Standard normal distribution

ID: standard-normal-distribution

Standard normal distribution by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The standard normal distribution is : the normal distribution with mean zero, variance one and standard deviation one. Its standard normal density integrates to one; its standard normal distribution function records the area accumulated from to a threshold. The distinction matters: , , and for a standard normal random variable .
For a toy measurement , leave the measurement unit unspecified. The standardization of a normal random variable converts into standard scores . Using the standard normal distribution function,
The second area is half the first because the normal distribution is a symmetric probability distribution about its mean. The numerical heights differ: , yet the corresponding shaded areas are equal because in the change of variables.
Figure 1.
Standardization changes density heights and coordinates but preserves probabilities
. The same toy normal distribution is shown before and after standardization of a normal random variable. The blue and orange areas together have probability approximately ; the orange area alone has probability approximately . The threshold becomes standard score . Each probability density function has total area one over the whole real line; a single outcome has zero probability. Details.

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