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Derivation of Isosceles Trapezoidal Distribution

Published

Author(s)

Raghu N. Kacker, James F. Lawrence

Abstract

It is known that, if the mid-point of a rectangular distribution is specified, the half-width is inexactly known, and the state of knowledge about the half-width may be represented by a narrower rectangular distribution then the resulting distribution looks like an isosceles trapezoid whose sloping sides are curved (an isocurvilinear trapezoid). What sort of probability distribution must the half-width have for the resulting distribution to be an isosceles trapezoid? We show that if the distribution of the half-width is a variation of the rectangular distribution whose top is sloping (a sloping top distribution) then the resulting distribution is isosceles trapezoid.
Citation
Measurement Science and Technology
Volume
22

Keywords

rectangular distributio, uncertainty in measurement

Citation

Kacker, R. and Lawrence, J. (2010), Derivation of Isosceles Trapezoidal Distribution, Measurement Science and Technology, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=904335 (Accessed October 11, 2025)

Issues

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Created December 1, 2010, Updated February 19, 2017
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