EXAMP PREPARATION 2023

QUESTION 1 (Question 2 in July 2017 and July 2022)

1 Twenty first graders were asked which colour they liked best - red, green, or blue.
Their responses appear below:
red, green, green, blue, red, blue, red, red, blue, red, red, blue, red, red, blue, red, blue, green,
green, red
1.1 Construct a frequency distribution table for the data. [6 Marks]
1.2 What percentage of grades liked colour red or blue? [2 Marks]

SOLUTIONS
1.1Construct a frequency distribution table for the data. [6 Marks]
DATA FREQUENCY RELATIVE FREQUENCY %RELATIVE FREQUENCY
RED 10 0.5 50
GREEN 4 0.2 20
BLUE 6 0.3 30
Total 20 1 100
1.2 What percentage of grades liked colour red or blue? [2 Marks]
50 + 30 = 80%

QUESTION 2 (Question 2 in July 2018)

2 .A survey taken at Hilton Hotel in Windhoek indicated that 40 guests arrived by the following
means of transport:
car; car; bus; plane; train; bus; bus; plane; car; plane; plane; bus; plane; car; car; train; train;
car; car; car; car; plane; plane; car; bus; car; bus; car; plane; car; plane; plane; car; car; car; bus;
train; car; bus; car.
1.2.1 Construct a frequency distribution table for the data. [6 Marks]
1.2.2 What percentage of guests arrived using buses? [2 Marks]
SOLUTIONS
2.1 Construct a frequency distribution table for the data. [6 Marks]
DATA FREQUENCY RELATIVE FREQUENCY %RELATIVE FREQUENCY
Car 18 0.45 45
Bus 8 0.2 20
Train 4 0.1 10
Plane 10 0.25 25
Total 40 1 100
2.2 What percentage of guests arrived using buses? [2 Marks]
20%
Page 1 of 30
QUESTION 3 (Question 2 in June 2017 and June 2018 and June 2022)
3 Weights of Carry-On Luggage in Kilograms for a random sample of 40 passengers returning
from a vacation to Windhoek are listed below.
30 27 12 42 35 47 38 36 27 35 22 29 17 3 21 8 38 32
41 33 26 45 18 43 18 32 31 32 19 21 33 31 28 29 51 12
14 21 18 26
3.1 Construct an ordered stem and leaf display of the data. [5 Marks]
3.2 What shape of the distribution do you observes from the stem and leaf display? [2 Marks]
3.3 Using classes 0 to less than 10, 10 to less than 20, 20 to less than 30 etc..., Construct a
frequency distribution table for the data. [6 Marks]
3.4 What percentage of passengers recorded the weight of more than 35 Kilograms? [2 Marks]

SOLUTIONS
Rearranging
3 8 12 12 14 17 18 18 18 19 21 21 21 22 26 26 27
27 28 29 29 30 31 31 32 32 32 33 33 35 35 36 38 38 41
42 43 45 47 51

3.1 Construct an ordered stem and leaf display of the data. [5 Marks]
Stem Leaf
0 3 8
1 2 2 4 7 8 8 8 9
2 1 1 1 2 6 6 7 7 8 9 9
3 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 5 5 6 8 8
4 1 2 3 5 7
5 1

Keys: 4|1 = 41
3.2 What shape of the distribution do you observes from the stem and leaf display? [2 Marks]
This is Symmetric skewed

Page 2 of 30
3.3 Using classes 0 to less than 10, 10 to less than 20, 20 to less than 30 etc..., Construct a
frequency distribution table for the data. [6 Marks]

Class limit Frequency Relative frequency %Relative frequency

0 ≤ 𝑥 < 10 2 0.05 5
10 ≤ 𝑥 < 20 8 0.20 20
20 ≤ 𝑥 < 30 11 0.275 27.5
30 ≤ 𝑥 < 40 13 0.325 32.5
40 ≤ 𝑥 < 50 5 0.125 12.5
50 ≤ 𝑥 < 60 1 0.025 2.5
Total 40 1 100

3.4 What percentage of passengers recorded the weight of more than 35 Kilograms? [2 Marks]
9
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 35 𝐾𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠 = × 100 = 22.5%
40

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FORMULAS (Ungrouped Data)
1. Mean
∑𝑥
𝑥̅ =
𝑛
2. Median: Is the number at the middle after arranging the number in ascending order.
3. Mode: The number which is appearing the most.
4. Variance:
∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2
S2 =
𝑛−1
5. Standard deviation

𝑆 = √𝑆 2
6. Coefficient of variation
𝑆
𝐶𝑉 = × 100
𝑥̅

QUESTION 4
4.1 The data below shows the test scores for a sample of 9 BBSS111S students.
68 56 78 80 65 45 65 64 66
Find the following:
4.1.1 Mean [3 Marks]
4.1.2 Median [3 Marks]
4.1.3 Mode [2 Marks]
4.1.4 Variance [5 Marks]
4.1.5 Standard deviation [2 Marks]
4.1.6 Coefficient of variation [3 Marks]
SOLUTIONS
4.1.1 Mean [3 Marks]
∑ 𝑥 587
𝑥̅ = = = 65.22
𝑛 9
4.1.2 Median [3 Marks]
45 56 64 65 65 66 68 78 80
Median position = 0.5(n+1) = 0.5(9+1) = 0.5(10) = 5
Median = 65

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4.1.3 Mode [2 Marks]
Mode = 65

4.1.4 Variance [5 Marks]

∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2
S2 =
𝑛−1
39 171 − 9(65.22)2 39 171 − 38 282.84 888.16
S2 = = = = 111.02
9−1 8 8
4.1.5 Standard deviation [2 Marks]

𝑆 = √𝑆 2 = √111.02 = 10.54
4.1.6 Coefficient of variation [3 Marks]
𝑆 10.54
𝐶𝑉 = × 100 = × 100 = 16.16
𝑥̅ 65.22

4.2. The following data set lists the midterm scores received by 20 students in a Statistics
class:
45 85 92 99 37 97 100 82 49 54
31 77 81 83 98 99 85 85 64 92
4.2.1 Calculate the mean score [3 Marks]
4.2.2 Find the median score [2 Marks]
4.2.3. Find the modal score [2 Marks]
4.2.4 Variance [5 Marks]
4.2.5 Standard deviation [2 Marks]
4.2.6 Coefficient of variation [3 Marks]
SOLUTIONS
4.2.1 Mean [3 Marks]
∑ 𝑥 1535
𝑥̅ = = = 76.75
𝑛 20
4.2.2 Median [3 Marks]
31 37 45 49 54 64 77 81 82 83
85 85 85 92 92 97 98 99 99 100
Median position = 0.5(n+1) = 0.5(20+1) = 0.5(21) = 10.5
85 + 83 168
𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = = = 84
2 2

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4.1.3 Mode [2 Marks]
Mode = 85
4.1.4 Variance [5 Marks]
∑ 𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2
S2 =
𝑛−1
127 089 − 20(76.75)2 127 089 − 117 811.25 9 277.75
S2 = = = = 488.30
20 − 1 19 19
4.1.5 Standard deviation [2 Marks]

𝑆 = √𝑆 2 = √488.30 = 22.10
4.1.6 Coefficient of variation [3 Marks]
𝑆 22.10
𝐶𝑉 = × 100 = × 100 = 28.79%
𝑥̅ 76.75

Page 6 of 30
FORMULAS (Grouped Data)
1. Mean
∑ 𝑓𝑥
𝑥̅ =
𝑛
2. Median:
Median Position = 0.5 (n)

𝑐(0.5𝑛 − 𝐹)
𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = 𝐿𝑚𝑒𝑑 +
𝑓𝑚𝑒𝑑
3. Mode:
𝑐(𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑚−1 )
𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜𝑑 +
2𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑚−1 − 𝑓𝑚+1
4. Variance:

2
∑ 𝑓𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2
S =
𝑛−1
5. Standard deviation

𝑆 = √𝑆 2

QUESTION 5
5. The table below reports the electricity expenses for a sample of 40 houses in Oshakati during
January of 2017. Electricity cost (in N$) and Number of houses.

Electricity cost (in N$) Frequency

0 - < 10 8
10 - < 20 12
20 - < 30 5
30 -< 40 9
40- <50 6

Find the following

5.1 Mean [3 Marks]
5.2 Variance [5 Marks]
5.3 Median [5 Marks]
5.4 Mode [5 Marks]

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SOLUTION
Class limits f x (midpoint) f.x (for mean) f.x2 (for Variance) F(for median)
0 - < 10 8 5 40 200 8
10 - < 20 12 15 180 2 700 20
20 - < 30 5 25 125 3 125 25
30 -< 40 9 35 315 11 025 34
40- <50 6 45 270 12 150 40

TOTAL 40 930 29 200

5.1 Mean [3 Marks]

∑ 𝑓𝑥 930
𝑥̅ = = = 23.25
𝑛 40
5.2 Variance [5 Marks]
∑ 𝑓𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2 29 200 − 40(23.25)2 29 200 − 21 622.5 7 577.5
S2 = = = = = 194.29
𝑛−1 40 − 1 39 39

5.3 Median [5 Marks]

Median Position = 0.5 (n) = 0.5 (40) = 20

𝑐(0.5𝑛 − 𝐹) 10(20 − 8) 120

𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = 𝐿𝑚𝑒𝑑 + = 10 + = 10 + = 10 + 10 = 20
𝑓𝑚𝑒𝑑 12 12

Class limits f x (midpoint) f.x (for mean) f.x2 (for Variance) F(for median)
0 - < 10 8 5 40 200 8
10 - < 20 12 15 180 2 700 20
20 - < 30 5 25 125 3 125 25
30 -< 40 9 35 315 11 025 34
40- <50 6 45 270 12 150 40

TOTAL 40 930 29 200

5.4 Mode [5 Marks]

𝑐(𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑚−1 ) 10(12 − 8) 40
𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜𝑑 + = 10 + = 10 + = 10 + 3.6
2𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑚−1 − 𝑓𝑚+1 2(12) − 8 − 5 11
= 13.6

Page 8 of 30
HOMEWORK

(Question 2 in July 2019)

2.1.1 Mean [3 Marks]

∑ 𝑥 4642
𝑥̅ = = = 211
𝑛 22
2.12 Median [3 Marks]
199 200 202 203 207 208 208 209 210 210 210
210 212 213 214 215 217 217 218 218 221 221
Median position = 0.5(n+1) = 0.5(22+1) = 0.5(23) = 11.5
210 + 210 420
𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = = = 210
2 2
2.1.3 Mode [2 Marks]
Mode = 210

Page 9 of 30
Question 2.3 in July 2017)

SOLUTION
Class limit f x fx fx2 F
3-< 7 14 5 70 350 14
7 – < 11 22 9 198 1782 36
11 – < 15 11 13 143 1859 47
15 – < 19 6 17 102 1734 53
19 – < 23 3 21 63 1323 56

Total 56 576 7048

2.3.1 Mean [3 Marks]

∑ 𝑓𝑥 576
𝑥̅ = = = 10.29
𝑛 56
2.3.2 Variance [4 Marks]
∑ 𝑓𝑥 2 − 𝑛𝑥̅ 2 7 048 − 56(10.29)2 1118.49
S2 = = = = 20.34
𝑛−1 56 − 1 55
2.3.3 Mode [4 Marks]
𝑐(𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑚−1 ) 4(22 − 14) 32
𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜𝑑 + = 7+ =7+ = 7 + 1.68
2𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑚−1 − 𝑓𝑚+1 2(22) − 14 − 11 19
= 8.68

Median (In case its asked)

Median Position = 0.5 (n) = 0.5 (56) = 28
𝑐(0.5𝑛 − 𝐹) 4(28 − 14) 56
𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = 𝐿𝑚𝑒𝑑 + =7+ =7+ = 7 + 2.5 = 9.5
𝑓𝑚𝑒𝑑 22 22

Page 10 of 30
 PROBABILITY

Introduction to Probability
(Probability is the likelihood or chance of an event to it occur (Between 0 and 1)

1. EXPERIMENT
2. OUTCOME
3. SAMPLE SPACE

(Represent the outcomes on the tree diagram)

Types of probability
1. Objective probability
 Joint probability (Addition rule, multiplication rule , Conditional probability,
independent and dependent events)
 Law of total probability.

2. Discrete Random probability

3. Binomial probability
4. Poisson probability
5. Normal probability

Page 11 of 30
(Question 3 in July 2017)

SOLUTIONS
3.1.1 Construct a probability tree diagram. [4 Marks]

3.1.2 What is the probability that the teacher picks a boy and a girl? [2 Marks]
12 9 108
𝑃(𝐵𝐺) = × = = 0.245
21 21 441

3.1.3 What is the probability that the teacher chooses two students of the same sex? [3 Marks]
12 12 9 9 16 9 25
𝑃(𝐵𝐵 𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝐺) = ( × )+( × )= + = = 0.51
21 21 21 21 49 49 49

Page 12 of 30
4. A coin is tossed twice, the probability of getting a head (H) after a toss is 0.45 and that of
getting a tail (T) is 0.55
4.1. Draw a tree diagram to represent the above probability experiment and list the possible
outcomes. (Hint: Use H to denote Head and T to denote Tail) [4 Marks]
4.2. Write down the sample space. [2 Marks]
4.3. What is the probability that the two tosses gives TWO heads? [3 Marks]
4.4. What is the probability that the two tosses result in HT or TH combination? [3 Marks]

SOLUTIONS
4.1. Draw a tree diagram to represent the above probability experiment and list the possible
outcomes. (Hint: Use H to denote Head and T to denote Tail) [4 Marks]

Possible outcomes: HH, HT, TH, TT

4.2. Write down the sample space. [2 Marks]

S = {HH, HT, TH, TT}

4.3. What is the probability that the two tosses gives TWO heads? [3 Marks]
𝑃(𝐻𝐻) = 𝑃(𝐻) × 𝑃(𝐻) = 0.45 × 0.45 = 0.2025

4.4. What is the probability that the two tosses result in HT or TH combination? [3 Marks]
𝑃(𝐻𝑇 𝑜𝑟 𝑇𝐻) = 𝑃(𝐻𝑇) + 𝑃(𝑇𝐻) = 0.45 × 0.55 + 0.55 × 0.45 = 0.2475 + 0.2475
= 0.495

Page 13 of 30
5. There are 6 boys and 4 girls in a class. The teacher chooses two students at random, the first
chosen student went back to his / her sit.
5.1 Construct a probability tree diagram, List down the possible outcome and sample space. [5
Marks]
5.2 What is the probability that the teacher picks a boy and a girl? [2 Marks]
5.3 What is the probability that the teacher chooses two students of the same sex? [3 Marks]
5.4 What is the probability that the teacher chooses two students of the different sex? [3 Marks

SOLUTIONS
5.1 Construct a probability tree diagram, List down the possible outcome and sample space. [5
Marks]

Possible outcomes: BB, BG,GB, GG

Sample space: S = {BB, BG, GB, GG}

5.2 What is the probability that the teacher picks a boy and a girl? [2 Marks]
6 4 24
𝑃(𝐵𝐺) = × = = 0.24
10 10 100

5.3 What is the probability that the teacher chooses two students of the same sex? [3 Marks]
6 6 4 4 9 4 13
𝑃(𝐵𝐵 𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝐺) = ( × )+( × )= + = = 0.52
10 10 10 10 25 25 25

5.4 What is the probability that the teacher chooses two students of the different sex? [3 Marks]
6 4 4 6 24 24 48
𝑃(𝐵𝐺 𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝐵) = ( × )+( × )= + = = 0.48
10 10 10 10 100 100 100

Page 14 of 30
6. A sample of 500 respondents was selected in a large metropolitan area to determine
various information concerning consumer behaviour. The following contingency table was
obtained:

6.1 What is the probability that a respondent does not enjoy shopping for clothing? [3 Marks]
6.2 What is probability that the respondent chosen is a woman who enjoys shopping for
clothing? [3 Marks]
6.3 Given that the respondent chosen enjoys shopping for clothing. What, then, is the
probability that the individual is a male? [5 Marks]
6.4 What is the probability that a respondent is male or does not enjoy shopping [5 Marks]

SOLUTIONS
6.1 What is the probability that a respondent does not enjoy shopping for clothing? [3 Marks]
360
𝑃(𝑁𝑜) = = 0.72
500
6.2 What is probability that the respondent chosen is a woman who enjoys shopping for
clothing? [3 Marks]
36
𝑃(𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 ∩ 𝑌𝑒𝑠 ) = = 0.072
500
6.3 Given that the respondent chosen enjoys shopping for clothing. What, then, is the
probability that the individual is a male?
𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 ∩ 𝑌𝐸𝑆) 104
𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 / 𝑌𝑒𝑠) = = = 0.743
𝑃(𝑌𝐸𝑆) 140

6.4 What is the probability that a respondent is male or does not enjoys shopping
𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 ∪ 𝑁𝑜) = 𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒) + 𝑃(𝑁𝑜) − 𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 ∩ 𝑁𝑜)

240 360 136

𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 ∪ 𝑁𝑜) = + − = 0.928
500 500 500

Page 15 of 30
7. Five hundred employees were selected from a city’s large private companies, and they were
asked whether or not they have any retirement benefits provided by their companies. The
following table gives the responses
GENDER Have Benefits Have no Benefits
Men 225 75
Women 150 50

If one employee is selected at random from these 500 employees, find:

7.1. P(woman) [2]
7.2. P (Has retirement benefits) [2]
7.3. P(Has retirement benefits given the employee is a man) [3]
7.4. P(Woman and has benefits) [2]
7.5. P(Woman or has benefits) [2]
7.6. Are the events “have benefits” and “have no benefits” mutually exclusive? Why or why
not? [2]
SOLUTIONS
Have Benefits Have no Benefits TOTAL
Men 225 75 300
Women 150 50 200
TOTAL 375 125 500

7.1. P(woman) [2]

200
𝑃(𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛) = = 0.4
500

7.2. P (Has retirement benefits) [2]

375
𝑃(Have Benefits) = = 0.75
500

7.3. P(Has retirement benefits given the employee is a man) [3]

𝑃(Have Benefits ∩ 𝑀𝑎𝑛) 225
𝑃(Have Benefits / 𝑀𝑎𝑛) = = = 0.75
𝑃(𝑀𝑎𝑛) 300
7.4. P(Woman and has benefits) [2]
150
𝑃(𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 ∩ Have Benefits ) = = 0.3
500
7.5. P(Woman or has benefits) [2]
𝑃(𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 ∪ Have Benefits ) = 𝑃(𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 ) + 𝑃(Have Benefits ) − 𝑃(𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 ∩ Have Benefits )
200 375 150 425
𝑃(𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 ∪ Have Benefits ) = + − = = 0.85
500 500 500 500
7.6. Are the events “have benefits” and “have no benefits” mutually exclusive? Why or why
not? [2]
Yes, the two events are mutually exclusive because they do not have an intersection

Page 16 of 30
(Question 3.4 in July 2017)
8. A company has 1 000 credit customers. They are classified according to the size of the
account balance and the timeliness of their payments. The following table shows some of the
numbers of customers being in various categories.

8.1 Copy the table and fill in all the missing values. [7 marks]
8.2 How many customers have a balance of less than NS100 or made their last payment late?
[3 marks]
SOLUTIONS
8.1 Copy the table and fill in all the missing values. [7 marks]
Last Payment Account Balance TOTAL
<N$ 100 N$ 100 to N$ 500 >N$ 500
Ontime 850 -720 = 130 450 300 – 30 = 270 850
Late 200 – 130 = 70 500 - 450 = 50 30 1 000 – 850 =150
TOTAL 200 500 1000 - 700 = 300 1 000

8.2 How many customers have a balance of less than NS100 or made their last payment late?
[3 marks]
𝑛(< N$ 100 ∪ 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 ) = 200 + 150 − 70 = 280

9. A company has 1 000 credit customers. They are classified according to the size of the
account balance and the timeliness of their payments. The following table shows some of the
numbers of customers being in various categories.

Page 17 of 30
9.1 Copy the table and fill in all the missing values. [7 marks]
9.2 How many customers have a balance of less than NS100 or made their last payment late?
[3 marks]

SOLUTIONS
9.1 Copy the table and fill in all the missing values. [7 marks]
Last Payment Account Balance TOTAL
<N$ 100 N$ 100 to N$ 500 >N$ 500
Ontime 0.85 -0.72 = 0.13 0.45 0.3 – 0.03 = 0.27 0.85
Late 0.2 – 0.13 = 0.07 0.5- 0.45 = 0.05 0.03 1– 0.85 = 0.15
TOTAL 0.2 0.5 1- 0.7 = 0.3 1

9.2 How many customers have a balance of less than N$ 100 or made their last payment late?
[3 marks]

𝑃(< N$ 100 ∪ 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 ) = 0.2 + 0.15 − 0.07 = 0.28

𝐸(𝑥) = 𝑛𝑝 = 1000 × 0.28 = 280

Page 18 of 30
 DISCRETE PROBABILITY
QUESTION 1
A discrete random variable X has the following distribution:
X 1 2 3 4
P(X) 0.05 0.6 0.2 0.15

1.1 What is the probability that X is 2 [2 Marks]

1.2 What is the probability that X is less than 3 [3 Marks]
1.3 What is the probability that X is more than 2 [3 Marks]
1.4 What is the probability that X is at most 3 [3 Marks]
1.5 What is the probability that X is at least 2 [3 Marks]
1.6 What is the probability that X is not more than 3 [3 Marks]
1.7 Find the expected value or average of X [4 Marks]
1.8 Find the variance of X [5 Marks]

SOLUTIONS

1.1 What is the probability that X is 2 [2 Marks]

𝑃(𝑋 = 2) = 0.6

1.2 What is the probability that X is less than 3 [3 Marks]

𝑃(𝑋 < 3) = 𝑃(𝑋 = 1) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 2) = 0.05 + 0.6 = 0.65

1.3 What is the probability that X is more than 2 [3 Marks]

𝑃(𝑋 > 2) = 𝑃(𝑋 = 3) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 4) = 0.2 + 0.15 = 0.35

1.4 What is the probability that X is at most 3 [3 Marks]

𝑃(𝑋 ≤ 3) = 𝑃(𝑋 = 1) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 2) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 3) = 0.05 + 0.6 + 0.2 = 0.85

1.5 What is the probability that X is at least 2 [3 Marks]

𝑃(𝑋 ≥ 2) = 𝑃(𝑋 = 2) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 3) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 4) = 0.6 + 0.2 + 0.15 = 0.95

1.6 What is the probability that X is not more than 3 [3 Marks]

𝑃(𝑋 ≤ 3) = 𝑃(𝑋 = 1) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 2) + 𝑃(𝑋 = 3) = 0.05 + 0.6 + 0.2 = 0.85

Page 19 of 30
1.7 Find the expected value or average of X [4 Marks]
X 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
P(X) 0.05 0.6 0.2 0.15 1
X.P(X) 1x 0.05 = 0.05 2x0.6 = 1.2 0.6 0.6 2.45

𝐸(𝑋) = ∑ 𝑋 . 𝑝(𝑋) = 2.45

1.8 Find the variance of X [5 Marks]

X 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
P(X) 0.05 0.6 0.2 0.15 1
X .P(X) 1 x0.05 =0.05 22x0.6= 2.4
2 2
1.8 2.4 6.65

𝑉(𝑋) = ∑ 𝑋 2 . 𝑝(𝑋) − 𝐸(𝑋)2

= 6.65 − 2.452

= 6.65 − 6.0025

= 0.6475

Page 20 of 30
SOLUTIONS
1.1
∑ 𝑃(𝑥) = 1

𝑘 + 2𝑘 + 3𝑘 + 4𝑘 = 1
10𝑘 = 1
1
𝑘= = 0.1
10

1.2
x 1 2 3 4
P(X= x) 0.1 2(0.1) = 0.2 3(0.1) = 0.3 4(0.1)= 0.4

(a)
x 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
P(X= x) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 1
X.P(X) 0.1 0.4 0.9 1.6 3

𝐸(𝑋) = ∑ 𝑥 𝑝(𝑥) = 3

Page 21 of 30
(b) E(X2)
x 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
P(X= x) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 1
X2.P(X) 0.1 0.8 2.7 6.4 10

𝐸(𝑋 2 ) = ∑ 𝑥 2 𝑝(𝑥) = 10

(c) Var (5X-1)

𝑉𝑎𝑟(𝑋) = ∑ 𝑥 2 𝑝(𝑥) − 𝐸(𝑋)2

= 10 − 32
= 10 − 9
=1

𝑉𝑎𝑟(5𝑋 − 1) = 𝑉𝑎𝑟(5𝑋) − 𝑉𝑎𝑟(1)

𝑉𝑎𝑟(5𝑋 − 1) = 2 × 5𝑉𝑎𝑟(𝑋) − 0
𝑉𝑎𝑟(5𝑋 − 1) = 2 × 5 x 1 − 0
𝑉𝑎𝑟(5𝑋 − 1) = 10

Page 22 of 30
SOLUTIONS
(a)
∑ 𝑃(𝑥) = 1

1 1 1
+𝑘+ +𝑘+ =1
5 10 5
0.2 + 𝑘 + 0.1 + 𝑘 + 0.2 = 1
𝑘 + 𝑘 + 0.2 + 0.1 + 0.2 = 1
2𝑘 + 0.5 = 1
2𝑘 = 1 − 0.5
2𝑘 = 0.5
0.5
𝑘= = 0.25
2

(b) Expect value

x -1 0 1 2 3 TOTAL
P(X= x) 1/5= 0.2 0.25 1/10 = 0.1 0.25 1/5= 0.2 1
X.P(X) -0.2 0 0.1 0.5 0.6 1

𝐸(𝑋) = ∑ 𝑥 𝑝(𝑥) = 1

(c) Variance
x -1 0 1 2 3 TOTAL
P(X= x) 0.2 0.25 0.1 0.25 0.2 1
X2.P(X) 0.2 0 0.1 1 1.8 3.1

𝑉(𝑋) = ∑ 𝑥 2 𝑝(𝑥) − 𝐸(𝑋)2

= 3.1 − 12
= 3.1 − 1
= 2.1
(d)
𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋 − 6) = 𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋) − 𝑉𝑎𝑟(6)
𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋 − 6) = 2 𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋) − 0
𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋 − 6) = 2 × 2𝑉𝑎𝑟(𝑋) − 0
𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋 − 6) = 2 × 2 x 2.1 − 0
𝑉𝑎𝑟(2𝑋 − 6) = 8.4

Page 23 of 30
 BINOMIAL PROBABILITY
Probability

P(X = r) = nCrpr qn−r

Expected value

𝐸 (𝑋) = 𝑛𝑝

Question 1 (Question 5.1 in June 2019)

1. An important part of NUST customer service of IT services is the speed at which the IT
department can repair telephone faults. Past records have shown that 70 % of the faults can
be repaired within a day. For the first three faults reported on a given day, what is the
probability that:
1.1. Exactly three will be repaired on the same day. [3]
1.2 Fewer than two will be repaired on the same day [3]
1.3. At least two will be repaired on the same day. [3]

SOLUTIONS
1.1. Exactly three will be repaired on the same day. [3]
n =3, p = 0.7, q = 1- p = 1-0.7 = 0.3, r =3

P(X = r) = nCrpr qn−r

P(X = 3) = 3C3 × 0.73 × 0.33−3 = 3C3 × 0.73 × 0.30 = 0.343

1.2 Fewer than two will be repaired on the same day [3]
n =3, p = 0.7, q = 1- p = 1-0.7 = 0.3, r = 1, 0

P(X < 2) = P(X = 0) + P(X = 1)

P(X = 0) = 3C0 × 0.70 × 0.33−0 = 3C0 × 0.70 × 0.33 = 0.027
P(X = 1) = 3C1 × 0.71 × 0.33−1 = 3C1 × 0.71 × 0.32 = 0.189

P(X < 2) = 0.027 + 0.189 = 0.216

Page 24 of 30
1.3. At least two will be repaired on the same day. [3]
n = 3, p = 0.7, q = 0.3, r = 2, 3

P(X ≥ 2) = P(X = 2) + P(X = 3)

P(X = 2) = 3C2 × 0.72 × 0.33−2 = 3C2 × 0.72 × 0.31 = 0.441
P(X = 3) = 3C3 × 0.73 × 0.33−3 = 3C3 × 0.73 × 0.30 = 0.343

P(X ≥ 2) = 0.441 + 0.343 = 0.784

Question 2 (Question 3.4 in June 2018 and 3.4 June 2022)

2. A shoe store’s records show that 30% of the customers purchase by credit card. This morning
20 customers purchased shoes from the store.
2.1 Find the probability that at most 3 of the customers used a credit card. [5]
2.2. What is the probability that at least 3 customers but not more than 6 used a credit card? [4]
2.3. What is the expected number of customers using a credit card? [2]

SOLUTIONS
2.1. Find the probability that at most 3 of the customers used a credit card. [5]
n =20, p = 0.3, q = 1- p = 1-0.3= 0.7, r = 3,2,1,0

P(X = r) = nCrpr qn−r

P(X ≤ 3) = P(X = 3) + P(X = 2) + P(X = 1) + P(X = 0)

P(X = 3) = 20C3 × 0.33 × 0.717 = 0.0716

P(X = 2) = 20C2 × 0.32 × 0.718 = 0.0278
P(X = 1) = 20C1 × 0.31 × 0.719 = 0.00684
P(X = 0) = 20C0 × 0.30 × 0.720 = 0.000798

P(X ≤ 3) = 0.0716 + 0.0278 + 0.00684 + 0.000798 = 0.3572

Page 25 of 30
2.2. What is the probability that at least 3 customers but not more than 6 used a credit card? [4]
n =20, p = 0.3, q = 0.7, r = 3,4,5,6

P(X = r) = nCrpr qn−r

P(3 ≤ X ≤ 6) = P(X = 3) + P(X = 4) + P(X = 5) + P(X = 6)

P(X = 3) = 20C3 × 0.33 × 0.717 = 0.0716

P(X = 4) = 20C4 × 0.34 × 0.716 = 0.1304
P(X = 5) = 20C5 × 0.35 × 0.715 = 0.1788
P(X = 6) = 20C6 × 0.36 × 0.714 = 0.1916

P(3 ≤ X ≤ 6) = 0.0716 + 0.1304 + 0.1788 + 0.1916 = 0.5724

2.3. What is the expected number of customers using a credit card? [2]

𝐸 (𝑋) = 𝑛𝑝 = 20 × 0.3 = 6

Page 26 of 30
HOMEWORK

3. Inland Revenue audits 5% of all companies every year. The companies selected for

Auditing in any one year are independent of the previous year’s selection.

3.1 What is the probability that the company “Air Namibia” will be selected for Auditing
exactly twice in the next 5 years? [3]

3.2 What is the probability that the company “Air Namibia” will be audited for more than two
times in the next 10 years? [5]

SOLUTIONS

3.1

P(X = r) = nCrpr qn−r

P(X = 5) = 5C5 × 0.055 × 0.950 = 0.0000003125
3.2

P(X > 2) = 1 − P(X ≤ 2)

P(X = 2) = 10C2 × 0.052 × 0.958 = 0.0746

P(X = 1) = 10C1 × 0.051 × 0.959 = 0.3151
P(X = 0) = 10C0 × 0.050 × 0.9510 = 0.5987

P(X > 2) = 1 − 0.9884 = 0.0116

Page 27 of 30
 POISSON PROBABILITY
Probability

e−𝜃 × 𝜃 𝑘
P(X = k ) =
𝑘!
4. The number of bank robberies that occur in Windhoek city is described by a mean of 1.8 per
day. Find the probability that:
4.1. No robbery will occur in a given day [3]
4.2. Exactly three robberies will occur in a day [3]
SOLUTIONS

4.1

e−𝜃 × 𝜃 𝑘
P(X = k) =
𝑘!
e−1.8 × 1.80
P(X = 0) = = 0.1653
0!
4.2

e−1.8 × 1.83
P(X = 3) = = 0.1608
3!

5. Customers are known to arrive at a muffler shop on a random basis, with an average of two
customers per hour arriving at the facility.
5.1 What is the probability that three customer will require service during a particular hour?
5.2 What is the probability that more than one customer will require service during a particular
hour?
SOLUTIONS

5.1

e−𝜃 × 𝜃 𝑘
P(X = k) =
𝑘!
e × 23
−2
P(X = 3) = = 0.1804
3!

Page 28 of 30
5.2
P(X > 1) = 1 − P(X ≤ 1)
e−2 × 21
P(X = 1) = = 0.2707
1!
e−2 × 20
P(X = 0) = = 0.1353
0!

P(X > 1) = 1 − 0.4060 = 0.5940

6. A company which supplies ready-mix concrete receives, on average, 6 orders per day.
6.1 What is the probability that on a given day, no order will be received? [3]
6.2 What is the probability that on a given half-day less than two orders will be received? [4]
SOLUTIONS

e−𝜃 × 𝜃 𝑘
P(X = k) =
𝑘!

e−6 × 60
P(X = 0) = = 0.002478
0!

6.2

6
𝜃= =3
2
P(X < 2) = P(X = 1) + P(X = 0)
e−3 × 31
P(X = 1) = = 0.1494
1!
e−3 × 30
P(X = 0) = = 0.0498
0!

P(X < 2) = 0.1494 + 0.0498 = 0.1992

Page 29 of 30
7. The number of typing mistakes made by a secretary has a Poisson distribution. The
mistakes are made independently at an average rate of 1.65 per page.
7.1 Find the probability that a one-page letter contains at least 3 mistakes. [5]
7.2 Find the probability that a three-page letter contains exactly 2 mistakes. [3]
SOLUTIONS

7.1

e−𝜃 × 𝜃 𝑘
P(X = k) =
𝑘!

P(X ≥ 3) = 1 − P(X < 3)

e−1.65 × 1.652
P(X = 2) = = 0.2614
2!

e−1.65 × 1.651
P(X = 1) = = 0.3169
1!
e−1.65 × 1.650
P(X = 0) = = 0.1920
0!

P(X ≥ 3) = 1 − 0.7703 = 0.2297

7.2

𝜃 = 1.65 × 3 = 4.95
e−4.95 × 4.952
P(X = 2) = = 0.0868
2!

Page 30 of 30