ACT Math · Statistics and data analysis

A distribution has mean 100 and standard deviation 15. According to the empirical rule, approximately what percent of values fall between…

A distribution has mean 100 and standard deviation 15. According to the empirical rule, approximately what percent of values fall between 85 and 115?

Answer and explanation

Answer: B: 68%

The empirical rule says that for a roughly bell-shaped distribution, about 68%68\% of values lie within 11 standard deviation of the mean, 95%95\% within 22, and 99.7%99.7\% within 33. Here 100−15=85100-15=85 and 100+15=115100+15=115, so the interval is exactly one standard deviation on each side, which holds about 68%68\% of values, choice B. Choice C (95%95\%) would correspond to 7070 through 130130. Choice D (99.7%99.7\%) would correspond to 5555 through 145145. Choice A (50%50\%) is not an empirical-rule percentage.

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