EXERCISE TOPIC 3 AND 4

QUESTION 1

A discrete random variable Y has a probability distribution given in the table below.

Y 0 1 2 3 4 5
f(y) 0.02 0.1 r 0.2 0.2+r 0.36

a) Find the value r.

ANSWER: r =0.06

b) Calculate P(1.5<Y<4).
ANSWER: 0.26

c) Compute the value of E(Y).

ANSWER: 3.66

d) Given E(Y2) = 15.3, calculate Var (2 - 4Y).

ANSWER: 30.4704

QUESTION 2

A notebook dealer promised his customers a one-year free warranty repair. The
experience shows that 25% of the notebooks sold have to be repaired during the
one-year warranty period.

a) Calculate the probability that in a random sample of 10 notebooks sold, exactly 5

notebooks have to be repaired during the warranty period.
ANSWER: 0.0584

b) Calculate the probability that from a random sample of 8 notebooks sold, at

least 4 notebooks have to be repaired during the warranty period.
ANSWER: 0.113816

c) Calculate the probability that from a random sample of 6 notebooks sold, at

most 3 notebooks need not be repaired during the warranty period.
ANSWER: 0.169435

QUESTION 3

An insurance claim receives on average 2 cases per hour at the front desk counter.

a) Find the probability that it will receive more than 3 cases in an hour.
ANSWER: 0.1429

b) Find the probability that it will receive between 2 and 4 (inclusive) cases in the 3
hours.
ANSWER: 0.26767

c) On a particular day an insurance claim receives on average 25 cases per hour at

the front desk counter. Use a suitable approximation to identify the percentage
that it will receive greater than 10 cases in the hour.
ANSWER: 99.813%
QUESTION 4

The time, in minutes, it takes to reboot a certain system is a continuous variable

with the density.
 x3
 ,0  x  c
f (x) =  4
0 , elsewhere


a) Show that the value of c=2.

b) Find P(0.5≤X<1.7).
ANSWER: 0.5181

c) Calculate E(X) and E (2X -1.5).

ANSWER: E(X) = 1.5; E (2X-1.5) = 1.7

QUESTION 5

A scientist reports that mice will live an average of three and a half years when their
diets are sharply restricted and enriched with vitamins and proteins. Assuming that
the lifetimes of such mice are normally distributed with a standard deviation of 6.3
months.

a) Find the probability that the lifetimes of mice between 37 and 49 months (inclusive).
ANSWER: 0.6517

b) Determine the lifetimes (months) of the mice, if the probability that the life of
mice will be greater than k months 0.0869.
ANSWER: 50.568 months

c) A random sample of 100 mice was chosen. If the probability that a mouse will live
is 0.4. Use an appropriate approximation, and calculate the probability that less
than 55 of the mice will survive.
ANSWER: 0.99846

END OF QUESTION PAPER