Chapter 5 Discrete Probability Distributions True or False
Chapter 5 Discrete Probability Distributions True or False
True/False
4. The probability of a particular outcome, designated X, must always be between 0 and 100 inclusive.
Answer: False Difficulty: Easy Goal: 1
5. If we toss two coins and count the number of heads, there could be 0, 1 or 2 heads. Since the exact
number of heads resulting from this experiment is due to chance, the number of heads appearing is a
random variable.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2
6. If Unique Buying Services has 100 employees, there might be 0, 1, 2, 3 up to 100 employees absent on
Monday. In this case, the day of the week is the random variable.
Answer: False Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2 AACSB: AS
7. A discrete random variable can have only certain clearly separated values.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2
8. A discrete variable may assume fractional or decimal values, but they must have distance between
them.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2
9. For a binomial distribution, each trial has a known number of successes. For example, a four question
multiple-choice test can only have zero, one, two, three and four successes (number correct).
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
10. The random variable for a Poisson probability distribution can assume an infinite number of values.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 6
12. To construct a binomial probability distribution, the number of trials and the probability of success
must be known.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
14. If we measure the weight of a car, the variable is a discrete random variable.
Answer: False Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2
15. A binomial distribution has a characteristic that the trials are independent, which means that the
outcome of one trial does not affect the outcome of any other trial.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
16. For a binomial distribution, outcomes of an experiment are classified into one of two mutually
exclusive categories (a success or a failure).
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
17. For a binomial distribution, the probability of a success stays the same for each trial, but the
probability of a failure varies from trial to trial.
Answer: False Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
18. For a binomial distribution, the data collected are the result of counts.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
19. When sampling is done without replacement and the outcomes are measured as either a success or
failure, the hypergeometric distribution should be applied.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 5
20. A Poisson distribution is a discrete probability distribution. It has the same four characteristics as the
binomial, but in addition, the probability of a success is small and the number of trials is relatively large.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 6
24. The binomial and Poisson distributions are discrete probability distributions.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4, 6
25. To construct a binomial distribution, it is necessary to know the total number of trials and the
probability of success on each trial.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
26. If the probability of success ( ) remains the same, but n increases, the shape of the binomial
distribution becomes more symmetrical.
Answer: True Difficulty: Medium Goal: 4
30. As a general rule of thumb, if the items selected for a sample are not replaced and the sample size is
less than 5 percent of the population, the binomial distribution can be used to approximate the
hypergeometric distribution.
Answer: True Difficulty: Medium Goal: 5 AACSB: REF
31. In a Poisson distribution, the probability of success may vary from trial to trial.
Answer: False Difficulty: Easy Goal: 6
34. The expected value of summing two random variables is the sum of their expected values.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: Covariance
35. If the covariance between two random variables is zero, the two variables are related.
Answer: False Difficulty: Easy Goal: Covariance
36. The variance of the sum of two random variables is the sum of their variances plus two times the
covariance.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: Covariance
37. If the covariance between two random variables is zero, the two variables are not related.
Answer: True Difficulty: Easy Goal: Covariance
Multiple Choice
38. If the variance of a probability was computed to be 3.6 grams, what is the standard deviation?
A) 0.6
B) 1.9
C) 6.0
D) 12.96
Answer: B Difficulty: Easy Goal: 3
39. Sixty percent of the customers of a fast food chain order the Whopper, french fries and a drink. If a
random sample of 15 cash register receipts is selected, what is the probability that 10 or more will show
that the above three food items were ordered?
A) 1,000
B) 0.186
C) 0.403
D) 0.000
Answer: C Difficulty: Medium Goal: 4 AACSB: AS
41. The probabilities and the number of automobiles lined up at a Lakeside Olds at opening time (7:30
a.m.) for service are:
N u m b er P rob ab ility
1 0 .0 5
2 0 .3 0
3 0 .4 0
4 0 .2 5
On a typical day, how many automobiles should Lakeside Olds expect to be lined up at opening?
A) 10.00
B) 1.00
C) 2.85
D) 1.96
Answer: C Difficulty: Medium Goal: 3
42. On a very hot summer day, 5 percent of the production employees at Midland States Steel are absent
from work. The production employees are randomly selected for a special in-depth study on absenteeism.
What is the probability of randomly selecting 10 production employees on a hot summer day and finding
that none of them are absent?
A) 0.002
B) 0.344
C) 0.599
D) 0.100
Answer: C Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
43. The marketing department of a nationally known cereal maker plans to conduct a national survey to
find out whether or not consumers of flake cereals can distinguish one of their favorite flake cereals. To
test the questionnaire and procedure to be used, eight persons were asked to cooperate in an experiment.
Five very small bowls of flake cereals were placed in front of a person. The bowls were labeled A, B, C,
D and E. The person was informed that only one bowl contained his or her favorite flake cereal. Suppose
that the eight persons in the experiment were unable to identify their favorite cereal and just guessed
which bowl it was in. What is the probability that none of the eight guessed correctly?
A) 0.168
B) 0.009
C) 0.788
D) 0.125
Answer: A Difficulty: Hard Goal: 5 AACSB: AS
45. Sweetwater & Associates write weekend trip insurance at a very nominal charge. Records show that
the probability that a motorist will have an accident during the weekend and file a claim is 0.0005.
Suppose they wrote 400 policies for the coming weekend, what is the probability that exactly two claims
will be filed?
A) 0.8187
B) 0.2500
C) 0.0164
D) 0.0001
Answer: C Difficulty: Medium Goal: 6
46. In which of the following discrete distribution does the probability of a success vary from one trial to
the next?
A) Binomial
B) Poisson
C) Hypergeometric
D) All of the above
Answer: C Difficulty: Medium Goal: 5
47. Which of the following is a requirement for use of the hypergeometric distribution?
A) Only 2 possible outcomes
B) Trials are independent
C) Probability of a success is greater than 1.0
D) All of the above
Answer: A Difficulty: Medium Goal: 5
48. What is a listing of all possible outcomes of an experiment and their corresponding probability of
occurrence called?
A) Random variable
B) Probability distribution
C) Subjective probability
D) Frequency distribution
Answer: B Difficulty: Easy Goal: 1
52. Sponsors of a local charity decided to attract wealthy patrons to its $500-a-plate dinner by allowing
each patron to buy a set of 20 tickets for the gaming tables. The chance of winning a prize for each of the
20 plays is 50-50. If you bought 20 tickets, what is the chance of winning 15 or more prizes?
A) 0.250
B) 0.021
C) 0.006
D) 0.750
Answer: B Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
53. What kind of distribution are the binomial and Poisson distributions?
A) Discrete
B) Continuous
C) Both discrete and continuous
D) Neither discrete or continuous
Answer: A Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2 AACSB: CA
56. Carlson Jewelers permits the return of their diamond wedding rings, provided the return occurs
within two weeks of the purchase date. Their records reveal that 10 percent of the diamond wedding rings
are returned. Five different customers buy five rings. What is the probability that none will be returned?
A) 0.250
B) 0.073
C) 0.590
D) 0.500
E) 0.372
Answer: C Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
57. In a large metropolitan area, past records revealed that 30 percent of all the high school graduates go
to college. From 20 graduates selected at random, what is the probability that exactly 8 will go to
college?
A) 0.114
B) 0.887
C) 0.400
D) 0.231
Answer: A Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
58. Chances are 50-50 that a newborn baby will be a girl. For families with five children, what is the
probability that all the children are girls?
A) 0.900
B) 0.031
C) 0.001
D) 0.250
Answer: B Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
59. A new car was put into production. It involved many assembly tasks. Each car was inspected at the
end of the assembly line and the number of defects per unit was recorded. For the first 100 cars
produced, there were 40 defective cars. Some of the cars had no defects; a few had one defect, and so on.
The distribution of defects followed a Poisson distribution. Based on the first 100 produced, about how
many out of every 1,000 cars assembled should have one or more defects?
A) About 660
B) About 165
C) About 630
D) About 330
Answer: D Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6 AACSB: AS
61. A manufacturer of headache medicine claims it is 70 percent effective within a few minutes. That is,
out of every 100 users 70 get relief within a few minutes. A group of 12 patients are given the medicine.
If the claim is true, what is the probability that 8 have relief within a few minutes?
A) 0.001
B) 0.168
C) 0.667
D) 0.231
Answer: D Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
62. A true-false test consists of six questions. If you guess the answer to each question, what is the
probability of getting all six questions correct?
A) 0
B) 0.016
C) 0.062
D) 0.250
Answer: B Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
63. A farmer who grows genetically engineered corn is experiencing trouble with corn borers. A random
check of 5,000 ears revealed the following: many of the ears contained no borers. Some ears had one
borer; a few had two borers; and so on. The distribution of the number of borers per ear approximated the
Poisson distribution. The farmer counted 3,500 borers in the 5,000 ears. What is the probability that an
ear of corn selected at random will contain no borers?
A) 0.3476
B) 0.4966
C) 1.000
D) 0.0631
Answer: B Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
65. A machine shop has 100 drill presses and other machines in constant use. The probability that a
machine will become inoperative during a given day is 0.002. During some days no machines are
inoperative, but during some days, one, two, three or more are broken down. What is the probability that
fewer than two machines will be inoperative during a particular day?
A) 0.0200
B) 0.1637
C) 0.8187
D) 0.9824
Answer: D Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
Fill-in-the-Blank
72. How many possible experimental outcomes do the binomial distribution and the Poisson distribution
have? _______
Answer: two Difficulty: Easy Goal: 6
73. What type of population consists of a fixed number of individuals, objects, or measurements?
___________
Answer: finite Difficulty: Medium Goal: 1
74. A probability distribution is a listing of the expected outcomes of an experiment and the probability
of each outcome occurring. What is the sum of the probabilities? _____
Answer: one Difficulty: Easy Goal: 1
76. A probability distribution shows the outcomes of an experiment and the ___________________ of
each one occurring.
Answer: probability Difficulty: Easy Goal: 1
79. A binomial probability distribution approaches a greater degree of symmetry as the probability of
success remains constant and the number of trials becomes ____________
Answer: larger or greater Difficulty: Medium Goal: 4
80. The Poisson distribution or, the law of improbable events, is _______________ skewed.
Answer: positively Difficulty: Medium Goal: 6
81. If = 1/3 and n = 900, what is the mean of this binomial distribution? ______________
Answer: 300 Difficulty: Medium Goal: 4
82. If = 1/5 and n = 100, what is the standard deviation of this binomial distribution? _______
Answer: four Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
83. If n = 900 and = 1/3, what is the variance of this binomial distribution? ________
Answer: 200 Difficulty: Medium Goal: 4
84. A _______________ random variable can assume only a certain number of separated values.
Answer: discrete Difficulty: Medium Goal: 2
85. A continuous random variable can assume one of an ____________ number of values within a
specific range.
Answer: infinite Difficulty: Medium Goal: 2
87. For the hypergeometric distribution there are ________________ possible outcomes.
Answer: only 2 Difficulty: Medium Goal: 5
88. A random variable with a Poisson distribution has one of _______ mutually exclusive values.
Answer: two Difficulty: Medium Goal: 6
90. The arrival of customers at a service desk follows a Poisson distribution. If they arrive at a rate of
two every five minutes, what is the probability that no customers arrive in a five-minute period? ______
Answer: 0.1353 Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
91. The arrival of customers at a service desk follows a Poisson distribution. If they arrive at a rate of
four every five minutes, what is the probability that more than four customers arrive in a five minute
period?_________
Answer: 0.3711 Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
92. What is the probability that exactly ten customers will ask for hot peppers? _______
Answer: 0.015 Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
93. What is the probability that between two and six people inclusive want hot peppers? ________
Answer: 0.708 Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
94. What is the probability that fifteen or more customers will want hot peppers? ____________
Answer: 0.0000 Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
97. What is the probability that no more than twenty pay in cash?
A) 0.0
B) 0.1
C) 0.9
D) 1.0
Answer: D Difficulty: Medium Goal: 4
98. What is the probability that more than ten and less than fifteen customers pay in cash?
A) 0.541
B) 0.401
C) 0.380
D) 0.562
Answer: C Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
Fill-in-the-Blank
102. What is the probability that exactly one woman is selected? ________
Answer: 8/15 or 0.5333 Difficulty: Hard Goal: 5
Multiple Choice
104. What is the probability that on a randomly selected day she will have no messages?
A) 0.0067
B) zero
C) 0.0335
D) Impossible to have no messages
Answer: A Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
105. What is the probability that on a randomly selected day she will have five messages?
A) 0.0067
B) 0.875
C) 0.175
D) 1.0
Answer: C Difficulty: Hard Goal: 6
N u m b er of d ay s a b sen t P ro b a b ility
0 0 .6 0
1 0 .2 0
2 0 .1 2
3 0 .0 4
4 0 .0 4
5 0
109. Given the probability distribution, which of the following predictions is correct?
A) 60% of the employees will have more than one day absent for a month
B) There is a 0.04 probability that an employee will be absent 1 day during a month
C) There is a 0.12 probability that an employee will be absent 2 days during a month
D) There is a 0.50 probability that an employee will be absent 0.72 days during a month.
Answer: C Difficulty: Easy Goal: 1
Reference: 06_05
Use the following to answer questions 110-113:
A company is studying the number of daily debit card purchases. If there were 20 purchases and the
probability of a debit card purchase is 0.5, answer the following questions.
110. Of the 20 purchases, what is the expected value of the number of debit card purchases?
_________________
Answer: 10 purchases Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
111. What is the standard deviation of the number of debit card purchases? ____
Answer: 2.24 Difficulty: Easy Goal: 4
113. Based on the shape of the distribution, approximately 99.7 % of the purchases should be between
_______ and _________.
Answer: 10 Plus or minus 3(2.24) or 3 and 17. Difficulty: Hard Goal: 4
Essay