which is a real life example of a variable course hero

Example 1: Birthweight of Babies

It’s well-documented that the birthweight of newborn babies is normally distributed with a mean of about 7.5 pounds.

Example 2: Height of Males

The distribution of the height of males in the U.S. is roughly normally distributed with a mean of 70 inches and a standard deviation of 3 inches.

Example 3: Shoe Sizes

The distribution of shoe sizes for males in the U.S. is roughly normally distributed with a mean of size 10 and a standard deviation of 1.

Example 4: ACT Scores

The distribution of ACT scores for high school students in the U.S. is normally distributed with a mean of 21 and a standard deviation of about 5.

Example 5: Average NFL Player Retirement Age

The distribution of retirement age for NFL players is normally distributed with a mean of 33 years old and a standard deviation of about 2 years.

Example 6: Blood Pressure

The distribution of diastolic blood pressure for men is normally distributed with a mean of about 80 and a standard deviation of 20.

Additional Resources

The following tutorials share examples of other probability distributions in real life:

What is the probability of getting the desired outcome in a coin flip?

There is no surety, either head will come or not. Both head and tail have 1 out of 2, i.e., 50% chances to occur. Hence, the probability of getting the desired outcome is 0.5.

Is everything from the weather forecasting to our chance of dying in an accident a probability?

Everything from the weather forecasting to our chance of dying in an accident is a probability. Probability is a mathematical term for the likelihood that something will occur. It is the ability to understand and estimate the likelihood of any different combination of outcomes.

Central Limit Theorem

Normal distribution follows the central limit theory which states that various independent factors influence a particular trait. When these all independent factors contribute to a phenomenon, their normalized sum tends to result in a Gaussian distribution.

Normal Curve

The mean of the distribution determines the location of the center of the graph, and the standard deviation determines the height and width of the graph and the total area under the normal curve is equal to 1.

1. Height

Height of the population is the example of normal distribution. Most of the people in a specific population are of average height. The number of people taller and shorter than the average height people is almost equal, and a very small number of people are either extremely tall or extremely short.

2. Rolling A Dice

A fair rolling of dice is also a good example of normal distribution. In an experiment, it has been found that when a dice is rolled 100 times, chances to get ‘1’ are 15-18% and if we roll the dice 1000 times, the chances to get ‘1’ is, again, the same, which averages to 16.7% (1/6).

3. Tossing A Coin

Flipping a coin is one of the oldest methods for settling disputes. We all have flipped a coin before a match or game. The perceived fairness in flipping a coin lies in the fact that it has equal chances to come up with either result. The chances of getting head are 1/2, and the same is for tails. When we add both, it equals to one.

5. Technical Stock Market

Most of us have heard about the rise and fall in the prices of the shares in the stock market.

6. Income Distribution In Economy

The income of a country lies in the hands of enduring politics and government. It depends upon them how they distribute the income among the rich and poor community. We all are well aware of the fact that the middle-class population is a bit higher than the rich and poor population.