5793=57.93studen ntswhoscored
abbove80onthheexam.(57.93%of100studentsis577.93)

Answer58sttudents.

3. Whatisthepr
W obabilityofastudentscorringmorethaan70,butlesssthan90?
X 7 82 12
70 1
z= = = = 1.20
10 10
0
X 90
9 82 8
z= = = = 0.80
10 10
 Thhecombinedareaisequalto.3849+.22881=.6730

AnswerTheprobabilityth hatastudentwillscorebe tween70and d90is.6730

4. Ifthebottom225%getanF,,whatwouldbetheminim mumscoreneeededtogetaatleastaD?




XX=(z*)+
=(0.67*
100)+82=6.70
0+82=88.70
0

AnswerStudentswouldn needtogetascoreofatle ast88.70.

5. Ifonlythetop10%getanAA,whatscorewouldyoun eedtogetmeontheexam m?

X=(z*)+=(1.28*10)+82=12.80+82=94.80

AnswerStude entswouldne
eedtogetasscoreofatleaast94.80.

6. Ifthemiddle330%getaC,wwhatwouldbetheminimuumandmaxim mumscoresaastudentcouldget
tooearnaCinttheexam?

X=(z*)+=(0.39*10)+82=3.90+8
82=85.90

X=(z*)+=(0.39*10)+
+82=3.90+
+82=78.10

AnswerAstu udentwouldneedascoreofatleast788.10andnotm
morethan85
5.90.

7. Howmanystudentsscoredbetweena7
70andan85oontheexam??
X 7 82 12
70 1
z= = = = 1.20
10 10
0
X 85
8 82 3
z= = = = 0.30
10 10

portionofthedistributionbetweenazscoreof1.200andazscoreof.30is(.1
Siincetheprop 1179
+.3849).5029,andthereare100studen nts,50.29%oof100is50.299students.

Answer50sttudents.

8. Whatisthepr
W obabilitythattastudentsccoredlessthaan75pointso
ontheexam??
X 7 82 7
75
z= = = = 0.70
10 100

AnswerThep
probabilitythatastudentw
willscorebellow70is.25114.

9. Whatpercenta
W ageofstudenntsscoredbettween70andd80pointson ntheexam?
X 7 82 12
70 1
z= = = = 1.20
10 10
0
X 80
8 82 2
z= = = = 0.20
10 10
0
 B=.5793;C=.1151therefo
oreX=1.00000.5793.1 151=.3056o
or30.56%

Answer30.566%ofstudenttsscoredbetwween70and80pointson ntheexam.

10. Whatproporti
W onofstudenttsscoredbetween85and 90pointson ntheexam?
X 8 82 3
85
z= = = = 0.30
10 10
X 90
9 82 8
z= = = = 0.80
10 10

B=.6179;C=.211 X=1.0000. 6179.21199=.1702

19thereforeX

AnswerTheprop portionofstudentswhosccoredbetweeen85and90
pointssontheexam
mwas.1702.

Exercise4

 X=(z*)+=(1.96*100)+500=196+500=696
X=(z*)+=(1.65*100)+500=165+500=665
X=(z*)+=(1.44*100)+500=144+500=644
X=(z*)+=(1.28*100)+500=128+500=628

Tier zscore Score

First Top2.5% 1.96 696
Second 2.5%5.0% 1.65 665
Third 5.0%7.5% 1.44 644
Fourth 7.5%10% 1.28 628