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Because density curves are idealized patterns, a symmetric density curve is exactly symmetric. The median of a symmetric density curve is therefore at its center. Figure 1.18(a) shows the median of a symmetric curve. 1.3 Density Curves and the Normal Distributions 43 FIGURE 1.18(a) The median and mean of a symmetric density curve, for Example 1.28. Median and mean The situation is different for skewed density curves. Here is an example. EXAMPLE 1.29 Skewed Density Curves It isn't so easy to spot the equal-areas point on a skewed curve. There are mathematical ways of finding the median for any density curve. We did that to mark the median on the skewed curve in Figure 1.18(b). FIGURE 1.18(b) The median and mean of a right-skewed density curve, for Example 1.29 Mean Median APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 1.78 Another skewed curve. Sketch a curve similar to Figure 1.18(b) for a left- skewed density curve. Be sure to mark the location of the mean and the median