Final answer:
To find the percentile rank of a $30,000 car, the z-score is first calculated by dividing the difference between the car's price and the mean price by the standard deviation. With a z-score of 2, we then reference a z-table to determine the percentile, which is around the 97.5th percentile. This means that the car costs more than 97.5% of new cars.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question involves finding the percentile rank of a car that sold for $30,000 given that the average (mean) new car costs $23,000 with a standard deviation of $3,500, assuming that the prices are normally distributed. To solve this, we first calculate the z-score for $30,000 using the formula:
Z = (X - μ) / σ
Where X is the value in question ($30,000), μ is the mean ($23,000), and σ is the standard deviation ($3,500).
Z = ($30,000 - $23,000) / $3,500 = $7,000 / $3,500 = 2
Next, we refer to the standard normal distribution table (z-table) to find the percentile rank that corresponds to a z-score of 2. This z-score is typically associated with the 97.5th percentile (however, please verify with a standard normal distribution table as exact values can vary slightly).
Therefore, a car sold for $30,000 is at the 97.5th percentile rank, indicating that it costs more than 97.5% of new cars.