Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions

1. Which of the following is a characteristic of an experiment where the binomial probability distribution is applicable?
a. The experiment has at least two possible outcomes
b. Exactly two outcomes are possible on each trial
c. The trials are dependent on each other
d. The probabilities of the outcomes changes from one trial

2. A numerical description of the outcome of an experiment is called a

a. descriptive statistic.
b. probability function.
c. variance.
d. random variable.

3. A probability distribution showing the probability of x successes in n trials, where the probability of success does not
change from trial to trial, is termed a
a. uniform probability distribution.
b. binomial probability distribution.
c. hypergeometric probability distribution.
d. normal probability distribution.

4. A continuous random variable may assume

a. any numerical value in an interval or collection of intervals.
b. finite number of values in a collection of intervals.
c. an infinite sequence of values.
d. only the positive integer values in an interval.

5. A description of the distribution of the values of a random variable and their associated probabilities is called a
a. probability distribution.
b. empirical discrete distribution.
c. bivariate distribution.
d. table of binomial probability.

6. Which of the following is a required condition for a discrete probability function?

a. ∑f(x) = 0 for all values of x
b. f(x) 1 for all values of x
c. f(x) < 0 for all values of x
d. ∑f(x) = 1 for all values of x

7. A measure of the average value of a random variable is called a(n)

a. variance.
b. standard deviation.
c. expected value.
d. coefficient of variation.
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions

8. Which of the following is a required condition for a discrete probability function?

a. f(x) 0 for all values of x
b. ∑f(x) = 1 for all values of x
c. ∑f(x) = 0 for all values of x
d. ∑f(x) 1 for all values of x

9. A weighted average of the values of a random variable, where the probability function provides weights, is known as
the
a. probable value.
b. median value.
c. expected value.
d. variance.

10. An experiment consists of determining the speed of automobiles on a highway by the use of radar equipment. The
random variable in this experiment is a _____ random variable.
a. discrete
b. continuous
c. mixed type
d. multivariate

11. The number of customers that enter a store during one day is an example of
a. a continuous random variable.
b. a discrete random variable.
c. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on whether odd or even number of the customers
enter.
d. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on the gender of the customers.

12. The weight of an object is an example of

a. a continuous random variable.
b. a discrete random variable.
c. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on the nature of the object.
d. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on the unit of measurement.

13. Three percent of the customers of a mortgage company default on their payments. A sample of five customers is
selected. What is the probability that exactly two customers in the sample will default on their payments?
a. 0.0003
b. 0.0082
c. 0.0077
d. 0.0008

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
14. Twenty percent of the students in a class of 400 are planning to go to graduate school. The standard deviation of this
binomial distribution is
a. 20.
b. 64.
c. 8.
d. 40.

15. In the textile industry, a manufacturer is interested in the number of blemishes or flaws occurring in each 100 feet of
material. The probability distribution that has the greatest chance of applying to this situation is the _____ distribution
a. Normal
b. Binomial
c. Poisson
d. Uniform

16. The Poisson probability distribution is a _____ probability distribution.

a. continuous
b. discrete
c. uniform
d. normal

17. The binomial probability distribution is used with a(n) _____ random variable.
a. continuous
b. discrete
c. uniform
d. intermittent

18. The expected value of a discrete random variable

a. is the most likely or highest probability value for the random variable.
b. will always be one of the values x can take on, although it may not be the highest probability value for the
random variable.
c. is the average value for the random variable over many repeats of the experiment.
d. is the value it is expected to assume in the next trial.

19. Which of the following is not a characteristic of an experiment where the binomial probability distribution is
applicable?
a. The experiment has a sequence of n identical trials.
b. Exactly two outcomes are possible on each trial.
c. The trials are dependent.
d. The probabilities of the outcomes do not change from one trial to another.

20. The expected value of a random variable is

a. the value of the random variable that should be observed on the next repeat of the experiment.
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
b. the value of the random variable that occurs most frequently.
c. the square root of the variance.
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

21. Which of the following is not a property of a binomial experiment?

a. The experiment consists of a sequence of n identical trials.
b. Each outcome can be referred to as a success or a failure.
c. The probabilities of the two outcomes can change from one trial to the next.
d. The trials are independent.

22. In a binomial experiment, the probability

a. does not change from trial to trial.

b. changes from trial to trial.
c. could change from trial to trial, depending on the situation under consideration.
d. could change depending on the number of outcomes.

23. The Poisson probability distribution is used with _____ random variable.
a. a continuous
b. a discrete
c. either a continuous or discrete
d. any

24. The variance Var(x) for the binomial distribution is given by equation
a. np(n - 1).
b. np(1 - np).
c. n(1 - p).
d. np(1 - p).

25. The expected value for a binomial distribution is given by equation

a. (n - 1)(1 - p).
b. n(1 - p).
c. np.
d. (n - 1)p.

26. A production process produces 2.5% defective parts. A sample of five parts from the production process is selected.
What is the probability that the sample contains exactly two defective parts?
a. 0.2637
b. 0.0058
c. 0.0000
d. 0.0250

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
27. When dealing with the number of occurrences of an event over a specified interval of time or space, the appropriate
probability distribution is a _____ distribution.
a. Binomial
b. Poisson
c. Normal
d. Hypergeometric probability

28. The key difference between the binomial and hypergeometric distribution is that, with the hypergeometric distribution
the
a. probability of success must be less than 0.5.
b. probability of success changes from trial to trial.
c. trials are independent of each other.
d. random variable is continuous.

29. Assume that you have a binomial experiment with p = 0.4 and a sample size of 150. The variance of this distribution is
a. 36.
b. 6.
c. 2.9.
d. 216.

30. In a binomial experiment the probability of success is 0.05. What is the probability of two successes in seven trials?
a. 0.0036
b. 0.0000
c. 0.0406
d. 0.3667

31. Random variable x has the probability function f(x) = X/6, for x = 1, 2 or 3
The expected value of x is
a. 0.333.
b. 0.500.
c. 2.000.
d. 2.333.

32. A random variable that may take on any value in an interval or collection of intervals is known as a _____ random
variable.
a. continuous
b. discrete
c. mixed type
d. multivariate

33. The following represents the probability distribution for the daily demand of computers at a local store.
Demand Probability
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
0 0.15
1 0.25
2 0.35
3 0.2
4 0.05
The expected daily demand is
a. 1.0.
b. 1.75.
c. 2.0.
d. 1.09.

34. The following represents the probability distribution for the daily demand of computers at a local store.
Demand Probability
0 0.15
1 0.25
2 0.35
3 0.20
4 0.05
The probability of having a demand for at least two computers is
a. 0.75.
b. 0.35.
c. 0.60.
d. 1.00.

35. The student body of a large university consists of 60% female students. A random sample of 8 students is
selected. What is the probability that among the students in the sample exactly two are male?
a. 0.0896
b. 0.2090
c. 0.0413
d. 0.0007

36. The student body of a large university consists of 60% female students. A random sample of 8 students is
selected. What is the probability that among the students in the sample at least 6 are female?
a. 0.3154
b. 0.6846
c. 0.0168
d. 0.8936

37. The student body of a large university consists of 65% female students. A random sample of 8 students is
selected. What is the probability that among the students in the sample at least 6 are male?
a. 0.0036
b. 0.1691
c. 0.4278

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
d. 0.0253

38. Roth is a computer-consulting firm. The number of new clients that they have obtained each month has ranged from 0
to 6. The number of new clients has the probability distribution that is shown below.
Number of
New Clients Probability
0 0.05
1 0.10
2 0.15
3 0.30
4 0.25
5 0.10
6 0.05
The expected number of new clients per month is
a. 6.
b. 0.
c. 3.1.
d. 3.

39. Roth is a computer-consulting firm. The number of new clients that they have obtained each month has ranged from 0
to 6. The number of new clients has the probability distribution that is shown below.
Number of
New Clients Probability
0 0.05
1 0.10
2 0.15
3 0.30
4 0.25
5 0.10
6 0.05
The variance is
a. 1.45.
b. 2.09.
c. 3.1.
d. 9.61.

40. Roth is a computer-consulting firm. The number of new clients that they have obtained each month has ranged from 0
to 6. The number of new clients has the probability distribution that is shown below.
Number of
New Clients Probability
0 0.05
1 0.10
2 0.15
3 0.30
4 0.25
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
5 0.10
6 0.05
The standard deviation is
a. 1.45.
b. 2.09.
c. 3.1.
d. 9.61.

41. Forty-four percent of all registered voters in a national election are female. A random sample of 5 voters is selected.
The probability that the sample contains 2 female voters is
a. 0.6600.
b. 0.6114.
c. 0.5000.
d. 0.3400.

42. Forty-four percent of all registered voters in a national election are female. A random sample of 5 voters is
selected. The probability that there are no females in the sample is
a. 0.0551.
b. 0.9450.
c. 0.4400.
d. 0.1649.

43. Consider the probability distribution below.

x f(x)
10 .2
20 .4
30 .3
40 .1
The expected value of x equals
a. 23.
b. 25.
c. 30.
d. 100.

44. Consider the probability distribution below.

x f(x)
10 .2
20 .4
30 .3
40 .1
The variance of x equals
a. 9.
b. 23.

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
c. 81.
d. 610.

45. A sample of 2,500 people was asked how many cups of coffee they drink in the morning. You are given the following
sample information.
Cups of Coffee Frequency
0 700
1 900
2 500
3 400
2,500
The expected number of cups of coffee is
a. 1.
b. 1.24.
c. 1.5.
d. 1.03.

46. A sample of 2,500 people was asked how many cups of coffee they drink in the morning. You are given the following
sample information.
Cups of Coffee Frequency
0 700
1 900
2 500
3 400
2,500
The variance of the number of cups of coffee is
a. 1.06.
b. 1.03.
c. 2.25.
d. 1.24.

47. The probability that Pete will catch fish when he goes fishing is .88. Pete is going to fish 3 days next week. Define the
random variable x to be the number of days Pete catches fish. The probability that Pete will catch fish on exactly one day
is
a. 0.880.
b. 0.038.
c. 0.040.
d. 0.960.

48. The probability that Pete will catch fish when he goes fishing is .88. Pete is going to fish 3 days next week. Define the
random variable x to be the number of days Pete catches fish. The probability that Pete will catch fish on one day or less is
a. 0.880.
b. 0.038.
c. 0.040.

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
d. 0.960.

49. The probability that Pete will catch fish when he goes fishing is .88. Pete is going to fish 3 days next week. Define the
random variable x to be the number of days Pete catches fish. The expected number of days Pete will catch fish is
a. 0.56.
b. 0.88.
c. 2.64.
d. 0.3168.

50. The probability that Pete will catch fish when he goes fishing is .88. Pete is going to fish 3 days next week. Define the
random variable x to be the number of days Pete catches fish. The variance of the number of days Pete will catch fish is
a. 0.56.
b. 0.88.
c. 2.64.
d. 0.3168.

51. The random variable x is the number of occurrences of an event over an interval of ten minutes. It can be assumed that
the probability of an occurrence is the same in any two-time periods of an equal length. It is known that the mean number
of occurrences in ten minutes is 5.3. Which of the following discrete probability distributions' properties are satisfied by
random variable x?

a. Normal
b. Poisson
c. Binomial
d. Hypergeometric

52. The random variable x is the number of occurrences of an event over an interval of ten minutes. It can be assumed that
the probability of an occurrence is the same in any two time periods of an equal length. It is known that the mean number
of occurrences in ten minutes is 5.3. The appropriate probability distribution for the random variable is
a. discrete.
b. continuous.
c. either discrete or continuous depending on how the interval is defined.
d. binomial.

53. The random variable x is the number of occurrences of an event over an interval of ten minutes. It can be assumed that
the probability of an occurrence is the same in any two time periods of an equal length. It is known that the mean number
of occurrences in ten minutes is 5.3. The expected value of the random variable x is
a. 2.
b. 5.3.
c. 10.
d. 2.30.

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
54. The random variable x is the number of occurrences of an event over an interval of ten minutes. It can be assumed that
the probability of an occurrence is the same in any two time periods of an equal length. It is known that the mean number
of occurrences in ten minutes is 5.3. The probability that there are 8 occurrences in ten minutes is
a. .0241.
b. .0771.
c. .1126.
d. .9107.

55. The random variable x is the number of occurrences of an event over an interval of ten minutes. It can be assumed that
the probability of an occurrence is the same in any two time periods of an equal length. It is known that the mean number
of occurrences in ten minutes is 5.3. The probability that there are less than 3 occurrences is
a. .0659.
b. .0948.
c. .1016.
d. .1239.

56. The probability distribution for the daily sales at Michael's Co. is given below.
Daily Sales
(In $1,000s) Probability
40 0.1
50 0.4
60 0.3
70 0.2
The probability of having sales of no more than $60,000 is
a. 0.7.
b. 0.2.
c. 0.8.
d. 0.5.

57. The probability distribution for the daily sales at Michael's Co. is given below.
Daily Sales
(In $1,000s) Probability
40 0.1
50 0.4
60 0.3
70 0.2
The probability of having sales of at least $50,000 is
a. 0.5
b. 0.10.
c. 0.30.
d. 0.90.

58. The probability distribution for the number of goals the Lions soccer team makes per game is given below.
Number
Of Goals Probability
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
0 0.05
1 0.15
2 0.35
3 0.30
4 0.15
What is the probability that in a given game the Lions will score at least 1 goal?
a. 0.20.
b. 0.55.
c. 1.0.
d. 0.95.

59. Oriental Reproductions, Inc. is a company that produces handmade carpets with oriental designs. The production
records show that the monthly production has ranged from 1 to 5 carpets. The production levels and their respective
probabilities are shown below.
Production
Per Month Probability
1 0.01
2 0.04
3 0.10
4 0.80
5 0.05
The expected monthly production level is
a. 1.00.
b. 4.00.
c. 3.00.
d. 3.84.

60. Oriental Reproductions, Inc. is a company that produces handmade carpets with oriental designs. The production
records show that the monthly production has ranged from 1 to 5 carpets. The production levels and their respective
probabilities are shown below.
Production
Per Month Probability
1 0.01
2 0.04
3 0.10
4 0.80
5 0.05
The standard deviation for the production is
a. 4.32.
b. 3.74.
c. 0.374.
d. 0.612.

61. Thirty-six percent of the students in a management class are graduate students. A random sample of 5 students is
selected. Using the binomial probability function, determine the probability that the sample contains exactly 2 graduate
students? (Round to four decimal places.)
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions

62. Seventy-five percent of the students applying to a university are accepted. Using the binomial probability tables,
what is the probability that among the next 18 applicants
a. At least 6 will be accepted?
b. Exactly 10 will be accepted?
c. Exactly 8 will be rejected?
d. Fifteen or more will be accepted?
e. Determine the expected number of acceptances.
f. Compute the standard deviation.

63. General Hospital has noted that they admit an average of 7 patients per hour.
a. What is the probability that during the next hour less than 3 patients will be admitted?
b. What is the probability that during the next two hours exactly 7 patients will be admitted?

64. The demand for a product varies from month to month. Based on the past year's data, the following probability
distribution shows MNM company's monthly demand.
x f(x)
Unit Demand Probability
0 0.10
1,000 0.20
2,000 0.25
3,000 0.35
4,000 0.10
a. Determine the expected number of units demanded per month.
Each unit produced costs the company $8.00, and is sold for $10.00. How much will the
b. company gain or lose in a month if they stock the expected number of units demanded, but sell
2000 units?

65. Thirty-five percent of the fish in a tank are guppies. A random sample of 7 fish is selected.
a. What is the probability that the sample contains exactly 4 guppies?
b. What is the probability that the sample contains fewer than 2 guppies?
c. What is the probability that the sample contains exactly 1 non-guppy?
d. What is the expected number of guppies in the sample?
e. What is the variance of the guppies?

66. A salesperson contacts eight potential customers per day. From past experience, we know that the probability of a
potential customer making a purchase is .10.
a. What is the probability that the salesperson will make at least exactly two sales in a day?
b. What is the probability that the salesperson will make at least two sales in a day?
c. What percentage of days will the salesperson not make a sale?
d. What is the expected number of sales per day?

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
67. A life insurance company has determined that each week an average of seven claims is filed in its Nashville branch.
a. What is the probability that during the next week exactly seven claims will be filed?
b. What is the probability that during the next week no claims will be filed?
c. What is the probability that during the next week fewer than four claims will be filed?
d. What is the probability that during the next week at least seventeen claims will be filed?

68. When a particular machine is functioning properly, 85% of the items produced are non-defective. If three items are
examined, what is the probability that one is defective? Use the binomial probability function to answer this question.

69. Ten percent of the items produced by a machine are defective. Out of 15 items chosen at random,
a. what is the probability that exactly 3 items will be defective?
b. what is the probability that less than 3 items will be defective?
c. what is the probability that exactly 11 items will be non-defective?

70. The student body of a large university consists of 30% Business majors. A random sample of 20 students is selected.
a. What is the probability that among the students in the sample at least 10 are Business majors?
b. What is the probability that at least 16 are not Business majors?
c. What is the probability that exactly 10 are Business majors?
d. What is the probability that exactly 12 are not Business majors?

71. Shoppers enter Hamilton Place Mall at an average of 120 per hour.
a. What is the probability that exactly 5 shoppers will enter the mall between noon and 12:05 p.m.?
b. What is the probability that at least 35 shoppers will enter the mall between 5:00 and 5:10 p.m.?

72. A production process produces 90% non-defective parts. A sample of 10 parts from the production process is
selected.
a. What is the probability that the sample will contain 7 non-defective parts?
b. What is the probability that the sample will contain at least 4 defective parts?
c. What is the probability that the sample will contain less than 5 non-defective parts?
d. What is the probability that the sample will contain no defective parts?

73. Fifty-five percent of the applications received for a particular credit card are accepted. Among the next twelve
applications,
a. what is the probability that all will be rejected?
b. what is the probability that all will be accepted?
c. what is the probability that exactly 4 will be accepted?
d. what is the probability that fewer than 3 will be accepted?
e. Determine the expected number and the variance of the accepted applications.

74. The probability distribution of the daily demand for a product is shown below.
Demand Probability
0 0.05
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
1 0.10
2 0.15
3 0.30
4 0.25
5 0.10
6 0.05
a. What is the expected number of units demanded per day?
b. Determine the variance and the standard deviation.

75. In a large corporation, 47% of the employees are male. A random sample of five employees is selected. Use the
Binomial probability tables to answer the following questions.
a. What is the probability that the sample contains exactly three male employees?
b. What is the probability that the sample contains no male employees?
c. What is the probability that the sample contains more than three female employees?
d. What is the expected number of female employees in the sample?

76. For the following probability distribution:

x f(x)
0 0.01
1 0.02
2 0.10
3 0.35
4 0.20
5 0.11
6 0.08
7 0.05
8 0.04
9 0.03
10 0.01
a. Determine E(x).
b. Determine the variance and the standard deviation.

77. A random variable x has the following probability distribution:

x f(x)
0 0.08
1 0.27
2 0.35
3 0.25
4 0.05
a. Determine the expected value of x.
b. Determine the variance.

78. A company sells its products to wholesalers in batches of 1,000 units only. The daily demand for its product and the
respective probabilities are given below.
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
Demand (Units) Probability
0 0.2
1000 0.2
2000 0.3
3000 0.2
4000 0.1
a. Determine the expected daily demand.
Assume that the company sells its product at $3.75 per unit. What is the expected daily
b.
revenue?

79. The records of a department store show that 20% of its customers who make a purchase, return the merchandise in
order to exchange it. In the next six purchases,
a. what is the probability that three customers will return the merchandise for exchange?
b. what is the probability that four customers will return the merchandise for exchange?
c. what is the probability that none of the customers will return the merchandise for exchange?

80. In a large university, 55% of the students are female. If a random sample of twenty students is selected,
a. what is the probability that the sample contains exactly four female students?
b. what is the probability that the sample will contain exactly 17 female students?
c. what is the probability that the sample will contain exactly twenty female students?
d. what is the probability that the sample will contain more than nine female students?
e. what is the probability that the sample will contain fewer than five female students?
f. what is the expected number of female students?

81. In a southern state, it was revealed that 5% of all automobiles in the state did not pass inspection. Of the next ten
automobiles entering the inspection station,
a. what is the probability that none will pass inspection?
b. what is the probability that all will pass inspection?
c. what is the probability that exactly two will not pass inspection?
d. what is the probability that more than three will not pass inspection?
e. what is the probability that fewer than two will not pass inspection?
f. Find the expected number of automobiles not passing inspection.
g. Determine the standard deviation for the number of cars not passing inspection.

82. The random variable x has the following probability distribution:

x f(x)
0 .25
1 .20
2 .15
3 .25
4 .15
Is this probability distribution valid? Explain and list the requirements for a valid probability
a.
distribution.
b. Calculate the expected value of x.
c. Calculate the variance of x.
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
d. Calculate the standard deviation of x.

83. The probability function for the number of insurance policies John will sell to a customer is given by

f(X) = .5 - (X/6) for X = 0, 1, or 2

a. Is this a valid probability function? Explain your answer.
b. What is the probability that John will sell exactly 2 policies to a customer?
c. What is the probability that John will sell at least 2 policies to a customer?
d. What is the expected number of policies John will sell?
e. What is the variance of the number of policies John will sell?

84. The probability distribution for the rate of return on an investment is

Rate of Return
(In Percent) Probability
9.5 .1
9.8 .2
10.0 .3
10.2 .3
10.6 .1
a. What is the probability that the rate of return will be at least 10%?
b. What is the expected rate of return?
c. What is the variance of the rate of return?

85. In a large university, 75% of students live in dormitories. A random sample of 5 students is selected. Use the binomial
probability tables to answer the following questions.
What is the probability that the sample contains exactly three students who live in the
a.
dormitories?
b. What is the probability that the sample contains no students who lives in the dormitories?
What is the probability that the sample contains more than three students who do not live in the
c.
dormitories?
d. What is the expected number of students (in the sample) who do not live in the dormitories?

86. A manufacturing company has 5 identical machines that produce nails. The probability that a machine will break
down on any given day is .1. Define a random variable X to be the number of machines that will break down in a day.
a. What is the appropriate probability distribution for X?
b. Compute the probability that 4 machines will break down.
c. Compute the probability that at least 4 machines will break down.
d. What is the expected number of machines that will break down in a day?
e. What is the variance of the number of machines that will break down in a day?

87. On the average, 8.2 cars arrive at the drive-up window of a bank every hour. Define the random variable x to be the
number of cars arriving in any hour.
What is the appropriate probability distribution for x? Explain how x satisfies the properties of
a.
the distribution.
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
b. Compute the probability that exactly 5 cars will arrive in the next hour.
c. Compute the probability that no more than 4 cars will arrive in the next hour.

88. Twenty-five percent of all resumes received by a corporation for a management position are from recent college
graduates. Eighteen resumes were received on a particular day.
a. What is the probability that exactly 5 of the resumes are from recent college graduates?
b. What is the probability that fewer than 3 of the resumes are from recent college graduates?
c. What is the expected number of resumes from recent college graduates?
d. What is the variance of the number of resumes from recent college graduates?

89. The average number of calls received by a switchboard in a 30-minute period is 18.
What is the probability that between 10:00 and 10:30 the switchboard will receive exactly 15
a.
calls?
What is the probability that between 10:00 and 10:30 the switchboard will receive more than
b.
12 calls but fewer than 20 calls?
What is the probability that between 10:00 and 10:30 the switchboard will receive fewer than
c.
10 calls?

90. Two percent of the parts produced by a machine are defective. Twenty parts are selected at random. Use the binomial
probability tables to answer the following questions.
a. What is the probability that exactly 3 parts will be defective?
b. What is the probability that the number of defective parts will be more than 2 but fewer than 6?
c. What is the probability that fewer than 4 parts will be defective?
d. What is the expected number of defective parts?
e. What is the variance for the number of defective parts?

91. Compute the hypergeometric probabilities for the following values of n and x. Assume N = 8 and r = 5.
a. n = 5, x = 2
b. n = 6, x = 4
c. n = 3, x = 0
d. n = 3, x = 3

92. Seven students have applied for merit scholarships. This year 3 merit scholarships were awarded. If a random sample
of 3 applications (from the population of 7) is selected,
a. what is the probability that 2 students were recipients of scholarships?
b. what is the probability that no students were the recipients of scholarship?

93. Determine the probability of being dealt 4 kings in a 5-card poker hand.

94. Twenty percent of the applications received for a particular position are rejected. What is the probability that among
the next fourteen applications,
a. none will be rejected?
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
b. all will be rejected?
c. less than 2 will be rejected?
d. more than four will be rejected?
e. Determine the expected number of rejected applications and its variance.

95. An insurance company has determined that each week an average of nine claims are filed in their Atlanta branch.
What is the probability that during the next week
a. exactly seven claims will be filed?
b. no claims will be filed?
c. less than four claims will be filed?
d. at least eighteen claims will be filed?

96. A local university reports that 10% of their students take their general education courses on a pass/fail basis. Assume
that twenty students are registered for a general education course.
a. What is the expected number of students who have registered on a pass/fail basis?
b. What is the probability that exactly five are registered on a pass/fail basis?
c. What is the probability that more than four are registered on a pass/fail basis?
d. What is the probability that less than two are registered on a pass/fail basis?

97. Only 0.02% of credit card holders of a company report the loss or theft of their credit cards each month. The company
has 15,000 credit cards in the city of Memphis. Use the Poisson probability tables to answer the following questions.
What is the probability that during the next month in the city of Memphis
a. no one reports the loss or theft of his or her credit cards?
b. every credit card is lost or stolen?
c. six people report the loss or theft of their cards?
d. at least nine people report the loss or theft of their cards?
e. Determine the expected number of reported lost or stolen credit cards.
f. Determine the standard deviation for the number of reported lost or stolen cards.

98. A production process produces 2% defective parts. A sample of 5 parts from the production is selected. What is the
probability that the sample contains exactly two defective parts? Use the binomial probability function and show your
computations to answer this question.

99. A retailer of electronic equipment received six VCRs from the manufacturer. Three of the VCRs were damaged in the
shipment. The retailer sold two VCRs to two customers.
a. Can a binomial formula be used for the solution of the above problem?
What kind of probability distribution does the above satisfy, and is there a function for solving
b.
such problems?
c. What is the probability that both customers received damaged VCRs?
d. What is the probability that one of the two customers received a defective VCR?

100. The management of a grocery store has kept a record of bad checks received per day for a period of 200 days. The
data are shown below.
Number of Bad
Checks Received Number of Days
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
0 8
1 12
2 20
3 60
4 40
5 30
6 20
7 10
a. Develop a probability distribution for the above data.
Is the probability distribution that you found in Part “a” a proper probability distribution?
b.
Explain.
c. Determine the cumulative probability distribution f(x).
d. What is the probability that in a given day the store receives four or less bad checks?
e. What is the probability that in a given day the store receives more than 3 bad checks?

101. The following probability distribution represents the number of grievances filed per month with the MNM.
Corporation.
x f(x)
0 0.04
1 0.36
2 0.50
3 0.08
4 0.02
a. Determine the expected value of the number of grievances in a month.
b. Determine the variance.
c. Compute the standard deviation.

102. The number of bad checks received per day by a store and the respective probabilities are shown below.
Number of Bad Checks
Received Per Day Probability
0 0.04
1 0.06
2 0.10
3 0.30
4 0.20
5 0.15
6 0.10
7 0.05
a. What is the expected number of bad checks received per day?
b. Determine the variance in the number of bad checks received per day.
c. What is the standard deviation?

103. A cosmetics salesperson, who calls potential customers to sell her products, has determined that 30% of her
telephone calls result in a sale. Determine the probability distribution for her next three calls. Note that the next three calls
could result in 0, 1, 2, or 3 sales.

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
104. The following table shows part of the probability distribution for a random variable x.
x f(x)
0 0.2
1 ?
2 0.15
3 ?
4 0.15
a. The mean of the above distribution is known to be 1.8 (i.e., E(x) = 1.8). Determine f(1) and f(3).
b. Compute the variance and the standard deviation for the above probability distribution.

105. The following table shows part of the probability distribution for the number of boats sold daily at Boats Unlimited.
It is known that the average number of boats sold daily is 1.57.
x f(x)
0 0.20
1 0.30
2 0.32
3 ?
4 0.05
5 0.02
Compute the variance and the standard deviation for this probability distribution.

106. Random variable x has the probability function: f(x) = x/6 for x = 1,2 or 3. The expected value of x is
a. 0.333.
b. 0.500.
c. 2.000.
d. 2.333.

107. The number of electrical outages in a city varies from day to day. Assume that the number of electrical outages (x) in
the city has the following probability distribution.
x f(x)
0 0.80
1 0.15
2 0.04
3 0.01
The mean and the standard deviation for the number of electrical outages (respectively) are

a. 2.6 and 5.77.

b. 0.26 and 0.577.
c. 3 and 0.01.
d. 0 and 0.8.

108. In a binomial experiment the probability of success is 0.16. What is the probability of two successes in seven trials?
a. 0.7752

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
b. 0.0866
c. 0.2248
d. 0.9134

109. A production process produces 3% defective parts. A sample of five parts from the production process is selected.
What is the probability that the sample contains exactly two defective parts?
a. 0.9918
b. 0.0082
c. 0.0003
d. 0.9997

110. Assume that you have a binomial experiment with p = 0.4 and a sample size of 50. The variance of this distribution is
a. 20.
b. 12.
c. 3.46.
d. 2.83.

111. The binomial probability distribution is most symmetric when

a. n is 30 or greater.
b. n equals p.
c. p approaches 1.
d. p equals 0.5.

112. If one wanted to find the probability of ten customer arrivals in an hour at a service station, one would generally use
the _____ probability distribution.
a. binomial
b. Poisson
c. hypergeometric
d. exponential

113. The _____ probability function is based in part on the counting rule for combinations.
a. binomial
b. Poisson
c. hypergeometric
d. exponential

114. To compute the probability that in a random sample of n elements, selected without replacement, we will obtain x
successes, we would use the _____ probability distribution.
a. binomial
b. Poisson
c. hypergeometric
d. exponential
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions

115. Experimental outcomes that are based on measurement scales such as time, weight, and distance can be described by
_____ random variables.
a. discrete
b. continuous
c. uniform
d. intermittent

116. Which of the following properties of a binomial experiment is called the stationarity assumption?
a. The experiment consists of n identical trials.
b. Two outcomes are possible on each trial.
c. The probability of success is the same for each trial.
d. The trials are independent.

117. A name closely associated with the binomial probability distribution is

a. Bernoulli.
b. de Moivre.
c. Pareto.
d. Poisson.

118. The use of the relative frequency method to develop discrete probability distributions leads to what is called a
_____ discrete distribution.
a. binomial
b. empirical
c. non-uniform
d. uniform

119. Experiments with repeated independent trials will be described by the binomial distribution if
a. the trials are continuous.
b. each trial result influences the next.
c. the time between trials is constant.
d. each trial has exactly two outcomes whose probabilities do not change.

120. The probability distribution for the number of goals the Lions soccer team makes per game is given below.
Number of Goals Probability
0 0.05
1 0.15
2 0.30
3 0.25
4 0.15
The expected number of goals per game is
a. 2.
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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
b. 2.33.
c. 2.5.
d. 1.1.

121. The probability distribution for the number of goals the Lions soccer team makes per game is given below.
Number of Goals Probability
0 0.05
1 0.15
2 0.35
3 0.30
4 0.15
What is the probability that in a given game the Lions will score less than 2 goals?
a. .20
b. .50
c. .15
d. .80

122. The probability distribution for the daily sales at Michael's Co. is given below.
Daily Sales ($1,000s) Probability
40 0.2
50 0.4
60 0.3
70 0.1
The expected daily sales are
a. $53,000.
b. $55,000.
c. $50,000.
d. $60,000.

123. The mean number of pages per day written by an author is 27. What is the probability this author writes 33 pages on
a particular day? Assume a Poisson distribution for this scenario.
a. 0.0372.
b. 0.9628.
c. 0.4277.
d. 0.9572.

124. A binomial probability distribution with p = .3 is

a. negatively skewed.
b. symmetric.
c. positively skewed.
d. multi-modal.

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Chapter 05 - Discrete Probability Distributions
125. In a binomial experiment consisting of five trials, the number of different values that x (the number of successes) can
assume is
a. 2.
b. 5.
c. 6.
d. 10.

126. The weight of an object, measured to the nearest gram, is an example of a _____ random variable.
a. continuous
b. discrete
c. nominal
d. mixed type

127. The probability distribution for the number of goals the Lions soccer team makes per game is given below.
Number
Of Goals Probability
0 0.05
1 0.15
2 0.30
3 0.25
4 0.15
What is the probability that in a given game the Lions do not score more than 2 goals?
a. 0.20
b. 0.50
c. 1.0
d. 0.70

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