Python - Random Number using Normal Distribution

Python - Generate Random Float using Normal distribution

To generate a random floating point number using Normal distribution in Python, use normalvariate() function of Python random package.

In this tutorial, we shall learn how to generate a random floating point number based on Normal distribution with specified mean and standard deviation.

Syntax of random.normalvariate()

Following is the syntax of normalvariate() function in random module.

f = random.normalvariate(mu, sigma)

where

Parameter	Description
mu	Mean of Normal distribution.
sigma	Standard Deviation of Normal distribution.

normalvariate() function returns a random floating point value based on the given mean and standard deviation for the Normal distribution.

Examples

1. Generate a float value using normal distribution

In this example, we shall use random.normalvariate() function to generate a random floating point number based on the Normal distribution with mean of 2 and standard deviation of 0.5.

Python Program

import random

mu = 2
sigma = 0.5
randomnumber = random.normalvariate(mu, sigma)
print(randomnumber)

Output

2.3033833601115106

2. Generate a float value using normal distribution with a standard deviation of 1

In this example, we shall use random.normalvariate() function to generate a random floating point number based on a Normal distribution with mean of 0 and standard deviation of 0.1.

Python Program

import random

mu = 0
sigma = 0.1
randomnumber = random.normalvariate(mu, sigma)
print(randomnumber)

Output

0.10676590503788591

Summary

In this tutorial of Python Examples, we learned how to generate a random floating point number using Normal distribution, with the help of well detailed example programs.