A researcher is interested in the lengths of brook trout, which are known to be approximately Normally distributed with mean 80 centimeters and standard deviation 5 centimeters. To help preserve brook trout populations, some regulatory standards need to be set for limiting the size of fish that can be caught. What is the probability of catching a brook trout less than 72 centimeters in length

Respuesta :

Answer:

[tex]P(X<72)=P(\frac{X-\mu}{\sigma}<\frac{72-\mu}{\sigma})=P(Z<\frac{72-80}{5})=P(z<-1.6)[/tex]

And we can find this probability with the normal standard distirbution or excel and we got:

[tex]P(z<-1.6)=0.055[/tex]

Step-by-step explanation:

Previous concepts

Normal distribution, is a "probability distribution that is symmetric about the mean, showing that data near the mean are more frequent in occurrence than data far from the mean".

The Z-score is "a numerical measurement used in statistics of a value's relationship to the mean (average) of a group of values, measured in terms of standard deviations from the mean".  

Solution to the problem

Let X the random variable that represent the lenghts of a population, and for this case we know the distribution for X is given by:

[tex]X \sim N(80,5)[/tex]  

Where [tex]\mu=80[/tex] and [tex]\sigma=5[/tex]

We are interested on this probability

[tex]P(X<72)[/tex]

And the best way to solve this problem is using the normal standard distribution and the z score given by:

[tex]z=\frac{x-\mu}{\sigma}[/tex]

If we apply this formula to our probability we got this:

[tex]P(X<72)=P(\frac{X-\mu}{\sigma}<\frac{72-\mu}{\sigma})=P(Z<\frac{72-80}{5})=P(z<-1.6)[/tex]

And we can find this probability with the normal standard distirbution or excel and we got:

[tex]P(z<-1.6)=0.055[/tex]