A STATISTICAL STUDY ON THE LETTERS
OF THE ALPHABET
Make
a line plot for the first 100 letters in the Preamble to the Constitution.
We the
people of the United States,
in
order to form a more perfect union,
establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide
for the common defense,
promote
the general welfare,
and
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,
do
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
SURVEY
QUESTIONS
1.
How many vowels are in the TOP TEN? ___________
2.
Which consonants would be the most useful in "Wheel of Fortune"?
_____, _____,
_____, _____, _____, _____
3.
Which vowel might be the least useful? ________
4.
What percentage of all the letters surveyed were vowels? ________
5.
Where would this information be useful? ________________________________
Compare
your findings above with the actual frequency distribution below:
Letter Percent Letter Percent
------ ------- ------
-------
A 7.81 N
7.28
B 1.28 O
8.21
C 2.93 P
2.15
D 4.11 Q
0.14
E 13.05 R
6.64
F 2.88 S
6.46
G 1.39 T
9.02
H 5.85 U
2.77
I 6.77 V
1.00
J 0.23 W
1.49
K 0.42 X
0.30
L 3.60 Y
1.51
M 2.62 Z
0.09
This
data presented in
Bell,
D.A.: "Information Theory," Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd., London,
1953.