Question

Suppose that normal human body temperatures are normally distributed with a mean of 37°C and a standard deviation of 0.2°C.

What percent of humans have a temperature between 36.6°C and 37.4°C?

Answer 1

95%

Explanation:

We can use the empirical rule of normal distribution to solve this easily.

It states that

• 68% data falls within 1 standard deviation of the mean,
• 95% data falls within 2 standard deviation of the mean, and
• 99% data falls within 3 standard deviation of the mean

Since 36.6 is 37 - 2(0.2), which is 2 st. dev of the mean, and

since 37.4 is 37 + 2(0.2), which is 2 st. dev of the mean,

We can say that 95% of humans have a temperature between 36.6°C and 37.4°C