Final answer:
If 16 adult females are randomly selected, the probability that they have pulse rates with a mean less than 80 beats per minute can be found using the Central Limit Theorem. According to the Central Limit Theorem, for a large sample size, the distribution of sample means will be approximately normal, regardless of the shape of the original population distribution.
Step-by-step explanation:
b. If 16 adult females are randomly selected, the probability that they have pulse rates with a mean less than 80 beats per minute can be found using the Central Limit Theorem. According to the Central Limit Theorem, for a large sample size, the distribution of sample means will be approximately normal, regardless of the shape of the original population distribution. The mean of the sample means will still be the same as the population mean, which is 75 beats per minute. The standard deviation of the sample means, also known as the standard error, can be calculated as the standard deviation of the population divided by the square root of the sample size. In this case, the standard error would be 125 / sqrt(16) = 31.25. We can then calculate the z-score, which is the number of standard deviations away from the mean. The formula for calculating the z-score is (x - mean) / standard error, where x is the desired value. In this case, we want to find the probability that the sample mean is less than 80, so x = 80. Plugging these values into the formula, we get (80 - 75) / 31.25 = 0.16. We can then look up the corresponding probability in the standard normal distribution table or use a calculator to find that the probability is approximately 0.08997, rounded to four decimal places as requested.
c. The normal distribution can be used in part (b) even though the sample size does not exceed 307 because the Central Limit Theorem states that the distribution of sample means will be approximately normal for any sample size, as long as the original population follows a normal distribution. The distribution of sample means is not affected by the sample size, as long as it is large enough. In this case, the sample size of 16 can be considered large enough to apply the Central Limit Theorem and use the normal distribution.