Mathematica, PDF Curves and Shading

Question

I need to plot a normal distribution and then shade some specific region of it. Right now I'm doing this by creating a plot of the distribution and overlaying it with a RegionPlot. This is pretty convoluted and I'm certain there must be a more elegant way of doing it. I Googled, looked at the docs, found nothing. Help me SO! I guess Mathematica counts as programming? :D

Accepted Answer

The easiest approach I can think of is to use two `Plot` functions, where one plots the range you want shaded, and the other one plots the entire range, while using the `Filling` option to get the shading. Then you display them together using `Show`, like so:

```
distFn = PDF[NormalDistribution[], x];
Show[
   {Plot[distFn, {x, -5, 5}],
    Plot[distFn, {x, -1, 1}, Filling -> {1 -> {0, Automatic}}]},
   PlotRange -> All]
```

It's still a little on the clunky side, but it works, and it should be easy enough to abstract into a single function if you do it a lot.

Mathematica, PDF Curves and Shading

Solution

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