Final answer:
To find the probability that a randomly selected bag of sugar has a mass less than 996 grams, we need to calculate the z-score and then use the standard normal distribution table.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the probability that a randomly selected bag of sugar has a mass less than 996 grams, we need to calculate the z-score and then use the standard normal distribution table.
The z-score is calculated using the formula: z = (x - mean) / standard deviation
For this problem, x = 996, mean = 1000, and standard deviation = 3.5.
Substituting these values into the formula, we get: z = (996 - 1000) / 3.5 = -1.142857
Now, we can use the standard normal distribution table to find the probability that a z-score is less than -1.142857. The table shows that this probability is approximately 0.1251.
Therefore, the probability that a randomly selected bag of sugar has a mass less than 996 grams is approximately 0.1251.