A normal distribution is a statistical concept that describes how data points are spread out in a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve. In this distribution, most values cluster around the mean, or average, while fewer values appear as you move away from the mean in either direction. This pattern is common in many natural phenomena, such as heights, test scores, and measurement errors. The normal distribution is characterized by two key parameters: the mean and the standard deviation. The mean indicates the center of the distribution, while the standard deviation measures the spread of the data. Many statistical methods, including those used in hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, rely on the properties of normal distributions.