What is the difference between the normal distribution and the t distribution?

I have been studying statistics for a few years now, and one thing that I have learned is that there is always something new to learn.

I have been studying normal distributions, which are bell curves, and also t distributions. The normal distribution and t distribution are both important probability distributions in statistics.

Normal distribution

1. The shape of the normal distribution is a bell curve that is centred around the mean.
2. The two parameters of the normal distribution are the mean (mu) and standard deviation (sigma).
3. The normal distribution is often used when the sample is large and the standard deviation is known.
4. The tails of the normal distribution are known, so extreme values far from the mean are less likely.
5. The normal distribution is not dependent on degrees of freedom.
6. According to the central limit theorem, the distribution of the sample mean approaches a normal distribution as the sample size increases, regardless of the population distribution.

T distribution

1. The shape of the t distribution is symmetric and bell shaped, but the tails are heavier.