Below are the steps you can follow to create a bell curve in Google Sheets:
Start by opening a new Google Sheets document. In the first column (e.g., A1, A2, A3...), input a range of values that you want to use for your bell curve. This could be a series of numbers, like -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, representing standard deviations.
In the next column (B), next to each value, use the NORM.DIST function to create the bell curve. This function requires four parameters:
For example, in cell B1, you might input: =NORM.DIST(A1, 0, 1, FALSE).
Click and drag the corner of the cell with the formula to apply it to all other cells in column B corresponding to your values in column A.
Select the cells that contain your data in both columns. Go to the menu, click on “Insert”, then select “Chart”.
In the Chart Editor on the right, under the "Setup" tab, choose “Line chart” or “Scatter chart” to create a bell curve.
You can adjust the chart title, axis titles, and other settings in the Chart Editor under the "Customize" tab.
Ensure the chart looks like a bell curve, with a peak at the mean and tapering off on either side. If the chart doesn’t look right, you may need to adjust your data range or check your formula.
For a smoother curve, use more data points. For example, use increments of 0.1 (-3, -2.9, -2.8, …, 2.9, 3). Experiment with different means and standard deviations in the NORM.DIST function to see how they affect the shape of the bell curve.
We hope that this article has helped you and given you a better understanding of how to make a bell curve in Google Sheets. If you enjoyed this article, you might also like our articles on how to change the case of text in Google Sheets and adding images to Google Sheets.
