Microsoft KB Archive/25518

{| = Excel: Distribution of the RAND Function =
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Last reviewed: November 2, 1994

Article ID: Q25518

SUMMARY
When creating a random distribution of numbers for a small sample, the RAND function may appear to create a mound-shaped curve.

The RAND function produces an even random distribution. However, for a small sample, the results sometimes appear similar to a bell-shaped curve or weighted to one end of a range. This appearance is standard for an even distribution.

For the distribution to appear truly even, it would be necessary to generate a very large series, somewhere in the range of 1x10^32. In other words, a truly smooth curve would require plotting several million (or billion) points. The more points, the smoother the curve.
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