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Problem set on
Poisson Process
1. Suppose that the customers arrive at a bank counter according to a Poisson process
with a mean rate of 3 per minute. Find the probability that during a time interval
of 2 minutes (i) exactly 4 customers arrive and (ii) more than 4 customers arrive.
2. If the customers arrive at a counter in accordance with a Poisson process with a
mean rate of 2 per minute, find the probability that the interval between the two
consecutive arrivals is (i) more than 1 min. (ii) between 1 and 2 min. (iii) 4 min
or less.
3. A machine goes out of order, whenever a component fails. The failure of this part
follows a Poisson process with a mean rate of 1 per minute. Find the probability
that 2 weeks have elapsed since last failure. If there are 5 spare parts of this
component in an inventory and that the next supply is not due in 10 weeks, find
the probability that the machine will not fail in the next 10 weeks.
4. Patients arrive randomly and independently at a doctor’s consulting room from
8 : 00 am at an average rate of one in 5 min. The waiting room can hold 12 persons.
What is the probability that the room will be full when the doctor arrives at 9 : 00
am?
5. On the average a submarine on patrol sights 6 enemy ships per hour. Assuming
that the number of ships sighted in a given length of time is a Poisson variate,
find the probability of sighting-(i) 6 ships in the next half-an-hour (ii) 4 ships in
the next 2 hour (iii) at least 1 ship in the next 15 min and (iv) at least 2 ships in
the next 20 min.
6. Messages arrive at a telegraph office in accordance with the laws of a Poisson
process with a mean rate of 3 messages per hour. What is the (i) probability that
no message will have arrived during the morning hours i.e. between 8 : 00 am and
12 : 00 noon? (ii) the distribution of the time at which the first afternoon message
arrives?
7. Assume that a circuit has an IC whose time to failure is a exponentially distributed
RV with expected lifetime of 3 months. If there are 10 spare IC ′ s and time from
failure to replacement is zero, what is the probability that the circuit can be kept
operational for at least 1 year?
8. Assume that an office switchboard has 5 telephone lines and that starting at 8 : 00
am on Monday, the time that a call arrives on each line is an exponential RV with
parameter λ. Also assume that the calls arrive independently on the lines. Show
that the time of arrival of the first call (irrespective of which line it arrives on) is
exponential with parameter 5λ.
9. A radioactive source emits particles at a rate of 5 per minute in accordance with
Poisson process. Each particle emitted has a probability of 0.6 of being recorded.
Find the probability that 10 particles are recorded in 4 − min period.
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10. A radioactive source emits particles at a rate of 6 per minute in accordance with
Poisson process. Each particle emitted has a probability 1/3 of being recorded.
Find the probability that (i) at least 5 particles are recorded. (ii) exactly 3 particle
are recorded (iii) at the most 4 particles are recorded in a 5−minute period.
11. Suppose that customers arrive at a counter independently from 2 different sources.
Arrivals occur in accordance with a Poisson process with mean rate of 6 per hour
from the first source and 4 per hour from the second source. Find the mean
interval between any two consecutive arrivals.
12. Assume that a device fails when a cumulative effect of k shocks occur. If the shocks
occur according to Poisson process with parameter λ, find the density function for
the life T of the device.
13. Passengers arrive at a terminal for boarding the next bus. The times of their
arrivals are Poisson with an average arrival rate of 1 per minute. The times
of departure of each bus are Poisson with an average departure rate of 2 per
hour. Assume that the capacity of the bus is large. Find the average number of
passengers in (i) each bus (ii) the first bus that leaves after 9 A.M.
14. Passengers arrive at a terminal after 9 A.M. The times of their arrivals are Poisson
with an mean density λ = 1 per minute. The time interval from 9 A.M. to the
departure of the next bus is RV T. Find the mean number of passengers in this
bus (i) if T has an exponential density with mean 30 min and (ii) if T is uniform
between 0 and 60 min.
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