Lesson 5

Lesson 5: Percentile

 

Focus

 

The Hybrid III 50th Percentile Male Crash Test Dummy is the most widely used crash test dummy in the world. This dummy is used for the evaluation of automotive safety restraint systems in frontal crash testing. There are also two other versions of the crash test dummy—the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female and the 95th Percentile Male. The assembly weights are listed in the table.

 

Dummy	Approximate Assembly Weight (lbs)
50th Percentile Male	171
5th Percentile Female	108
95th Percentile Male	223

Source: Humanetics Innovative Solutions (www.humaneticsatd.com)

 

These crash test dummies are used to model real people. Where would you fit in this group? Can you think of how the percentile is related to the assembly weight?

 

Lesson Outcomes

 

At the end of this lesson you will be able to

• describe and analyze percentile ranks
• explain decisions based on a given percentile rank
• explain the difference between percent and percentile rank
• explain the relationship between median and percentile
• solve problems involving percentiles

Lesson Questions

 

You will investigate the following questions:

• How can percentiles be used to help guide decisions?
• What is the difference between percent and percentile rank?

Assessment

 

Your assessment may be based on a combination of the following tasks:

• completion of the Lesson 5 Assignment (Download the Lesson 5 Assignment and save it in your course folder now.)
• course folder submissions from Try This and Share activities
• additions to Glossary Terms and Formula Sheet
• work under Project Connection

Materials and Equipment

 

You will need

• calculator