Step 1 :We are given that the mean pulse rate of females is \(\mu = 73.0\) beats per minute and the standard deviation is \(\sigma = 12.5\) beats per minute.
Step 2 :We are asked to find the probability that a randomly selected female has a pulse rate less than 76 beats per minute.
Step 3 :This is a problem of normal distribution. We can use the z-score formula to find the z-score for 76, which is \(z = \frac{x - \mu}{\sigma}\), where \(x\) is the value we are interested in.
Step 4 :Substituting the given values into the formula, we get \(z = \frac{76 - 73}{12.5} = 0.24\).
Step 5 :We can then use a z-table to find the probability that a z-score is less than the calculated value. The probability is approximately 0.5948.
Step 6 :Final Answer: The probability that a randomly selected female has a pulse rate less than 76 beats per minute is approximately \(\boxed{0.5948}\).