What characterizes a normal distribution?

A normal distribution is characterized by its symmetrical, bell-shaped curve, which has one distinct peak at the mean. This peak represents the highest frequency of data points, indicating that most of the observations cluster around the mean with fewer and fewer observations as you move away from the center in either direction. This property of having a single peak is a fundamental aspect of the normal distribution and is crucial in statistics for understanding the behavior of different sets of data.

In contrast, a normal distribution does not concentrate data away from the mean; rather, it shows that data points are more likely to be found closer to the mean. Additionally, a normal distribution is symmetrical, meaning that the left side of the distribution mirrors the right side, rather than being asymmetrical. Finally, a normal distribution does not exhibit multiple peaks; having multiple peaks would suggest a multimodal distribution, which contrasts with the single-peaked nature of a normal distribution.