THE TI-83/84 [& nSpire differences] Distribution Commands for AP Stats

All of these commands are found under the yellow [2nd] then [Vars] button, or the [DISTR] menu. On
the nSpire, they are found under “menu”, “statistics” then “distributions”. The names are not identical, but
are close enough you can figure them out! I have noted where the nSpire is different from the 83/84.

1) normalCdf(min, max, [mean, S.D.]) [default for mean = 0, S.D. = 1]

Answer is the area underneath the normal curve or the relative frequency, or the population proportion (depending on
the question asked). This command saves you the trouble of calculating z-score and looking up the % in the table.

Example: Suppose a population mean height is 55 inches with a population standard deviation of 8 inches.

a. Find the relative frequency/population proportion between 65 and 68 in.

Use normalCdf(65, 68, 55, 8). Answer: .0536 or 5.4%

b. Find the relative frequency/population proportion above 57 inches.

Use normalCdf(57, 1 E99, 55, 8). Answer: .4013 or 40.1%

c. Find the relative frequency/population proportion below 42.5 inches.

Use normalCdf(-1 E99, 42.5, 55, 8). Answer: .0591 or 5.9%

2) invNorm(percentile, [mean, S.D.]) [default for mean = 0, S.D. = 1]

Answer is the observed x-value that would give you the percentile. Note that this is the reverse of the normalCdf
command.

a. Find the height of someone at the 72nd percentile if the mean and standard deviation is the same as
above.
Use invNorm (.72, 55, 8). Answer: 59.66 in

b. Find the z-score of someone at the 15th percentile.

Use invNorm (.15, 0, 1). Answer: -1.04.
Alternative: Since the standard normal distribution, N (0,1) is the default, simply use invNorm (.1).
Answer: -1.04.

3) χ2cdf(min, max, degrees of freedom).

Answer: area under the Chi-squared curve

Exa mple: You are trying to decide if a coin is balanced so you flip it 100 times and get 43 heads. The chi-square
statistic yields (43 - 50)2/50 + (57 -50)2 / 50 = 1.96. Now we can find the p-value.
Use χ2cdf(1.96, 1 E99, 1). Answer: .162.

4) binomPdf (total trials, probability of an individual success, [number of successes]).

Answer is the probability of the exact number of successes.

Example: Zach shoots 60% from the free throw line on average, has 15 attempts today.

a. What is the probability that he gets in exactly 10 of these 15 attempts?

Use binomPdf(15, .6, 10). Answer: .1859 or 18.6%
b. List the probabilities of all 16 possible number of successes. The list will start with 0 successes and go up
to 15.
Use binomPdf (15, .6). The answer is the list of all 16 probabilities.

5) binomCdf (total trials, probability of an individual success, number of successes).

Answer is the accumulated probability of at most this many successes. [Note, this is where the nSpire differs from the
83/84. For the nSpire it is (total trials, probability, Lower bound, Upper bound).]

a. What is the probability that Zach, in #4, got in at most (less than or equal to) 11 free throws in those 15
attempts?
Use binomCdf(15, .6, 11). Answer: .9095 or 91.0%

b. What is the probability that Zach made at least 9 free throws out of 15 attempts?
The complement of "at least 9 successes" is "at most 8 successes." Therefore:
Use 1 - binomCdf (15, .6, 8). Answer: .6098 or 61.0%

c. What is the probability that he got in between 8 and 12 free throws, inclusive, out of 15 attempts?
[Note: the nSpire you just do binomCdf(15,.6,8,12). Much easier.]
Use binomCdf(15, .6, 12) - binomCdf(15, .6, 7). Answer: .7598 or 76.0%

6) geometpdf(probability of an individual success, the number of the trial on which the first success occurs).
Answer is the probability that the first success occurs on this trial.

Example: Beth has a 60% probability of hitting the target each time she shoots a free throw.

a. What is the probability that she will have her first success on her fourth shot?
Use geometpdf(.6, 4). Answer: .0384 or 3.8%

b. What are the probabilities that she will have her first success on each of her first 5 shots? We want 5
answers simultaneously. [Note: this is the same for the nSpire]
Use geometpdf(.6, {1 ,2, 3, 4, 5}). Answer: {0.6,0.24,0.096,0.0384,0.01536}

7) geometcdf(probability of an individual success, the number of the trial on which the first success occurs).
Answer is the accumulated probability that the first success occurs on or before this trial.

a. What is the probability that Beth, in #6 above, will have her first success on the fifth shot or earlier?
Use geometcdf(.6, 5). Answer: .9898 or 99.0%

b. What is the probability that Beth will have her first success on the fourth shot or later? The complement
of this event is: the first success occurs on the third shot or earlier.
Use 1 - geometcdf(.6, 3). Answer: .064 or 6.4%

8) tcdf(minimum, maximum, degrees of freedom)

Answer is area underneath the t-curve or the relative frequency or the population proportion. This is not to be confused
the normalcdf, which is for a normal curve! This command saves you the trouble of looking up the value in the T Table.

Example: In a t-distribution of sample size n = 13, degrees of freedom = n -1 = 13 - 1 = 12. What is the population
proportion lying between z = -1 and z = 2?
Use tcdf (-1, 2, 12). Answer: 0.797 or 79.7% of the population.

Original by Wes White, Active Math Instruction: Modified by Glenn Waddell: mrwaddell.net