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CHAPTER 6: CONTINUOUS PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS

Multiple Choice
1. The center of a normal curve is
a. always equal to zero
b. is the mean of the distribution
c. cannot be negative
d. is the standard deviation

ANSWER: b

2. The probability that a continuous random variable takes any specific value
a. is equal to zero
b. is at least 0.5
c. depends on the probability density function
d. is very close to 1.0

ANSWER: a

3. A normal distribution with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1 is called


a. a probability density function
b. an ordinary normal curve
c. a standard normal distribution
d. none of these alternatives is correct

ANSWER: c

4. The z score for the standard normal distribution


a. is always equal to zero
b. can never be negative
c. can be either negative or positive
d. is always equal to the mean

ANSWER: c

5. In a standard normal distribution, the probability that Z is greater than zero is


a. 0.5
b. equal to 1
c. at least 0.5
d. 1.96

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

6. A negative value of Z indicates that


a. the number of standard deviations of an observation is to the right of the mean
b. the number of standard deviations of an observation is to the left of the mean
c. a mistake has been made in computations, since Z cannot be negative
d. the data has a negative mean

ANSWER: b

7. The uniform, normal, and exponential distributions are


a. all continuous probability distributions
b. all discrete probability distributions
c. can be either continuous or discrete, depending on the data
d. all the same distributions

ANSWER: a

8. A value of 0.5 that is added and/or subtracted from a value of x when the continuous normal distribution is used to
approximate the discrete binomial distribution is called
a. 50% of the area under the normal curve
b. continuity correction factor
c. factor of conversion
d. all of the alternatives are correct answers

ANSWER: b

9. For a continuous random variable x, the probability density function f(x) represents
a. the probability at a given value of x
b. the area under the curve at x
c. the area under the curve to the right of x
d. the height of the function at x

ANSWER: d

10. The uniform probability distribution is used with


a. a continuous random variable
b. a discrete random variable
c. a normally distributed random variable
d. any random variable, as long as it is not nominal

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

11. For any continuous random variable, the probability that the random variable takes on exactly a specific value is
a. 1.00
b. 0.50
c. any value between 0 to 1
d. almost zero

ANSWER: d

12. For the standard normal probability distribution, the area to the left of the mean is
a. -0.5
b. 0.5
c. any value between 0 to 1
d. 1

ANSWER: b

13. Which of the following is not a characteristic of the normal probability distribution?
a. The mean, median, and the mode are equal
b. The mean of the distribution can be negative, zero, or positive
c. The distribution is symmetrical
d. The standard deviation must be 1

ANSWER: d

14. In a standard normal distribution, the range of values of z is from


a. minus infinity to infinity
b. -1 to 1
c. 0 to 1
d. -3.09 to 3.09

ANSWER: a

15. For a uniform probability density function,


a. the height of the function cannot be larger than one
b. the height of the function is the same for each value of x
c. the height of the function is different for various values of x
d. the height of the function decreases as x increases

ANSWER: b

16. The probability density function for a uniform distribution ranging between 2 and 6 is
a. 4
b. undefined
c. any positive value
d. 0.25

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

17. A uniform probability distribution is a continuous probability distribution where the probability that the random
variable assumes a value in any interval of equal length is
a. different for each interval
b. the same for each interval
c. at least one
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

ANSWER: b

18. The function that defines the probability distribution of a continuous random variable is a
a. normal function
b. uniform function
c. either normal of uniform depending on the situation
d. probability density function

ANSWER: d

19. When a continuous probability distribution is used to approximate a discrete probability distribution
a. a value of 0.5 is added and/or subtracted from the area
b. a value of 0.5 is added and/or subtracted from the value of x
c. a value of 0.5 is added to the area
d. a value of 0.5 is subtracted from the area

ANSWER: b

20. A continuous probability distribution that is useful in describing the time, or space, between occurrences of an event
is a(n)
a. normal probability distribution
b. uniform probability distribution
c. exponential probability distribution
d. Poisson probability distribution

ANSWER: d

21. The exponential probability distribution is used with


a. a discrete random variable
b. a continuous random variable
c. any probability distribution with an exponential term
d. an approximation of the binomial probability distribution

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

22. In a standard normal distribution the probability of z being less than or equal zero is
a. 0.0000
b. much larger than 1
c. there is no answer to this question, since the value of the mean is not known
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: d

23. Larger values of the standard deviation result in a normal curve that is
a. shifted to the right
b. shifted to the left
c. narrower and more peaked
d. wider and flatter

ANSWER: d

24. Which of the following is not a characteristic of the normal probability distribution?
a. symmetry
b. The total area under the curve is always equal to 1.
c. 99.72% of the time the random variable assumes a value within plus or minus 1 standard deviation of its
mean
d. The mean is equal to the median, which is also equal to the mode.

ANSWER: c

25. For a normal distribution, a negative value of z indicates


a. a mistake has been made in computations, because z is always positive
b. the area corresponding to the z is negative
c. the z is to the left of the mean
d. the z is to the right of the mean

ANSWER: c

26. The mean of a standard normal probability distribution


a. is always equal to zero
b. can be any value as long as it is positive
c. can be any value
d. is always greater than zero

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

27. The standard deviation of a standard normal distribution


a. is always equal to zero
b. is always equal to one
c. can be any positive value
d. can be any value

ANSWER: b

28. A normal probability distribution


a. is a continuous probability distribution
b. is a discrete probability distribution
c. can be either continuous or discrete
d. must have a standard deviation of 1

ANSWER: a

29. A continuous random variable may assume


a. all values in an interval or collection of intervals
b. only integer values in an interval or collection of intervals
c. only fractional values in an interval or collection of intervals
d. all the positive integer values in an interval

ANSWER: a

30. A continuous random variable is uniformly distributed between a and b. The probability density function between a
and b is
a. zero
b. (a - b)
c. (b - a)
d. 1/(b - a)

ANSWER: d

31. If the mean of a normal distribution is negative,


a. the standard deviation must also be negative
b. the variance must also be negative
c. a mistake has been made in the computations, because the mean of a normal distribution cannot be negative
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

32. For a standard normal distribution, the probability of z ≤ 0 is


a. zero
b. -0.5
c. 0.5
d. one

ANSWER: c

33. The highest point of a normal curve occurs at


a. one standard deviation to the right of the mean
b. two standard deviations to the right of the mean
c. approximately three standard deviations to the right of the mean
d. the mean

ANSWER: d

34. The random variable x is known to be uniformly distributed between 70 and 90. The probability of x having a value
between 80 to 95 is
a. 0.75
b. 0.5
c. 0.05
d. 1

ANSWER: b

35. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P(-1.96 ≤ Z ≤ -1.4) equals


a. 0.8942
b. 0.0558
c. 0.475
d. 0.4192

ANSWER: b

36. A standard normal distribution is a normal distribution


a. with a mean of 1 and a standard deviation of 0
b. with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1
c. with any mean and a standard deviation of 1
d. with any mean and any standard deviation

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

37. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P (1.20 ≤ Z ≤ 1.85) equals


a. 0.4678
b. 0.3849
c. 0.8527
d. 0.0829

ANSWER: d

38. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P (-1.20 ≤ Z ≤ 1.50)


equals a. 0.0483
b. 0.3849
c. 0.4332
d. 0.8181

ANSWER: d

39. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the probability that -2.51 ≤ Z ≤ -1.53?
a. 0.4950
b. 0.4370
c. 0.0570
d. 0.9310

ANSWER: c

40. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the probability that Z ≥ -2.12?
a. 0.4830
b. 0.9830
c. 0.017
d. 0.966

ANSWER: b

41. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the probability that -2.08 ≤ Z ≤ 1.46?
a. 0.9091
b. 0.4812
c. 0.4279
d. 0.0533

ANSWER: a

42. In a standard normal distribution the value of z


a. can be any value
b. cannot be negative
c. cannot be larger than 3.09
d. cannot be larger than 0.50

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

43. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P (1.41 ≤ Z ≤ 2.85) equals


a. 0.4978
b. 0.4207
c. 0.9185
d. 0.0771

ANSWER: d

44. X is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 8 and a standard deviation of 4. The probability that X is
between 1.48 and 15.56 is
a. 0.0222
b. 0.4190
c. 0.5222
d. 0.9190

ANSWER: d

45. X is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 5 and a variance of 4. The probability that X is greater
than 10.52 is
a. 0.0029
b. 0.0838
c. 0.4971
d. 0.9971

ANSWER: a

46. X is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 12 and a standard deviation of 3. The probability that X
equals 19.62 is
a. 0.000
b. 0.0055
c. 0.4945
d. 0.9945

ANSWER: a

47. X is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 22 and a standard deviation of 5. The probability that X
is less than 9.7 is
a. 0.000
b. 0.4931
c. 0.0069
d. 0.9931

ANSWER: c

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

48. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the value of Z if the area to the right of Z is 0.5?
a. 0.0000
b. 1.0000
c. 0.1915
d. 0.3413

ANSWER: a

49. Use the normal approximation to the binomial distribution to answer this question. Fifteen percent of all students at
a large university are absent on Mondays. If a random sample of 12 names is called on a Monday, what is the
probability that four students are absent?
a. 0.0683
b. 0.0213
c. 0.0021
d. 0.1329

ANSWER: a

50. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the value of Z if the area to the left of Z is 0.0559?
a. 0.4441
b. 1.59
c. 0.0000
d. 1.50

ANSWER: b

51. An exponential probability distribution


a. is a continuous distribution
b. is a discrete distribution
c. can be either continuous or discrete
d. must be normally distributed

ANSWER: a

52. Z is a standard normal random variable. What is the value of Z if the area to the right of Z is 0.1112?
a. 0.3888
b. 1.22
c. 2.22
d. 3.22

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

53. Z is a standard normal random variable. What is the value of Z if the area between -Z and Z is 0.754?
a. 0.377
b. 0.123
c. 2.16
d. 1.16

ANSWER: d

54. Z is a standard normal random variable. What is the value of Z if the area to the right of Z is 0.9803?
a. -2.06
b. 0.4803
c. 0.0997
d. 3.06

ANSWER: a

55. For a standard normal distribution, the probability of obtaining a z value between -2.4 to -2.0 is
a. 0.4000
b. 0.0146
c. 0.0400
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: b

56. For a standard normal distribution, the probability of obtaining a z value of less than 1.6 is
a. 0.1600
b. 0.0160
c. 0.0016
d. 0.9452

ANSWER: d

57. For a standard normal distribution, the probability of obtaining a z value between -1.9 to 1.7 is
a. 0.9267
b. 0.4267
c. 1.4267
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

58. The ages of students at a university are normally distributed with a mean of 21. What percentage of the student
body is at least 21 years old?
a. It could be any value, depending on the magnitude of the standard deviation
b. 50%
c. 21%
d. 1.96%

ANSWER: b

59. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P(1.05 ≤ Z ≤ 2.13)


equals a. 0.8365
b. 0.1303
c. 0.4834
d. 0.3531

ANSWER: b

60. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P(Z ≥ 2.11) equals


a. 0.4821
b. 0.9821
c. 0.5
d. 0.0174

ANSWER: d

61. The entire area under the standard normal distribution curve
a. can be any value
b. cannot be negative
c. can be any positive value
d. can be any positive value larger than 1

ANSWER: b

62. Z is a standard normal random variable. The P(-1.5 ≤ Z ≤ 1.09) equals


a. 0.4322
b. 0.3621
c. 0.7953
d. 0.0711

ANSWER: c

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

63. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable. What is the value of Z if the area to the left of Z is 0.9382?
a. 1.8
b. 1.54
c. 2.1
d. 1.77

ANSWER: b

64. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable. What is the value of Z if the area to the right of Z is 0.1401?
a. 1.08
b. 0.1401
c. 2.16
d. -1.08

ANSWER: a

65. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable. What is the value of Z if the area between -Z and Z is 0.754?
a. 1.16
b. 1.96
c. 2.0
d. 11.6

ANSWER: a

66. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the value of Z if the area to the right of Z is 0.9834?
a. 0.4834
b. -2.13
c. +2.13
d. zero

ANSWER: b

67. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the value of Z if the area to the left of Z is 0.119?
a. 0.381
b. +1.18
c. -1.18
d. 2.36

ANSWER: c

68. Given that Z is a standard normal random variable, what is the value of Z if the area between -Z and Z is 0.901?
a. 1.96
b. -1.96
c. 0.4505
d. ±1.65

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

69. In a standard normal distribution the value of z


a. can be any value
b. cannot be negative
c. cannot be larger than 3.09
d. cannot be larger than 0.50

ANSWER: a

Exhibit 6-1
The assembly time for a product is uniformly distributed between 6 to 10 minutes.
70. Refer to Exhibit 6-1. The probability density function has what value in the interval between 6 and 10?
a. 0.25
b. 4.00
c. 5.00
d. zero

ANSWER: a

71. Refer to Exhibit 6-1. The probability of assembling the product between 7 to 9 minutes is
a. zero
b. 0.50
c. 0.20
d. 1

ANSWER: b

72. Refer to Exhibit 6-1. The probability of assembling the product in less than 6 minutes is
a. zero
b. 0.50
c. 0.15
d. 1

ANSWER: a

73. Refer to Exhibit 6-1. The probability of assembling the product in 7 minutes or more is
a. 0.25
b. 0.75
c. zero
d. 1

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

74. Refer to Exhibit 6-1. The expected assembly time (in minutes) is
a. 16
b. 2
c. 8
d. 4

ANSWER: c

75. Refer to Exhibit 6-1. The standard deviation of assembly time (in minutes) is approximately
a. 1.3333
b. 1.1547
c. 0.1111
d. 0.5773

ANSWER: b

Exhibit 6-2
The weight of football players is normally distributed with a mean of 200 pounds and a standard deviation of 25
pounds.
76. Refer to Exhibit 6-2. The probability of a player weighing more than 241.25 pounds is
a. 0.4505
b. 0.0495
c. 0.9505
d. 0.9010

ANSWER: b

77. Refer to Exhibit 6-2. The probability of a player weighing less than 250 pounds is
a. 0.4772
b. 0.9772
c. 0.0528
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: b

78. Refer to Exhibit 6-2. What percent of players weigh between 180 and 220 pounds?
a. 28.81%
b. 0.5762%
c. 0.281%
d. 57.62%

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

79. Refer to Exhibit 6-2. What is the minimum weight of the middle 95% of the players?
a. 196
b. 151
c. 249
d. 190

ANSWER: b

Exhibit 6-3
Consider the continuous random variable X, which has a uniform distribution over the interval from 20 to 28.
80. Refer to Exhibit 6-3. The probability density function has what value in the interval between 20 and 28?
a. 0
b. 0.050
c. 0.125
d. 1.000

ANSWER: c

81. Refer to Exhibit 6-3. The probability that X will take on a value between 21 and 25 is
a. 0.125
b. 0.250
c. 0.500
d. 1.000

ANSWER: c

82. Refer to Exhibit 6-3. The probability that X will take on a value of at least 26 is
a. 0.000
b. 0.125
c. 0.250
d. 1.000

ANSWER: c

83. Refer to Exhibit 6-3. The mean of X is


a. 0.000
b. 0.125
c. 23
d. 24

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

84. Refer to Exhibit 6-3. The variance of X is approximately


a. 2.309
b. 5.333
c. 32
d. 0.667

ANSWER: b

Exhibit 6-4
f(x) =(1/10) e-x/10 x ≥ 0
85. Refer to Exhibit 6-4. The mean of x is
a. 0.10
b. 10
c. 100
d. 1,000

ANSWER: b

86. Refer to Exhibit 6-4. The probability that x is between 3 and 6 is


a. 0.4512
b. 0.1920
c. 0.2592
d. 0.6065

ANSWER: b

87. Refer to Exhibit 6-4. The probability that x is less than 5 is


a. 0.6065
b. 0.0606
c. 0.3935
d. 0.9393

ANSWER: c

Exhibit 6-5
The travel time for a college student traveling between her home and her college is uniformly distributed between
40 and 90 minutes.
88. Refer to Exhibit 6-5. The probability that she will finish her trip in 80 minutes or less is
a. 0.02
b. 0.8
c. 0.2
d. 1.00

ANSWER: b

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

89. Refer to Exhibit 6-5. The probability that her trip will take longer than 60 minutes is
a. 1.00
b. 0.40
c. 0.02
d. 0.600

ANSWER: d

90. Refer to Exhibit 6-5. The probability that her trip will take exactly 50 minutes is
a. zero
b. 0.02
c. 0.06
d. 0.20

ANSWER: a

Exhibit 6-6
The starting salaries of individuals with an MBA degree are normally distributed with a mean of $40,000 and a
standard deviation of $5,000.
91. Refer to Exhibit 6-6. What is the probability that a randomly selected individual with an MBA degree will get a
starting salary of at least $30,000?
a. 0.4772
b. 0.9772
c. 0.0228
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: b

92. Refer to Exhibit 6-6. What is the probability that a randomly selected individual with an MBA degree will get a
starting salary of at least $47,500?
a. 0.4332
b. 0.9332
c. 0.0668
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: c

93. Refer to Exhibit 6-6. What percentage of MBA's will have starting salaries of $34,000 to $46,000?
a. 38.49%
b. 38.59%
c. 50%
d. 76.98%

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

Exhibit 6-7
The weight of items produced by a machine is normally distributed with a mean of 8 ounces and a standard
deviation of 2 ounces.
94. Refer to Exhibit 6-7. What is the probability that a randomly selected item will weigh more than 10 ounces?
a. 0.3413
b. 0.8413
c. 0.1587
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: c

95. Refer to Exhibit 6-7. What is the probability that a randomly selected item will weigh between 11 and 12 ounces?
a. 0.4772
b. 0.4332
c. 0.9104
d. 0.0440

ANSWER: d

96. Refer to Exhibit 6-7. What percentage of items will weigh at least 11.7 ounces?
a. 46.78%
b. 96.78%
c. 3.22%
d. 53.22%

ANSWER: c

97. Refer to Exhibit 6-7. What percentage of items will weigh between 6.4 and 8.9 ounces?
a. 0.1145
b. 0.2881
c. 0.1736
d. 0.4617

ANSWER: d

98. Refer to Exhibit 6-7. What is the probability that a randomly selected item weighs exactly 8 ounces?
a. 0.5
b. 1.0
c. 0.3413
d. 0.0000

ANSWER: d

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

Exhibit 6-8
The life expectancy of a particular brand of tire is normally distributed with a mean of 40,000 and a standard
deviation of 5,000 miles.
99. Refer to Exhibit 6-8. What is the probability that a randomly selected tire will have a life of at least 30,000 miles?
a. 0.4772
b. 0.9772
c. 0.0228
d. 0.5000

ANSWER: b

100. Refer to Exhibit 6-8. What is the probability that a randomly selected tire will have a life of at least 47,500 miles?
a. 0.4332
b. 0.9332
c. 0.0668
d. 0.4993

ANSWER: c

101. Refer to Exhibit 6-8. What percentage of tires will have a life of 34,000 to 46,000 miles?
a. 38.49%
b. 76.98%
c. 50%
d. 88.49%

ANSWER: b

102. Refer to Exhibit 6-8. What is the probability that a randomly selected tire will have a life of exactly 47,500 miles?
a. 0.0000
b. 0.9332
c. 0.0668
d. 0.4993

ANSWER: a

Exhibit 6-9
The average price of personal computers manufactured by MNM Company is $1,200 with a standard deviation of
$220. Furthermore, it is known that the computer prices manufactured by MNM are normally distributed.
103. Refer to Exhibit 6-9. What is the probability that a randomly selected computer will have a price of at least $1,530?
a. 0.0668
b. 0.5668
c. 0.4332
d. 1.4332

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

104. Refer to Exhibit 6-9. Computers with prices of more than $1,750 receive a discount. What percentage of the
computers will receive the discount?
a. 62%
b. 0.62%
c. 0.062%
d. 99.38%

ANSWER: b

105. Refer to Exhibit 6-9. What is the minimum value of the middle 95% of computer prices?
a. $1,768.80
b. $1,295.80
c. $2,400.00
d. $768.80

ANSWER: d

106. Refer to Exhibit 6-9. If 513 of the MNM computers were priced at or below $647.80, how many computers were
produced by MNM?
a. 185,500
b. 85,500
c. 513,000
d. not enough information is provided to answer this question

ANSWER: b

Exhibit 6-10
A professor at a local university noted that the grades of her students were normally distributed with a mean of 73
and a standard deviation of 11.
107. Refer to Exhibit 6-10. The professor has informed us that 7.93 percent of her students received grades of A. What
is the minimum score needed to receive a grade of A?
a. 90.51
b. 93.2
c. 88.51
d. 100.00

ANSWER: c

108. Refer to Exhibit 6-10. Students who made 57.93 or lower on the exam failed the course. What percent of students
failed the course?
a. 8.53%
b. 18.53%
c. 91.47%
d. 0.853%

ANSWER: a

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

109. Refer to Exhibit 6-10. If 69.5 percent of the students received grades of C or better, what is the minimum score of
those who received C's?
a. 70.39
b. 67.39
c. 50.39
d. 65.39

ANSWER: b

Subjective Short Answer


110. The average price of cell phones manufactured by Ahmadi, Inc. is $98 with a standard deviation of $12.
Furthermore, it is known that the prices of the cell phones manufactured by Ahmadi are normally distributed.
a. What percentage of cell phones produced by Ahmadi, Inc. will have prices of at least $120.20?
b. Cell phones with prices of at least 81.80 will get a free gift. What percentage of the cell
phones will be eligible for the free gift?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum values of the middle 95% of cell phone prices?
d. If 7,218 of the Ahmadi cell phones were priced at least $119.00, how many cell phones were
produced by Ahmadi, Inc.?

ANSWER: a. 3.13%
b. 91.15%
c. Minimum Price 74.48 Maximum Price $121.52
d. 180,000

111. The driving time for an individual from his home to his work is uniformly distributed between 300 to 480 seconds.

a. Determine the probability density function.


b. Compute the probability that the driving time will be less than or equal to 435 seconds.
c. Determine the expected driving time.
d. Compute the variance.
e. Compute the standard deviation.

ANSWER:
1
a.
80
b. 0.75
c. 390
d. 2700
e. 51.96

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

112. The Body Paint, an automobile body paint shop, has determined that the painting time of automobiles is uniformly
distributed and that the required time ranges between 45 minutes to 1 1⁄2 hours.

a. Give a mathematical expression for the probability density function.


b. What is the probability that the painting time will be less than or equal to one hour?
c. What is the probability that the painting time will be more than 50 minutes?
d. Determine the expected painting time and its standard deviation.

ANSWER:

a.
b. 0.333
c 0.889
d. 67.5, 12.99

113. For a standard normal distribution, determine the probabilities of obtaining the following z values. It is helpful to
draw a normal distribution for each case and show the corresponding area.

a. Greater than zero


b. Between -2.4 and -2.0
c. Less than 1.6
d. Between -1.9 to 1.7
e. Between 1.5 and 1.75

ANSWER:
a. 0.5
b. 0.146
c. 0.9452
d. 0.9267
e. 0.0267

114. A professor at a local community college noted that the grades of his students were normally distributed with a
mean of 74 and a standard deviation of 10. The professor has informed us that 6.3 percent of his students received
A's while only 2.5 percent of his students failed the course and received F's.

a. What is the minimum score needed to make an A?


b. What is the maximum score among those who received an F?
c. If there were 5 students who did not pass the course, how many students took the course?

ANSWER:
a. 89.3
b. 54.4
c. 200

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

115. The time it takes to hand carve a guitar neck is uniformly distributed between 110 and 190 minutes.

a. What is the probability that a guitar neck can be carved between 95 and 165 minutes?
b. What is the probability that the guitar neck can be carved between 120 and 200 minutes?
c. Determine the expected completion time for carving the guitar neck.
d. Compute the standard deviation.

ANSWER:
a. .6875
b. .875
c. 150
d. 23.09

116. Scores on a recent national statistics exam were normally distributed with a mean of 80 and a standard deviation of
6.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected exam will have a score of at least 71?
b. What percentage of exams will have scores between 89 and 92?
c. If the top 2.5% of test scores receive merit awards, what is the lowest score eligible for an
award?
d. If there were 334 exams with scores of at least 89, how many students took the exam?

ANSWER:
a. .9332
b. .04
c. 91.76
d. 5000

117. The average starting salary of this year's MBA students is $35,000 with a standard deviation of $5,000.
Furthermore, it is known that the starting salaries are normally distributed. What are the minimum and the maximum
starting salaries of the middle 95% of MBA graduates?

ANSWER: Min. = 25,200; Max. = 44,800

118. The average starting salary for this year's graduates at a large university (LU) is $20,000 with a standard deviation
of $8,000. Furthermore, it is known that the starting salaries are normally distributed.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected LU graduate will have a starting salary of at
least $30,400?
b. Individuals with starting salaries of less than $15,600 receive a low income tax break. What
percentage of the graduates will receive the tax break?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum starting salaries of the middle 95% of the LU
graduates?
d. If 189 of the recent graduates have salaries of at least $32,240, how many students graduated
this year from this university?

ANSWER:
a. 0.0968
b. 29.12
c. 35,680
d. 3000
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

119. "DRUGS R US" is a large manufacturer of various kinds of liquid vitamins. The quality control department has
noted that the bottles of vitamins marked 6 ounces vary in content with a standard deviation of 0.3 ounces. Assume
the contents of the bottles are normally distributed.

a. What percentage of all bottles produced contains more than 6.51 ounces of vitamins?
b. What percentage of all bottles produced contains less than 5.415 ounces?
c. What percentage of bottles produced contains between 5.46 to 6.495 ounces?
d. Ninety-five percent of the bottles will contain at least how many ounces?
e. What percentage of the bottles contains between 6.3 and 6.6 ounces?

ANSWER:
a. 4.46%
b. 2.56%
c. 91.46%
d. 5.5065 ounces
e. 13.59%

120. The Globe Fishery packs shrimp that weigh more than 1.91 ounces each in packages marked" large" and shrimp
that weigh less than 0.47 ounces each into packages marked "small"; the remainder are packed in "medium" size
packages. If a day's catch showed that 19.77 percent of the shrimp were large and 6.06 percent were small,
determine the mean and the standard deviation for the shrimp weights. Assume that the shrimps' weights are
normally distributed.

ANSWER: Mean = 1.4 Standard deviation = 0.6

121. The monthly earnings of computer programmers are normally distributed with a mean of $4,000. If only 1.7 percent
of programmers have monthly incomes of less than $2,834, what is the value of the standard deviation of the
monthly earnings of the computer programmers?

ANSWER: $550

122. A major department store has determined that its customers charge an average of $500 per month, with a standard
deviation of $80. Assume the amounts of charges are normally distributed.

a. What percentage of customers charges more than $380 per month?


b. What percentage of customers charges less than $340 per month?
c. What percentage of customers charges between $644 and $700 per month?

ANSWER:
a. 93.32%
b. 2.28%
c. 2.97%

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

123. The First National Mortgage Company has noted that 6% of its customers pay their mortgage payments after the
due date.

a. What is the probability that in a random sample of 150 customers 7 will be late on their
payments?
b. What is the probability that in a random sample of 150 customers at least 10 will be late on their
payments?

ANSWER:
a. 0.1066
b. 0.4325

124. The salaries of the employees of a corporation are normally distributed with a mean of $25,000 and a standard
deviation of $5,000.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected employee will have a starting salary of at least
$31,000?
b. What percentage of employees has salaries of less than $12,200?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum salaries of the middle 95% of the employees?
d. If sixty-eight of the employees have incomes of at least $35,600, how many individuals are
employed in the corporation?

ANSWER:
a. 0.1151
b. 0.52%
c. minimum = $15,200 maximum = $34,800
d. 4,000

125. A manufacturing process produces items whose weights are normally distributed. It is known that 22.57% of all the
items produced weigh between 100 grams up to the mean and 49.18% weigh from the mean up to 190 grams.
Determine the mean and the standard deviation.

ANSWER: standard deviation = 30 mean = 113

126. The daily dinner bills in a local restaurant are normally distributed with a mean of $28 and a standard deviation of
$6.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected bill will be at least $39.10?
b. What percentage of the bills will be less than $16.90?
c. What are the minimum and maximum of the middle 95% of the bills?
d. If twelve of one day's bills had a value of at least $43.06, how many bills did the restaurant
collect on that day?

ANSWER:
a. 0.0322
b. 0.0322
c. minimum = $16.24 maximum = $39.06
d. 2,000

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

127. The price of a bond is uniformly distributed between $80 and $85.

a. What is the probability that the bond price will be at least $83?
b. What is the probability that the bond price will be between $81 to $90?
c. Determine the expected price of the bond.
d. Compute the standard deviation for the bond price.

ANSWER:
a. 0.4
b. 0.8
c. $82.50
d. $1.44

128. The price of a stock is uniformly distributed between $30 and $40.

a. What is the probability that the stock price will be more than $37?
b. What is the probability that the stock price will be less than or equal to $32?
c. What is the probability that the stock price will be between $34 and $38?
d. Determine the expected price of the stock.
e. Determine the standard deviation for the stock price.

ANSWER:
a. 0.3
b. 0.2
c. 0.4
d. $35
e. $2.89

129. A random variable X is uniformly distributed between 45 and 150.

a. Determine the probability of X = 48.


b. What is the probability of X ≤ 60?
c. What is the probability of X ≥ 50?
d. Determine the expected vale of X and its standard deviation.

ANSWER:
a. 0.000
b. 0.1429
c. 0.9524
d. 97.5, 30.31

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

130. The length of time patients must wait to see a doctor in a local clinic is uniformly distributed between 15 minutes
and 2 1/2 hours.

a. What is the probability of a patient waiting exactly 50 minutes?


b. What is the probability that a patient would have to wait between 45 minutes and 2 hours?
c. Compute the probability that a patient would have to wait over 2 hours.
d. Determine the expected waiting time and its standard deviation.

ANSWER:
a. 0.000
b. 0.556
c. 0.222
d. 82.5, 38.97

131. The monthly income of residents of Daisy City is normally distributed with a mean of $3000 and a standard
deviation of $500.

a. The mayor of Daisy City makes $2,250 a month. What percentage of Daisy City's residents has
incomes that are more than the mayor's?
b. Individuals with incomes of less than $1,985 per month are exempt from city taxes. What
percentage of residents is exempt from city taxes?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum incomes of the middle 95% of the residents?
d. Two hundred residents have incomes of at least $4,440 per month. What is the population of
Daisy City?

ANSWER:
a. 93.32%
b. 2.12%
c. Min = 2020 Max = 3980
d. 100,000

132. Z is a standard normal random variable. Compute the following probabilities.

a. P(-1.33 Z 1.67)
b. P(1.23 Z 1.55)
c. P(Z 2.32)
d. P(Z -2.08)
e. P(Z -1.08)

ANSWER:
a. 0.8607
b. 0.0487
c. 0.0102
d. 0.9812
e. 0.1401

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

133. The length of time it takes students to complete a statistics examination is uniformly distributed and varies between
40 and 60 minutes.

a. Find the mathematical expression for the probability density function.


b. Compute the probability that a student will take between 45 and 50 minutes to complete the
examination.
c. Compute the probability that a student will take no more than 40 minutes to complete the
examination.
d. What is the expected amount of time it takes a student to complete the examination?
e. What is the variance for the amount of time it takes a student to complete the examination?

ANSWER:
a. f(x) = 0.05 for 40 ≤ x ≤ 60; zero elsewhere
b. 0.25
c. 0.00
d. 50 minutes
e. 33.33

134. The advertised weight on a can of soup is 10 ounces. The actual weight in the cans follows a uniform distribution
and varies between 9.3 and 10.3 ounces.

a. Give the mathematical expression for the probability density function.


b. What is the probability that a can of soup will have between 9.4 and 10.3 ounces?
c. What is the mean weight of a can of soup?
d. What is the standard deviation of the weight?

ANSWER:
a. f(x) = 1.000 for 9.3 x 10.3; zero elsewhere
b. 0.90
c. 9.8
d. 0.289

135. Z is a standard normal random variable. Compute the following probabilities.

a. P(-1.23 Z 2.58)
b. P(1.83 Z 1.96)
c. P(Z 1.32)
d. P(Z 2.52)
e. P(Z -1.63)
f. P(Z -1.38)
g. P(-2.37 Z -1.54)
h. P(Z = 2.56)

ANSWER:
a. 0.8858
b. 0.0086
c. 0.0934
d. 0.9941
e. 0.9484
f. 0.0838
g. 0.0529
h. 0.0000
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

136. The miles-per-gallon obtained by the 1995 model Z cars is normally distributed with a mean of 22 miles-per-gallon
and a standard deviation of 5 miles-per-gallon.

a. What is the probability that a car will get between 13.35 and 35.1 miles-per-gallon?
b. What is the probability that a car will get more than 29.6 miles-per-gallon?
c. What is the probability that a car will get less than 21 miles-per-gallon?
d. What is the probability that a car will get exactly 22 miles-per-gallon?

ANSWER:
a. 0.9538
b. 0.0643
c. 0.4207
d. 0.0000

137. The salaries at a corporation are normally distributed with an average salary of $19,000 and a standard deviation of
$4,000.

a. What is the probability that an employee will have a salary between $12,520 and $13,480?
b. What is the probability that an employee will have a salary more than $11,880?
c. What is the probability that an employee will have a salary less than $28,440?

ANSWER:
a. 0.0312
b. 0.9625
c. 0.9909

138. Z is a standard normal variable. Find the value of Z in the following.

a. The area between 0 and Z is 0.4678.


b. The area to the right of Z is 0.1112.
c. The area to the left of Z is 0.8554
d. The area between -Z and Z is 0.754.
e. The area to the left of -Z is 0.0681.
f. The area to the right of -Z is 0.9803.

ANSWER:
a. 1.85
b. 1.22
c. 1.06
d. 1.16
e. 1.49
f. 2.06

139. The monthly earnings of computer systems analysts are normally distributed with a mean of $4,300. If only 1.07
percent of the systems analysts have a monthly income of more than $6,140, what is the value of the standard
deviation of the monthly earnings of the computer systems analysts?

ANSWER: $800

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

140. A major credit card company has determined that its customers charge an average of $280 per month on their
accounts with a standard deviation of $20.

a. What percentage of the customers charges more than $275 per month?
b. What percentage of the customers charges less than $243 per month?
c. What percentage of the customers charges between $241 and $301.60 per month?

ANSWER:
a. 59.87%
b. 3.22%
c. 83.43%

141. The ticket sales for events held at the new civic center are believed to be normally distributed with a mean of
12,000 and a standard deviation of 1,000.

a. What is the probability of selling more than 10,000 tickets?


b. What is the probability of selling between 9,500 and 11,000 tickets?
c. What is the probability of selling more than 13,500 tickets?

ANSWER:
a. 0.9772
b. 0.1525
c. 0.0668

142. In a normal distribution, it is known that 27.34% of all the items are included from 100 up to the mean, and another
45.99% of all the items are included from the mean up to 145. Determine the mean and the standard deviation of
the distribution.

ANSWER: Mean = 113.5 Standard deviation = 18

143. The records show that 8% of the items produced by a machine do not meet the specifications. Use the normal
approximation to the binomial distribution to answer the following questions. What is the probability that a sample of
100 units contains

a. Five or more defective units?


b. Ten or fewer defective units?
c. Eleven or less defective units?

ANSWER:
a. 0.9015
b. 0.8212
c. 0.9015

144. Approximate the following binomial probabilities by the use of normal approximation.

a. P(x ≤ 12, n = 50, p = 0.3)


b. P(12 ≤ x ≤ 18, n = 50, p = 0.3)

ANSWER:
a. 0.2206
b. 0.7198

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

145. An airline has determined that 20% of its international flights are not on time. Use the normal approximation to the
binomial distribution to answer the following questions. What is the probability that of the next 80 international
flights

a. Fifteen or less will not be on time?


b. Eighteen or more will not be on time?
c. Exactly 17 will not be on time?

ANSWER:
a. 0.4443
b. 0.3372
c. 0.1071

146. The time it takes a mechanic to change the oil in a car is exponentially distributed with a mean of 5 minutes.

a. What is the probability density function for the time it takes to change the oil?
b. What is the probability that it will take a mechanic less than 6 minutes to change the oil?
c. What is the probability that it will take a mechanic between 3 and 5 minutes to change the oil?
d. What is the variance of the time it takes to change the oil?

ANSWER:
a. f(x) =(1/5) e-x/5 for x ≥ 0
b. 0.6988
c. 0.1809
d. 0.25

147. The time it takes a worker on an assembly line to complete a task is exponentially distributed with a mean of 8
minutes.

a. What is the probability density function for the time it takes to complete the task?
b. What is the probability that it will take a worker less than 4 minutes to complete the task?
c. What is the probability that it will take a worker between 6 and 10 minutes to complete the
task?

ANSWER:
a. f(x) =(1/8 ) e-x/8 for x ≥ 0
b. 0.3935
c. 0.1859

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

148. For a standard normal distribution, determine the probability of obtaining a Z value of

a. greater than zero.


b. between -2.34 to -2.55
c. less than 1.86.
d. between -1.95 to 2.7.
e. between 1.5 to 2.75.

ANSWER:
a. 0.5000
b. 0.0042
c. 0.9686
d. 0.9709
e. 0.0638

149. The weights of items produced by a company are normally distributed with a mean of 4.5 ounces and a standard
deviation of 0.3 ounces.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected item from the production will weigh at least
4.14 ounces?
b. What percentage of the items weigh between 4.8 to 5.04 ounces?
c. Determine the minimum weight of the heaviest 5% of all items produced.
d. If 27,875 of the items of the entire production weigh at least 5.01 ounces, how many items have
been produced?

ANSWER:
a. 0.8849
b. 12.28%
c. 4.992
d. 625,000

150. The life expectancy of Timely brand watches is normally distributed with a mean of four years and a standard
deviation of eight months.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected watch will be in working condition for more
than five years?
b. The company has a three-year warranty period on their watches. What percentage of their
watches will be in operating condition after the warranty period?
c. What is the minimum and the maximum life expectancy of the middle 95% of the watches?
d. Ninety-five percent of the watches will have a life expectancy of at least how many months?

ANSWER:
a. 0.0668
b. 93.32%
c. Min = 32.32 months Max = 63.68 months
d. 34.84 months

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

151. The weights of the contents of cans of tomato sauce produced by a company are normally distributed with a mean
of 8 ounces and a standard deviation of 0.2 ounces.

a. What percentage of all cans produced contain more than 8.4 ounces of tomato paste?
b. What percentage of all cans produced contain less than 7.8 ounces?
c. What percentage of cans contains between 7.4 and 8.2 ounces?
d. Ninety-five percent of cans will contain at least how many ounces?
e. What percentage of cans contains between 8.2 and 8.4 ounces?

ANSWER:
a. 2.28%
b. 15.87%
c. 97.58%
d. 7.671 oz
e. 13.59%

152. A professor at a local university noted that the grades of her students were normally distributed with a mean of 78
and a standard deviation of 10.

a. The professor has informed us that 16.6 percent of her students received grades of A. What is
the minimum score needed to receive a grade of A?
b. If 12.1 percent of her students failed the course and received F's, what was the maximum score
among those who received an F?
c. If 33 percent of the students received grades of B or better (i.e., A's and B's), what is the
minimum score of those who received a B?

ANSWER:
a. 87.7
b. 66.3
c. 82.4

153. In grading eggs into small, medium, and large, the Nancy Farms packs the eggs that weigh more than 3.6 ounces in
packages marked "large" and the eggs that weigh less than 2.4 ounces into packages marked "small"; the remainder
are packed in packages marked "medium." If a day's packaging contained 10.2% large and 4.18% small eggs,
determine the mean and the standard deviation for the eggs' weights. Assume that the distribution of the weights is
normal.

ANSWER: Mean = 3.092 Standard Deviation = 0.4

154. The weekly earnings of bus drivers are normally distributed with a mean of $395. If only 1.1 percent of the bus
drivers have a weekly income of more than $429.35, what is the value of the standard deviation of the weekly
earnings of the bus drivers?

ANSWER: Standard Deviation = 15

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

155. A local bank has determined that the daily balances of the checking accounts of its customers are normally
distributed with an average of $280 and a standard deviation of $20.

a. What percentage of its customers has daily balances of more than $275?
b. What percentage of its customers has daily balances less than $243?
c. What percentage of its customers' balances is between $241 and $301.60?

ANSWER:
a. 59.87%
b. 3.22%
c. 83.43%

156. The contents of soft drink bottles are normally distributed with a mean of twelve ounces and a standard deviation of
one ounce.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected bottle will contain more than ten ounces of soft
drink?
b. What is the probability that a randomly selected bottle will contain between 9.5 and 11 ounces?
c. What percentage of the bottles will contain less than 10.5 ounces of soft drink?

ANSWER:
a. 0.9772
b. 0.1525
c. 6.68%

157. The time between arrivals of customers at the drive-up window of a bank follows an exponential probability
distribution with a mean of 10 minutes.

a. What is the probability that the arrival time between customers will be 7 minutes or less?
b. What is the probability that the arrival time between customers will be between 3 and 7
minutes?

ANSWER:
a. 0.5034
b. 0.2442

158. The time required to assemble a part of a machine follows an exponential probability distribution with a mean of 14
minutes.

a. What is the probability that the part can be assembled in 7 minutes or less?
b. What is the probability that the part can be assembled between 3.5 and 7 minutes?

ANSWER:
a. 0.3935
b. 0.1723

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

159. The time it takes to completely tune an engine of an automobile follows an exponential distribution with a mean of
40 minutes.

a. What is the probability of tuning an engine in 30 minutes or less?


b. What is the probability of tuning an engine between 30 and 35 minutes?

ANSWER:
a. 0.5276
b. 0.0555

160. The life expectancy of computer terminals is normally distributed with a mean of 4 years and a standard deviation
of 10 months.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected terminal will last more than 5 years?
b. What percentage of terminals will last between 5 and 6 years?
c. What percentage of terminals will last less than 4 years?
d. What percentage of terminals will last between 2.5 and 4.5 years?
e. If the manufacturer guarantees the terminals for 3 years (and will replace them if they
malfunction), what percentage of terminals will be replaced?

ANSWER:
a. 0.1151
b. 10.69%
c. 50%
d. 68.98%
e. 11.51%

161. Approximate the following binomial probabilities by the use of normal approximation. Twenty percent of students
who finish high school do not go to college. What is the probability that in a sample of 80 high school students

a. exactly 10 will not go to college?


b. 70 or more will go to college?
c. fourteen or fewer will not go to college?

ANSWER:
a. 0.0274
b. 0.0618
c. 0.3372

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

162. Approximate the following binomial probabilities by the use of normal approximation. Eight percent of customers of
a bank keep a minimum balance of $500 in their checking accounts. What is the probability that in a random sample
of 100 customers

a. exactly 6 keep the minimum balance of $500?


b. exactly 11 keep the minimum balance of $500?
c. 6 or fewer keep the minimum balance of $500?
d. 5 or more keep the minimum balance of $500?
e. 10 or fewer keep the minimum balance of $500?
f. 11 or fewer keep the minimum balance of $500?

ANSWER:
a. 0.1124
b. 0.0803
c. 0.2912
d. 0.9015
e. 0.8212
f. 0.9015

163. Approximate the following binomial probabilities by the use of normal approximation.

a. P(X = 18, n = 50, p = 0.3)


b. P(X 15, n = 50, p = 0.3)
c. P(X 12, n = 50, p = 0.3)
d. P(12 X 18, n = 50, p = 0.3)

ANSWER:
a. 0.0805
b. 0.5596
c. 0.2206
d. 0.7198

164. Twenty percent of the employees of a large company are female. Use the normal approximation of the binomial
probabilities to answer the following questions. What is the probability that in a random sample of 80 employees

a. exactly 16 will be female?


b. 14 or more will be female?
c. 15 or fewer will be female?
d. 18 or more will be female
e. exactly 17 will be female?

ANSWER:
a. 0.1114
b. 0.7580
c. 0.4443
d. 0.3372
e. 0.1071

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

165. The average life expectancy of dishwashers produced by a company is 6 years with a standard deviation of 8 month
Assume that the lives of dishwashers are normally distributed.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected dishwasher will have a life expectancy of at least 7 years?
b. Dishwashers that fail operating in less than 4 1 / 2 years will be replaced free of charge. What percent
of dishwashers are expected to be replaced free of charge?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum life expectancy of the middle 95% of the dishwashers' lives? Give
your answer in months.
d. If 155 of this year's dishwasher production fail operating in less than 4 years and 4 months, how many
dishwashers were produced this year?

ANSWER:
a. 0.0668
b. 1.22%
c. 56.32 and 87.68 (Months)
d. 25,000

166. The average starting salary of this year’s graduates of a large university (LU) is $25,000 with a standard deviation
of $5,000. Furthermore, it is known that the starting salaries are normally distributed.
a. What is the probability that a randomly selected LU graduate will have a starting salary of at
least $31,000?
b. Individuals with starting salaries of less than $12,200 receive a low income tax break. What
percentage of the graduates will receive the tax break?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum starting salaries of the middle 95% of the LU
graduates?
d. If 68 of the recent graduates have salaries of at least $35,600, how many students graduated
this year from this university?

ANSWER: a. 0.1151
b. 0.51%
c. 15,200, 34,800
d. 4,000

167. The average starting salary of this year’s graduates of a large university (LU) is $20,000 with a standard deviation
of $8,000. Furthermore, it is known that the starting salaries are normally distributed.
a. What is the probability that a randomly selected LU graduate will have a starting salary of at
least $30,400?
b. Individuals with starting salaries of less than $15,600 receive a low income tax break. What
percentage of the graduates will receive the tax break?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum starting salaries of the middle 95% of the LU
graduates?
d. If 189 of the recent graduates have salaries of at least $32,240, how many students graduated
this year from this university?

ANSWER: a. .0968
b. 29.12%
c. $4,320, $35,680
d. 3,000

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

168. The SAT scores of students are normally distributed with a mean of 950 and a standard deviation of 200.
a. Nancy Bright’s SAT score was 1390. What percentage of students have scores more than
Nancy Bright?
b. What percentage of students score between 1100 and 1200?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum values of the middle 87.4% of the scores?
d. There were 165 students who scored above 1432. How many students took the SAT?

ANSWER: a. 1.39%
b. 12.1%
c. 644, 1256
d. 20,625

169. The prices of condos in a city are normally distributed with a mean of $90,000 and a standard deviation of $28,000.
a. The city government exempts the cheapest 6.68% of the condos from city taxes. What is the
maximum price of the condos that will be exempt from city taxes?
b. If 1.79% of the most expensive condos are subject to a luxury tax, what is the minimum price of
condos that will be subject to the luxury tax?

ANSWER: a. $48,000
b. $148,800

170. The Mathematics part of the SAT scores of students at UTC are normally distributed with a mean of 500 and a
standard deviation of 75.

a. If 2.28 percent of the students who had the highest scores received scholarships, what was the
minimum score among those who received scholarships? Do not round your answer.
b. It is known that 6.3 percent of students who applied to UTC were not accepted. What is the
highest score of those who were denied acceptance? Do not round your answer.
c. What percentage of students had scores between 575 and 650?

ANSWER: a. 650
b. 385.25
c. 13.59%

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Essentials of Statistics for Business and Economics Anderson 7th Edition Test Bank

Chapter 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

171. The average life expectancy of computers produced by Ahmadi, Inc. is 6 years with a standard deviation of 10
months. Assume that the lives of computers are normally distributed. Suggestion: For this problem, convert ALL
of the units to months.

a. What is the probability that a randomly selected computer will have a life expectancy of at
least 7 years?
b. Computers that fail in less than 5 1/2 years will be replaced free of charge. What percentage
of computers are expected to be replaced free of charge?
c. What are the minimum and the maximum life expectancy of the middle 95% of the computers’
lives? Give your answers in months and do not round your answers.
d. The company is expecting that only 104 of this year’s production will fail in less than 3 years
and 8 months. How many computers were produced this year?

ANSWER: a. 0.1151
b. 27.5
c. Minimum = 52.4 Months , Maximum = 91.6 Months
d. 40,000

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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Part II.
The Criminal
Chapter XIII.
Enter Dr. Priestley
That eccentric scientist, Dr. Priestley, sat in his study on the
Monday morning following the death of Mr. Copperdock, busily
engaged in sorting out a mass of untidy-looking papers. Most of
them he tore up and placed in the waste-paper basket by his side; a
few he glanced at and put aside. The April sun lit up the room with a
pale radiance, lending an air of Spring even to this dignified but
rather gloomy house in Westbourne Terrace.
Dr. Priestley was thus engaged when the door opened and his
secretary, Harold Merefield, came into the room. There was an air of
heaviness about both men, the old and the young, as though the
Spring had not yet touched them, and Winter held them still in its
grip. One might have guessed that some absorbing work had
monopolized their energies, leaving them no leisure for anything but
the utmost concentration. And one would have guessed right. For
the last six months Dr. Priestley had been engaged upon the writing
of a book which was to enhance his already brilliant reputation. Its
title was Some Aspects of Modern Thought, and in it Dr. Priestley
had, with his usual incontrovertible logic, shattered the majority of
the pet theories of orthodox science. It was, as the reviews were to
say, a brilliant achievement, all the more entertaining from the vein of
biting sarcasm which ran through it.
When Dr. Priestley settled down to writing a book, he
concentrated his whole attention upon it, to the exclusion of
everything else. He allowed nothing whatever to distract his mind,
even for a few minutes. He lived entirely in his subject, refusing even
to read the newspapers, except certain scientific periodicals which
might happen to contain something relevant to the work he had in
hand. As he expected his secretary to follow his example, it was
hardly to be wondered at that both of them looked jaded and worn
out.
“I took the manuscript to the Post Office myself, sir,” said Harold
Merefield listlessly. “Here is the registration receipt.”
“Excellent, my boy, excellent,” replied the Professor, looking up.
“So the work is finished at last, eh? I have been destroying such
notes as we shall not require again. The rest you can file at your
leisure. Dear me, you look as if you needed a change of occupation.”
He stared at his secretary through his spectacles, as though he
had seen him that morning for the first time for many months. “Yes, I
think we both need a change of occupation,” he continued. “I feel
that I should welcome some enticing problem, mathematical or
human. It is time we stepped from our recent absorption back into
the world. Let me see. What is the date?”
“April 28th, sir,” replied Harold with a smile. He knew well enough
that the Professor would have accepted any other day he chose to
mention.
“Dear me! Then the world is six months older than when we
retired from it. No doubt many interesting problems have arisen in
the interval, but I fear that their solutions lie in other hands than ours.
By the way, when does our friend Inspector Hanslet return from
America?”
Harold turned to one of the big presses which lined the walls of
the room, and took from it a folder marked “Inspector Hanslet.” He
consulted this for a moment, then looked up towards his employer.
“At the end of this month, sir. There is no definite date mentioned. I
dare say he is in London already.”
“Perhaps so,” agreed the Professor. “It does not really matter. My
thoughts turned to him naturally, as to one who has in the past
supplied us with some very satisfactory problems. Well, we must be
patient, my boy. I have no doubt that we shall very soon succeed in
finding some congenial work with which to occupy our minds.”
He returned to the business of sorting his papers, while Harold
sat down at the table reserved for his use, thankful to be able to do
absolutely nothing for a few minutes. His idea of a change of
occupation was not to plunge at once into some abstruse
mathematical investigation which would involve him in the writing up
of endless notes. If only Hanslet would come back and divert the
Professor’s thoughts into some other channel! But of Hanslet, since
he had departed for New York during the previous year to co-operate
with the American police in running to earth a gang of international
swindlers, nothing had been heard.
Inspector Hanslet was rapidly becoming the foremost figure at
Scotland Yard. He was a man who, without being brilliant, possessed
more than the usual quickness of perception. He could, in his own
phrase, see as far through a brick wall as most people, and to this
attribute he added an agility of mind remarkable in a man whose
training had been of a stereotyped kind. Early in his career he had
become acquainted with Dr. Priestley, and the Professor, to whom a
problem of any kind was as the breath of his body, had since
encouraged him to come to Westbourne Terrace and discuss his
difficulties. To many of these the Professor’s logical mind had
suggested the solution. Since he refused to allow his name to be
mentioned, the credit for his deductions descended upon Hanslet. As
a matter of fact, the authorities knew very well how matters stood,
and Hanslet was always employed upon those cases which
promised to be complicated, since it was an open secret that he
could call upon the advice and assistance of Dr. Priestley.
It was evident that the sudden reaction of having nothing to do,
after his unremitting labours of the past six months, was having an
unfavourable effect upon Dr. Priestley’s temper. He roamed about
the study, pulling out a file from time to time, and finding fault with
Harold because some item did not come immediately to his hand. It
was not until it was time to dress for dinner that he desisted from this
irritating occupation. And even at dinner he was silent and morose,
obviously seeking in vain for some new interest which should occupy
his restless thoughts. But hardly had he and Harold finished their
coffee, which they always had in the study after dinner, than Mary
the parlourmaid opened the door softly. “Inspector Hanslet to see
you, sir,” she announced.
The Professor turned so abruptly in his chair as seriously to
endanger the coffee cup he was holding. “Inspector Hanslet!” he
exclaimed. “Why show him in, of course. Good evening, Inspector, it
was only this morning that Harold and I were speaking of you. I hope
that you enjoyed yourself in America.”
“I did indeed, Professor,” replied Hanslet, shaking hands warmly
with Dr. Priestley, and nodding cheerily to Harold. “Not that I’m not
very glad to be home again; one’s own country’s best, after all. I
landed at Southampton last Wednesday.”
“And now you have come back to tell us of your experiences,”
said the Professor. “I am sure we shall be most interested to hear
them. Did you succeed in your object?”
“Oh, yes, we rounded them up all right,” replied Hanslet. “My
word, Professor, you ought to go over to New York and see the
things the fellows do over there. As far as scientific detection goes,
they’ve got us beat to a frazzle. You’d appreciate their methods. And
they’re a cheery crowd, too. They gave me no end of a good time
while I was over there.”
“Well, sit down, and tell us all about it,” said the Professor,
motioning Hanslet towards a comfortable chair. “You will relieve the
tedium I am feeling at having nothing to do.”
Hanslet sat down, and, as he did so, looked enquiringly at the
Professor. “You say you’ve nothing to do, sir? Well, I’m very glad to
hear that. The truth is that I didn’t come here to tell you my
experiences. As a matter of fact, I meant to take a month’s leave
when I got back, but the Chief asked me to wait a bit and take over a
case which has been puzzling the Yard for several months. And I
wanted to ask your advice, if you would be good enough to listen.”
The Professor rubbed his hands together briskly. “Excellent,
excellent!” he exclaimed. “I told you this morning, Harold, that a
problem was bound to turn up before long. By all means tell me your
difficulties, Inspector. But let me beg of you to keep to facts, and not
to digress into conjecture.”
Hanslet smiled. The Professor’s passion for facts was well-known
to him from past experience. “Well, I expect you know as much
about it as I do,” he began. “Ever since Tovey the greengrocer was
killed last November, there’s been a lot in the papers——”
But the Professor interrupted him. “I should perhaps have
explained, Inspector, that since last October I have scarcely opened
a newspaper. My whole mind has been concentrated upon a task
which is now happily finished. The name of Tovey the greengrocer is,
I regret to say, utterly unfamiliar to me. I should be glad if you would
treat me as one who has only lately reached this world from the
planet Mars, and give me the facts without presuming that I have any
previous knowledge of them.”
“Very well, Professor,” replied Hanslet. “You must have heard of a
series of deaths under peculiar circumstances which have occurred
in Praed Street, not half a mile away from here? Why, I read about
them in New York! They caused a great sensation.”
“I am not concerned with popular sensations,” said the Professor
coldly. “I admit that some rumours of such happenings penetrated
the isolation with which I have endeavoured to surround myself, but I
dismissed them from my mind as likely to introduce a disturbing
factor. I repeat that you had better repeat the facts, as briefly as
possible.”
“Very well, Professor, I will tell you the story exactly as it was told
to me at the Yard,” replied Hanslet. “You will be able to see how
much is fact and how much conjecture. As I was not on the spot
myself, I cannot vouch for the details. Will that do?”
The Professor nodded, and turned to Harold. “Make a note of the
names and dates mentioned by Inspector Hanslet,” he said. “Now,
Inspector, you may proceed.”
Hanslet, whose memory for names and facts was rarely at fault,
recounted as briefly as he could the course of events from the
murder of Mr. Tovey in November, to the finding of Martin’s body in
the cellar of Number 407, in January. The Professor interrupted him
now and then to ask a question, but in the main he allowed him to
tell the story in his own way. When he had finished, and the
Professor had expressed himself satisfied, Hanslet continued.
“The man who’s been in charge of the case is a fellow called
Whyland, keen enough on his job, but a bit lacking in imagination. I
had a chat with him yesterday, and he confessed that he was
completely at the end of his tether. Up till last Saturday evening, he
told me, he was pretty sure that he could lay his hand on the
criminal, but that night something happened which entirely upset his
calculations.”
“What was that?” enquired the Professor, who was listening
intently.
“Why, for one thing, the man whom he suspected of the murders
has been killed,” replied Hanslet. “Not that there was anything
amazing in that, for he seems to have been a trifle unbalanced in
any case, and his death may possibly have been due to suicide. No,
what altogether upset Whyland’s apple-cart was that another man
received a counter, some time after the death of the man whom
Whyland suspected of delivering them.”
“It is remarkable how frequently hypotheses founded upon pure
conjecture are upset by one simple fact,” remarked the Professor
acidly. “Now, what was the name of this man whom Whyland
suspected, and who so inconsiderately spoilt the theory by his
premature death?”
“Samuel Copperdock,” replied Hanslet, turning to Harold, who
wrote the name on his pad.
“Copperdock?” repeated the Professor. “An unusual name, and
yet I seem to have heard it before in some connection. Copperdock,
Copperdock! Let me think——”
“You’ve probably seen the name above his shop, Professor,” said
Hanslet. “He was a tobacconist in Praed Street. Or you may have
seen it some months ago in the paper. He was a witness at the
inquest on Tovey, who was the first man murdered.”
But the Professor shook his head. “No, if my memory serves me,
I heard the name many years ago, in some connection which
escapes me for the moment. However, the point would not appear to
have any importance. I must apologize for interrupting you,
Inspector. You were saying that another man received a counter
after this man Copperdock’s death, but I do not think you mentioned
his name?”
“Ludgrove. Elmer Ludgrove,” said Hanslet. “Rather an interesting
personality, from what Whyland tells me. He keeps a herbalist’s
shop, and is a bit of a character in his way. He’s a man of some
education, between fifty and sixty, a very dignified old boy with a
striking white beard, which I expect is a bit of an asset in his trade.
He doesn’t say much about himself, but does a lot of good in his own
quiet way. All the poorer people in the neighbourhood come to him if
they’re in any sort of trouble, and he freely admits he hears a good
many secrets. Whyland thought he would be a useful chap to get on
the right side of, and often used to drop in to see him. He says he
got more than one valuable hint from him. He was also pretty certain
that this chap Ludgrove shared his suspicions of Copperdock, but he
would never say so outright. You see, Copperdock was a friend of
his.”
The Professor nodded. “I see,” he said. “And it was this Mr.
Ludgrove who received the counter you say?”
“Yes, and, what’s more, Whyland was with him when he found it.
The poor old boy was terribly shaken for the moment, Whyland says,
but after a bit he pretended to treat it as a joke. I’ve seen him since,
and he’s pretty plucky about it, knowing as he does that everybody
who has received one of these infernal numbered counters has died
a sudden death. He says that he is an old man, anyhow, alone in the
world and with only a few more years to live in any case, so that his
death will be no great blow to anybody.”
“A most philosophic attitude,” agreed the Professor. “But to return
to Mr. Copperdock, I should like to hear the circumstances under
which he met his death.”
Hanslet related the events of the previous Saturday night in
considerable detail, up to the time when Whyland and Ludgrove
entered the latter’s sanctum. “There’s not much more to add,” he
continued, “except that the doctor’s suspicions were confirmed as to
the poison. The Home Office people examined the fragment of
broken needle, and I heard this afternoon that they found traces of a
remarkable virulent synthetic alkaloid. You’ll know what that is better
than I do, Professor.”
“Yes, I know,” replied the Professor grimly. “I have reason to. It
was with one of these synthetic alkaloids—there are a number of
them—that Farwell tipped the spines of the hedgehog to which I so
nearly fell a victim.¹ You remember that incident, I dare say?”
“I do, indeed,” said Hanslet warmly. “What’s more, the Home
Office people say that a dose of the stuff would produce almost
immediate paralysis, and death within a few minutes. The
incrustation was potassium carbonate all right, almost certainly the
result of putting caustic potash on the place. But that only makes the
business more puzzling. If Copperdock poisoned himself, how did he
have time to apply the caustic potash before he was paralysed? If
someone else did it, why should they apply the caustic, and how did
they get in and out of the house? Remember, Whyland’s man Waters
had the place under observation all the time.”
“Then you are inclined to favour the theory of suicide?” asked the
Professor.
“On the whole, yes,” replied Hanslet. “Oh, by the way, I forgot to
tell you that soon after daylight Waters found the syringe, with the
other part of the needle still in it, by the side of the road under
Copperdock’s window. There had been a heavy shower of rain about
half past three, and the syringe was covered with mud and filth. The
analysts could not find any traces remaining of the poison, but the
end of the needle proved that it was the one that had been used.
That points to suicide, a murderer wouldn’t chuck away his weapon
like that where anyone could see it.
“Besides, if you come to think of it, suicide fits in best with what
we know. It is a fact that Copperdock’s mind was to some extent
unhinged. He declared that he met the black sailor, when a reliable
witness declares that no such person was about. In fact, the only
person besides Copperdock who seriously claims to have seen this
black sailor is a degenerate youth who is also a convicted pick-
pocket. It is highly probable that the counters were numbered, and
the envelopes containing them typed in Mr. Copperdock’s office.
Whyland assures me that the only link between the victims was
Copperdock, not in any definite form, certainly, but still definite
enough to make the coincidence remarkable. I am inclined to believe
that Copperdock was at the bottom of it all somehow. My difficulty
will be to prove it.”
“You think, I gather, that this Mr. Copperdock suffered from a
peculiar form of homicidal mania, which finally culminated in his
taking his own life?” suggested the Professor. “I admit that such
cases are not unknown, but the theory involves you in many
difficulties. I mention only one of them, the first that occurs to me.
Where did he obtain this synthetic alkaloid? These substances are
not articles of commerce, they are not, so far as I am aware, used in
medicine. They are only produced experimentally in research
laboratories. Farwell had a well-equipped laboratory, as you probably
remember, which accounts for his use of such a poison. But how
could a man in Copperdock’s position procure it?”
Hanslet shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, Professor,” he
replied. “I confess that I turn to the theory of Copperdock as the
murderer because it seems to present fewer difficulties than any
other. The whole thing seems to me to involve a mass of
contradictions, whichever way you look at it. It’s for that very reason I
came to see you, Professor. But you must at least admit that
madness in some form must be responsible. What rational motive
could there be for the murder of half a dozen men entirely
unconnected with one another, and whose deaths could be of no
possible benefit to the murderer?”
“I am prepared to admit nothing until I have further examined the
facts,” replied the Professor severely. “Now, Harold, will you read me
your notes upon the first murder? Thank you. I should like all details
relating to Mr. Tovey, please, Inspector.”
It was long past midnight before they reached the end of the
catalogue, and the Professor was satisfied that he knew everything
which Hanslet could tell him.
“You will, of course, let me know if any fresh facts come to light,”
he said, as Hanslet rose to take his leave. “Meanwhile, I will consider
the matter. If I come to any definite conclusions I will let you know.
Good-night, and pray accept my most sincere thanks for presenting
me with a most absorbing problem.”

¹ See The Ellerby Case by John Rhode. ↩︎


Chapter XIV.
The Morlandson Trial
The Professor came down to breakfast next morning looking
even more weary than on the previous day. Harold, looking at him
anxiously, guessed that he had hardly slept at all during the night.
Some absorbing train of thought, whether started by Hanslet’s story
of the previous evening or not, had taken possession of his brain.
But, in spite of his weariness, there was a queer gleam in the
piercing eyes behind the powerful spectacles, which Harold knew
from past experience to be the light of battle.
“I have some work for you to-day, my boy,” he said, as soon as
the meal was over. “I want you to go to the British Museum and look
up the reports of the trials for murder at the Old Bailey during the first
ten years of the present century. Among them you will find the trial of
a doctor for the murder of one of his patients by giving him an
overdose of morphia. I believe that the doctor’s name began with an
M, and I fancy that his patient had a title. More than this I cannot tell
you, my memory, I regret to say, is not what it used to be. I want you
to make a précis of that trial and of the sentence.”
“Very good, sir,” replied Harold, and forthwith started on his
quest. He could not guess the purpose for which the Professor
required this information, but it could obviously have nothing to do
with these intriguing murders in Praed Street which Hanslet had
described. Unless, perhaps, the Professor had seen some parallel
between the methods of the unknown criminal and those of this
vague doctor whose name began with an M. You never could predict
the direction from which the Professor would approach a problem. All
that you could be certain of was that it would be different from the
one you anticipated.
Arrived at the Museum, where he was a frequent visitor on similar
errands, he went carefully through the index to the Law Reports. It
was not until he came to the year 1906, that he met with anything
which corresponded to the data which the Professor had given him.
Then he found a reference to the trial of one Doctor Morlandson for
the murder of Lord Whatley. This must be the case to which his
employer had referred. He turned up the records, and proceeded to
make a careful abstract.
It appeared that Lord Whatley had been a man of middle age,
and of some considerable wealth. Dr. Morlandson was his regular
medical attendant, and in 1905 he had been compelled to warn his
patient that he was suffering from cancer, and that though an
operation might be successful, there was grave doubt that it would
permanently remove the source of the trouble. However, Lord
Whatley consented to undergo the operation. He was removed to a
nursing home, and a specialist was called in. The patient went
through the ordeal satisfactorily, and after a while he returned home.
But, by the beginning of the following year, the symptoms
reasserted themselves, and Dr. Morlandson informed his patient,
who insisted that he should be told the truth, that nothing more could
be done, and that Lord Whatley had nothing to look forward to but
perhaps a year or two of suffering. The relations between the two
men were rather those of close friendship than of doctor and patient,
and, subsequent to Dr. Morlandson’s pronouncement, they saw a
great deal of one another. Morlandson devoted as much time as he
could spare from his practice to sitting with Lord Whatley, who was a
childless widower and did not encourage the visits of his friends and
relations.
By the end of February it appeared that the disease was
progressing even more rapidly than Dr. Morlandson had anticipated.
He administered frequent injections of morphia, and his patient was
rarely conscious. Morlandson continued to spend the greater part of
his time with him, and in Lord Whatley’s brief intervals of
consciousness his doctor, and the nurses who had been called in,
were the only people he spoke to.
He died early in March, in the presence of Dr. Morlandson and
one of the nurses, without regaining consciousness. A cousin of Lord
Whatley’s, who happened to be his nearest relative, was in the
house, and Morlandson informed him that he would return home and
bring the necessary certificate with him later in the day. Morlandson,
who lived about a mile away, started to walk home. When he had
almost reached his own house, he heard a sound of confused
shouting, and saw a runaway horse attached to a milk-cart, coming
towards him. Without a moment’s hesitation he rushed for the
horse’s head, and had almost succeeded in stopping him, when he
slipped and fell. One of the horse’s hoofs struck him on the head and
he was left unconscious on the road.
The spectators of the accident picked him up, and he was carried
into his own house. A colleague was summoned, and declared that
he was suffering from severe concussion. This diagnosis proved
correct, and Morlandson lay in a state of semi-consciousness for
nearly a week. On his recovery, he found the house in possession of
the police.
Lord Whatley’s cousin, hearing of the accident to Dr. Morlandson,
and learning that he could not possibly attend to his duties for some
time to come, was at a loss for the want of a death certificate. He
therefore sent for another doctor—not the man who was attending
Morlandson—and asked him to sign the certificate. This the doctor
would have done, had not one of the nurses, whom Morlandson had
reprimanded for some breach of duty, made some vague insinuation
that everything was not as it should be. The doctor insisted upon
examining the body, and as a result of this examination he
communicated with the authorities. A post-mortem was held, and
Lord Whatley was proved to have died of an overdose of morphia.
The experts gave it as their opinion that the deceased would not
have died of the disease from which he was suffering for another
year at least. A warrant was immediately issued for Dr. Morlandson’s
arrest.
When Lord Whatley’s will came to be read, it was found that he
had left the sum of ten thousand pounds to Morlandson, conditional
upon his being his medical attendant at the time of his death. This
bequest was contained in a codicil executed early in February.
Morlandson came up for trial at the Old Bailey in July. The
prosecution alleged that the codicil disclosed the motive for the
murder, and submitted that Morlandson, fearing lest Lord Whatley
should change his doctor before he died, had made certain of
securing the legacy by poisoning him. They pointed out that, but for
Morlandson’s accident, he would have been able to certify cancer as
the cause of Lord Whatley’s death, and no suspicion would have
been aroused.
Dr. Morlandson’s counsel put in a very striking defence. In effect,
he pleaded guilty to the act of poisoning, but affirmed that this was
done at Lord Whatley’s express command. He had already suffered
considerably and undergone an ineffectual operation, and refused to
contemplate the further agony to which he was condemned. As soon
as Morlandson had informed him that his case was hopeless, he had
begged him to put a end to his sufferings at once, pointing out that
such a course would cause no grief or inconvenience to anyone.
Morlandson had at first refused, but at last, upon the solemn
assurance of Lord Whatley that he would find some means of
committing suicide unless his wishes were complied with, he
consented to inject morphia in increasing doses. This Lord Whatley
agreed to, and whenever he was conscious Morlandson begged him
to reconsider his determination. Finally, knowing that the disease
was incurable, and that the man he cared for as his friend could only
endure months of suffering under his very eyes, he bade him
farewell and administered the fatal dose. The news of the bequest
came as a complete surprise to him.
Morlandson’s defence raised in an acute form a controversy
which had been going on for many years. Many people held that he
was completely justified in his action, that his offence was purely
technical, and that at the most it merited a short term of
imprisonment. But the jury, in spite of a hint from the judge, found
Morlandson guilty of murder and refused to add a rider
recommending him to mercy. Sentence of death was duly
pronounced, but the Home Secretary, the Court of Criminal Appeal
not being then in existence, ordered a reprieve, and the sentence
was commuted to one of twenty years’ penal servitude.
Morlandson’s wife, to whom he was deeply attached, died before a
year of it had expired.
This was the substance of the notes which Harold Merefield
brought back to Dr. Priestley. The latter read them through carefully,
then gave them back to his secretary. “Yes, I thought that I was not
mistaken,” he said. “The facts of the case come back to me very
clearly now. It made a considerable sensation at the time, owing to
the principle involved. Right or wrong, Morlandson was acting in
accordance with his lights. His evidence, I remember, was given with
an air of passionate conviction. This Lord Whatley was his friend,
and he had saved him from suffering at the expense of twenty years
of his own life. I wonder whether he survived his sentence? It would
be most interesting to learn.”
The Professor relapsed into his favourite attitude of thought, his
eyes fixed upon the ceiling, his hands, with the tips of the fingers
touching, laid upon the table in front of him. He remained like this for
many minutes before he spoke again.
“It would be so interesting that I feel impelled to take steps to
discover the facts,” he said. “After lunch I shall visit the record
department of Scotland Yard. While I am away, you can complete the
filing of those papers I gave you yesterday, relating to the work which
we have just completed.”
Harold received these instructions without any great enthusiasm.
He was not greatly interested in the case of this Dr. Morlandson,
since it had occurred so many years ago and could have no possible
bearing upon any problem of the present day. In his recollection of
this forgotten trial the Professor seemed to be neglecting entirely the
problems presented by the murders in Praed Street. Perhaps he had
decided that they were not worthy of his notice. It was not every
problem submitted to him which appealed to him sufficiently to
induce him to devote his energies to its solution.
He spent the afternoon in the study, working half-heartedly and
awaiting the Professor’s return. But it was not until nearly dinner-time
that his employer came in, and then he could see by his expression
that the result of his search had in some way disappointed him.
Dinner was passed in almost complete silence, and the two returned
once more to the study.
“I have discovered the subsequent history of Dr. Morlandson,”
announced the Professor abruptly, as soon as he had finished his
coffee. “I will recount to you the result of my researches at Scotland
Yard. You can make notes of them, and file them with your précis of
his trial.”
Harold produced pencil and paper, and the Professor proceeded
to give an account of how he had spent the afternoon. After some
delay the authorities at Scotland Yard, who were always anxious to
carry out any of Dr. Priestley’s requests, even though they were
ignorant of the motive behind them, had found the record of
Morlandson’s career after his sentence. He had been sent to
Dartmoor, and had served his time there. He had been released on
licence in 1920, having undergone fourteen years of his sentence.
He had then remained for a short time in London, arranging his
affairs, but had not communicated with anybody but his solicitor, to
whom he had expressed his intention of spending the rest of his life
in the most complete seclusion, and devoting himself to chemical
research, for which he had always had a bent during the period in
which he was in practice.
Before the catastrophe which had overtaken him, Morlandson
had been a tall, spare man, clean-shaven, and with carefully brushed
dark hair. Upon his release he had developed a slight stoop, and
although he was still clean-shaven and smart in his appearance, his
hair had gone nearly white. He told his solicitor that he knew he had
only a few years longer to live, but that he hoped that during that
period his researches would confer some benefit upon suffering
humanity. He proposed to commence them as soon as he could find
a suitable spot for the purpose, where he could live entirely alone.
A few weeks after his release, he found a half-ruined cottage
which answered to his requirements, situated in a peculiarly desolate
part of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorsetshire. He took up his residence
here, repaired the cottage, and added to it a laboratory, built of
concrete. Under the terms of his licence he was compelled to report
to the police, and they kept an eye upon his movements. They might
have saved themselves the trouble. Once he was established in his
cottage, his furthest excursion was to Corfe Castle, the nearest town,
to obtain supplies. He lived entirely alone, and invariably walked
across the heath to and from his cottage. But, even while living this
hermit existence, he was always carefully dressed and shaved. He
made no attempt to conceal his identity, but called himself Mr.
Morlandson, having dropped the prefix “Doctor.” He had, of course,
been struck off the register, and could not have practised as a doctor
even had he desired to do so.
The local superintendent to whom he reported conceived a liking
for him, and occasionally walked across the heath to visit him. He
invariably found him at work in his laboratory, which was plentifully
stocked with chemicals of various kinds. He would never allow
smoking in the laboratory, for, as he pointed out to the
superintendent, the substances with which he was experimenting
were highly inflammable, and there was consequently grave risk of
fire unless proper precautions were taken.
One night, rather more than a year after Morlandson’s release,
flames were seen from Corfe Castle across the heath in the direction
of his cottage. The superintendent leapt on his bicycle, and dashed
off to the scene. When he arrived, he found the laboratory burning
like a furnace, and quite unapproachable. The flames had caught the
cottage, which was by then past saving, especially as the only
available water supply was from a well fitted with a small bucket. The
superintendent, at considerable risk to himself, managed to enter the
sitting-room of the cottage, but could see no trace of Morlandson.
By morning the fire had burnt itself out. The cottage had been
completely destroyed, only two or three feet of the outer walls
remaining. The laboratory, being built of concrete, had fared rather
better. The greater part of the walls remained, as did the steel door,
which formed the only entrance. The place had no windows, but had
been lighted from above through sky-lights in the roof. These and the
roof itself had completely disappeared. The iron door was found to
be locked upon the inside.
When it had been broken down, the interior of the laboratory
showed how fierce the fire had been. Every trace of wood had been
consumed, and solid metal fittings had been melted into
unrecognizable shapes. Among the debris on the floor lay a charred
human skeleton, upon one of the fingers of which was a half-melted
gold ring, of which enough remained for the superintendent to
identify it as having been habitually worn by Morlandson. The
remains of the unfortunate man were huddled up by the door, the
key of which was in the lock. It was clear that Morlandson had tried
to make his way out when the fire broke out, but had been overcome
by the fumes of the burning chemicals before he could achieve his
purpose. He had been in the habit of locking the door in order to
secure himself from interruption.
“You have made notes upon this?” asked the Professor. “Good.
File them away. I confess that there are many things about this man
Morlandson which I do not yet understand. I was able to supplement
your account of the trial by an examination of the original records,
which I was allowed to make. These gave me considerable food for
thought. I believe that, through a pure accident, I have stumbled
upon one of the most curious occurrences of modern times. I can, as
yet, only conjecture, and so far my conjectures are wholly
unsupported by fact. Much research will be necessary before these
facts can be established, and it is possible that I may not be spared
for a sufficient time to carry out this research.”
“Not be spared, sir!” exclaimed Harold, startled by the grave tone
of the Professor’s voice. “Why, you have many years before you yet,
I hope.”
“Death comes to us all, sooner, perhaps, than we expect,” replied
Dr. Priestley. “And I feel, this evening, that death may be closer to
me than I have supposed. Ah, do I hear someone in the hall?”
With a nervous movement, entirely foreign to him, Dr. Priestley
rose from his chair and stood facing the door. Harold, with a queer
feeling of expectation, walked towards it and opened it. In the hall
stood Inspector Hanslet, handing his coat and hat to Mary.
“Good evening, Mr. Merefield, I thought I’d look round and see if
the Professor had any information for me,” he said. “May I see him?”
“Yes, come in by all means,” replied Harold, with a sudden sense
of relief. “But I shouldn’t stay too long, if I were you. He’s rather tired
and nervy to-night.”
Hanslet nodded, and Harold led the way into the study. “It’s
Inspector Hanslet, sir,” he said.
The Professor appeared to have entirely recovered his usual
equanimity. “Ah, good evening, Inspector,” he said blandly. “I half
expected that you would be round this evening. I am very glad to see
you.”
“I thought I would come round, on the chance that you had some
hint to give me,” replied Hanslet. “I can’t make head or tail of the
business I told you about last night. The more I think about it, the
more puzzling it seems. It’s the utter lack of motive that makes it all
so inexplicable.”
“I believe, mind, I say only that I believe, that I have discovered
the motive,” said the Professor quietly.
“You have!” exclaimed Hanslet excitedly. Then, seeing the slow
movement of the Professor’s head, he smiled. “I know you won’t tell
me until you are certain,” he continued. “But at least tell me this. Are
there likely to be any more of these mysterious deaths?”
“There will be one more, unless I am able to prevent it,” replied
the Professor.
Chapter XV.
The Bone Counters
Mr. Ludgrove, as Hanslet had said to Dr. Priestley, bore the shock
of the finding of the numbered counter extremely well. He had
refused to make any alteration in usual habits, and it was with the
greatest difficulty that Whyland could persuade him to allow a
constable to sleep in the house at night.
“I can assure you that this mysterious warning does not terrify
me,” he had said. “I am an old man, and death cannot be far off in
any case. I am not sure that I should not prefer a violent end to some
lingering illness which might leave me helpless for months before it
killed me. But, if you think that by keeping a close watch over me you
can gain some clue to the distributor of these counters, by all means
do so.”
He was in this frame of mind when Hanslet came to see him on
the Sunday afternoon. Whyland brought him round and introduced
him, and Mr. Ludgrove welcomed him with his usual courtesy.
“I have heard of you, Inspector Hanslet, and I am indeed proud to
make your acquaintance. Sit down, and make yourself comfortable.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ludgrove,” Hanslet replied. “I thought you
wouldn’t mind my coming to have a chat with you. Whyland here has
told me all about these queer happenings in this street of yours, and
of the help which you have been to him.”
“I am afraid that I have been of very little help,” said Mr. Ludgrove
with a smile. “Inspector Whyland has been kind enough to
appreciate beyond their value any suggestions I have made.”
“Well, that’s as may be,” replied Hanslet. “Now, Mr. Ludgrove, I
am going to ask for further assistance on your part. You know as
much about these counters as I do. They seem to have been sent,
so far, to six men, all of whom have died shortly after they received

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