[Sobieski at Kahlenberg Mtn.]

The 68-95-99.7 rule also known as the empirical rule states:

for a normal distribution almost all values lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean.

this means that approximately 68% of the values lie within 1 standard deviation of the mean (or between the mean minus 1 times the standard deviation, and the mean plus 1 times the standard deviation). In statistical notation, this is represented as: μ ± σ.

And approximately 95% of the values lie within 2 standard deviations of the mean (or between the mean minus 2 times the standard deviation, and the mean plus 2 times the standard deviation). The statistical notation for this is: μ ± 2σ.

Almost all (actually, 99.7%) of the values lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean (or between the mean minus 3 times the standard deviation and the mean plus 3 times the standard deviation). Statisticians use the following notation to represent this: μ ± 3σ

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

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[blu]

Ok, I get this is math. But I’m the kind of person who likes to know what she’s learning. So is it statistics (which I took but is a totally failed remembrance)?