Step 1 :This is a problem of normal distribution. In a normal distribution, about 68% of values drawn from the distribution are within one standard deviation σ away from the mean; about 95% of the values lie within two standard deviations; and about 99.7% are within three standard deviations. This is known as the 68-95-99.7 rule, or the empirical rule.
Step 2 :Here, the mean is 90 and the standard deviation is 3. The numbers less than 78 or more than 102 are more than 4 standard deviations away from the mean. According to the empirical rule, the fraction of numbers that are more than 4 standard deviations away from the mean is very small, close to 0.
Step 3 :We can calculate this fraction using the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the normal distribution. The CDF gives the probability that a random variable drawn from the distribution is less than or equal to a certain value. We can use the CDF to find the probability that a number is less than 78 or more than 102.
Step 4 :mean = 90, std_dev = 3, cdf_78 = 3.167124183311986e-05, cdf_102 = 3.167124183311998e-05, fraction = 6.334248366623985e-05
Step 5 :The fraction of numbers that are less than 78 or more than 102 is approximately 0.00006334248366623985. This is a very small fraction, which is consistent with our expectation that the fraction of numbers more than 4 standard deviations away from the mean in a normal distribution is close to 0.
Step 6 :Final Answer: The fraction of numbers that are less than 78 or more than 102 is approximately \( \boxed{0.00006334248366623985} \).