The normal distribution calculator returns tail probabilities and critical values for a Normal(μ, σ) variable — the z-table, computed exactly rather than looked up.
The normal distribution is the limiting shape of a sum of many small independent effects, which is why it stands behind the z-test, the large-sample confidence interval and the residual assumptions of regression.
Standard tables print P(Z ≤ z) for the standard normal to two or three decimals. This computes it for any mean and SD, in both directions, with full double precision — so there is no interpolating between table rows.
Distribution parameters, plus a value x, a tail probability p, or both.
For x: the density or exact probability and each tail. For p: the lower, upper and two-tailed critical values.