Times for a surgical procedure are normally distributed. there are two methods. method a has a mean of 33 minutes and a standard deviation of 8 minutes, while method b has a mean of 37 minutes and a standard deviation of 4.0 minutes. (a) which procedure is preferred if the procedure must be completed within 34 minutes?

Method A.

Step-by-step explanation:

For solving this question we need to find out the z-scores for both methods,

Since, the z-score formula is,

Where, is mean,

is standard deviation,

Given,

For method A,

Thus, the z score for 34 is,

While, for method B,

Thus, the z score for 34 is,

,

Since,

Hence, method A is preferred if the procedure must be completed within 34 minutes.