UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA

SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

BUSINESS STATISTICS (STA 2004)

TUTORIAL SHEET # 2

1. Suppose that an experiment consists of tossing a coin three times and observing the
sequence of heads ( H ) and tails (T ).
(a) Determine the sample space of the experiment.
(b) Let E be the event that exactly two tails appear in the three tosses. Write down the
outcomes in E.
(c) Find P (E).
2. Suppose that A and B are mutually exclusive events with P( A )=0 .5 and
P(B )=0. 2 .
(a) What is the probability that either A or B will occur?
(b) What is the probability that neither A nor B will occur?

3. On a given afternoon, the probability that a certain manager will be in her office is 0.48
and the probability that she will be in her home is 0.27. Assuming that the manager’s
office and home are in two different locations, find the probability that she will be neither
in her office nor in her home on a given afternoon.

4. A local bank reports that 80% of its customers have current accounts, 60% have savings
accounts, and 50% have both types of accounts. If a customer is chosen at random, what
is the probability she has a current account or a savings account?

5. Of 10,000 students at a college, 2,500 have a MasterCard (M), 4,000 have a VISA Card
(V), and 1,000 have both.

Find the probability that a randomly selected student

(i) has a MasterCard (ii) has A VISA Card

(iii) has Both credit cards (iv) has either a MasterCard or a VISA Card

(v) has neither credit card. (vi) has exactly one of the two credit cards.

6. On a particular day, 20% of the car drivers purchase the daily morning paper on their way
to work, 10% purchase the evening paper. It is known that 25% bought either a morning
or an evening paper. Find the probability that a driver of a car chosen at random on that
day purchased:
 (i) both a morning and an evening paper
(ii) an evening paper, given that the driver purchased the morning paper
7. A firm has submitted independent bids on two separate government contracts. The
probability of the firm winning the first contract is 0.4, and the probability of the firm
winning the second contract is 0.3. Find the probability that the firm

(i) wins both contracts (ii) wins neither contract

(iii) wins only one contract (iv) wins at least one contract

8. A company has just introduced three products- product A, B and C – into the market. The
probability that the product A is successful is 0.40, the probability that product B is
successful is 0.25, and the probability that product C is successful is 0.60. Assuming
independence, find the probability that:

(i) all three products are successful (ii) none of the products are successful
(iii) only product B is successful (iv) one product is successful
(vi) products A and B are successful

9. A survey of undergraduate students in the School of Business at University of

Technology revealed the following regarding the gender and major of the students:

Major
Gender Accounting Management Finance Total
Male 100 150 50 300
Female 100 50 50 200
Total 200 200 100 500

(i) What is the probability of selecting a female student?

(ii) What is the probability of selecting finance or accounting major?

(iii) What is the probability of selecting a female or an accounting major?

(iv) What is the probability of selecting an accounting major, given that the person
selected is a male?