What does a normal distribution imply about the symmetry of the data?

What does a normal distribution imply about the symmetry of the data?

• A. It is perfectly symmetrical
• B. It is highly skewed
• C. It has multiple peaks
• D. It is strongly bimodal

Answer: (A)

A normal distribution is perfectly symmetrical about its center. This means the bell-shaped curve is a mirror image on either side of the mean, so for any distance away from the mean, the probability of values are the same in both directions. In other words, the left side mirrors the right side, and the mean, median, and mode all coincide. This symmetry is captured by having zero skewness. While real data may resemble a normal curve, the defining idea is that the theoretical normal distribution is exactly balanced around the center.

A normal distribution is perfectly symmetrical about its center. This means the bell-shaped curve is a mirror image on either side of the mean, so for any distance away from the mean, the probability of values are the same in both directions. In other words, the left side mirrors the right side, and the mean, median, and mode all coincide. This symmetry is captured by having zero skewness. While real data may resemble a normal curve, the defining idea is that the theoretical normal distribution is exactly balanced around the center.