ENGINEERING DATA ANALYSIS

EDA 101
PROBLEM SET
Continuous Probability Distribution
Engr. Clarisse Hope Rico

President Ramon Magsaysay State University

Instruction: Choose 5 questions to solve in a clean A4 size bond paper. Write first the question followed by
the solution. Submit on January 6, 2023.
 President Ramon Magsaysay State University
(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
EDA 101 ENGINEERING DATA ANALYSIS
1. Suppose that f ( x)=e−x for 0< x . Determine the following:
a. P(1< X )
b. P(1< X < 2.5)
c. P( X =3)
d. P( X < 4)
e. P(3 ≤ X )
f. x such that P(x < X )=0.10
g. x such that P(X ≤ x)=0.10

3 2
2. Suppose that for a random variable X, f ( x )= (8 x−x ) , 0< x <8 for some number k .
k
a. Find the value of k so that f ( x) is a density function.
b. Determine the cumulative distribution function of X .
c. Use the cumulative distribution function to determine P ¿].

3. A test instrument needs to be calibrated periodically to prevent measurement errors. After some time of
use without calibration, it is known that the probability density function of the measurement error
is f (x )=1−0.5 x for 0< x <2 millimeters.
a. If the measurement error within 0.5 millimeters is acceptable, what is the probability that the error is
not acceptable before calibration?
b. What is the value of measurement error exceeded with probability 0.2 before calibration?

600
4. The thickness of a conductive coating in micrometers has a density function of for
x2
100 μm< x <120 μm. Determine the mean and variance of the coating thickness.

5. The thickness of photoresist applied to wafers in semiconductor manufacturing at a particular location on

the wafer is uniformly distributed between 0.2050 and 0.2150 micrometers. Determine the following:
a. Cumulative distribution function of photoresist thickness
b. Proportion of wafers that exceeds 0.2125 micrometers in photoresist thickness
c. Thickness exceeded by 10% of the wafers
d. Mean and variance of photoresist thickness

6. The compressive strength of samples of cement can be modeled by a normal distribution with a mean of
6000 kilograms per square centimeter and a standard deviation of 100 kilograms per square centimeter.
a. What is the probability that a sample’s strength is less than 6250 kg /c m2?
b. What is the probability that a sample’s strength is between 5800 and 5900 kg /c m2?
c. What strength is exceeded by 95% of the samples?

7. The tensile strength of paper is modeled by a normal distribution with a mean of 35 pounds per square
inch and a standard deviation of 2 pounds per square inch.
 President Ramon Magsaysay State University
(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
EDA 101 ENGINEERING DATA ANALYSIS
a. What is the probability that the strength of a sample is less than 40 lb /i n2?
b. If the specifications require the tensile strength to exceed 30 lb/i n2, what proportion of the samples is
scrapped?

8. The distance between major cracks in a highway follows an exponential distribution with a mean of five
miles.
a. What is the probability that there are no major cracks in a 10-mile stretch of the highway?
b. What is the probability that the first major crack occurs between 12 and 15 miles of the start of in-
spection?
c. Given that there are no cracks in the first five miles inspected, what is the probability that there are no
major cracks in the next 10 miles inspected?

9. The CPU of a personal computer has a lifetime that is exponentially distributed with a mean lifetime of
six years. You have owned this CPU for three years.
a. What is the probability that the CPU fails in the next three years?
b. Assume that your corporation has owned 10 CPUs for three years, and assume that the CPUs fail in-
dependently. What is the probability that at least one fails within the next three years?

10. A subway train on the Red Line arrives every eight minutes during rush hour. We are interested in
the length of time a commuter must wait for a train to arrive. The time follows a uniform distribution.
a. Define the random variable. X = _______
b. Graph the probability distribution.
c. f ¿ ) = _______
d. μ = _______
e. σ = _______
f. Find the probability that the commuter waits less than one minute.
g. Find the probability that the commuter waits between three and four minutes.

11. The time (in years) after reaching age 60 that it takes an individual to retire is approximately expo-
nentially distributed with a mean of about five years. Suppose we randomly pick one retired individual.
We are interested in the time after age 60 to retirement.
a. Define the random variable. X = _________________________________.
b. Is X continuous or discrete?
c. μ = ________
d. σ = ________
e. Draw a graph of the probability distribution. Label the axes.
f. Find the probability that the person retired after age 70.
g. Do more people retire before age 65 or after age 65?
h. In a room of 1,000 people over age 80, how many do you expect will NOT have retired yet?

12. At an urgent care facility, patients arrive at an average rate of one patient every seven minutes. As-
sume that the duration between arrivals is exponentially distributed.
 President Ramon Magsaysay State University
(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
EDA 101 ENGINEERING DATA ANALYSIS
a. Find the probability that the time between two successive visits to the urgent care facility is less than 2
minutes.
b. Find the probability that the time between two successive visits to the urgent care facility is more than
15 minutes.
c. If 10 minutes have passed since the last arrival, what is the probability that the next person will arrive
within the next five minutes?
d. Find the probability that more than eight patients arrive during a half-hour period.

13. The percent of fat calories that a person in America consumes each day is normally distributed with a
mean of about 36 and a standard deviation of 10. Suppose that one individual is randomly chosen.
Let X = percent of fat calories.
a. X _____(_____,_____)
b. Find the probability that the percent of fat calories a person consumes is more than 40. Graph the situ-
ation. Shade in the area to be determined.
c. Find the maximum number for the lower quarter of percent of fat calories. Sketch the graph and write
the probability statement.

14. A $1 scratch off lotto ticket will be a winner one out of five times. Out of a shipment of n=190 lotto
tickets, find the probability for the lotto tickets that there are
a. somewhere between 34 and 54 prizes.
b. somewhere between 54 and 64 prizes.
c. more than 64 prizes.

15. A soft-drink machine is regulated so that it discharges an average of 200 milliliters per cup. If the
amount of drink is normally distributed with a standard deviation equal to 15 milliliters,
a. what fraction of the cups will contain more than 224 milliliters?
b. what is the probability that a cup contains between 191 and 209 milliliters?
c. how many cups will probably overflow if 230-milliliter cups are used for the next 1000 drinks?
d. below what value do we get the smallest 25% of the drinks?