Section 6

Chapter 5

5.2 Classify each of the following random variables as discrete or continuous.

a. The time left on a parking meter (Continuous)

b. The number of bats broken by a major league baseball team in a season (Discrete)
c. The number of cars in a parking lot at a given time (Discrete)
d. The price of a car (Continuous)
e. The number of cars crossing a bridge on a given day (Discrete)
f. The time spent by a physician examining a patient (Continuous)
5.8 Each of the following tables lists certain values of x and their probabilities. Verify
whether or not each represents a valid probability distribution and explain why.
a. valid because sum of probabilities equal to 1

𝑥𝑥 𝑃𝑃(𝑥𝑥)
0 0.1
1 0.05
2 0.45
3 0.4
Sum 1

b. Not valid because sum of probabilities is less than 1

𝑥𝑥 𝑃𝑃(𝑥𝑥)
2 0.35
3 0.28
4 0.2
5 0.14
Sum 0.97

b. Not valid because probability can’t be represent in negative number

𝑥𝑥 𝑃𝑃(𝑥𝑥)
7 -0.25
8 0.85
9 0.4
Sum 1

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5.13 Nathan Cheboygan, a singing gambler from northern M ichigan, isfamousfor hisloaded
dice. The following table shows the probability distribution for the sum, denoted by x, of the
faces on a pair of Nathan’s dice.
𝑥𝑥 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
𝑝𝑝(𝑥𝑥) 0.056 0.056 0.080 0.095 0.110 0.170 0.110 0.095 0.080 0.056 0.056

a. Draw a bar graph for this probability distribution.

Bar Graph
0.18
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

b. Determine the probability that the sum of the faces on a single roll of Nathan’s dice is
i. an even number
𝒑𝒑(𝟐𝟐) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟒𝟒) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟔𝟔) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟖𝟖) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒
ii. 7 or 11
𝒑𝒑(𝟕𝟕) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
iii. 4 to 6
𝒑𝒑(𝟒𝟒) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟓𝟓) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟔𝟔) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
iv. no less than 9
𝒑𝒑(𝟗𝟗) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) + 𝒑𝒑(𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

5.15 One of the most profitable items at A1’s Auto Security Shop is the remote starting
system. Let x be the number of such systems installed on a given day at this shop. The
following table lists the frequency distribution of x for the past 80 days.
𝑥𝑥 1 2 3 4 5 Sum
𝑓𝑓 8 20 24 16 12 80
𝑓𝑓�
𝑝𝑝(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑛𝑛 0.1 0.25 0.3 0.2 0.15 1

a. Construct a probability distribution table for the number of remote starting systems
installed on a given day. Draw a graph of the probability distribution.

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 bar graph
0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
1 2 3 4 5

b. Are the probabilities listed in the table of part a exact or approximate probabilities
of various outcomes? Explain.
Exact because sum of probabilities equal to 1.

c. Find the following probabilities.

i. 𝑷𝑷(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟑𝟑) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑

ii. 𝑷𝑷(𝒙𝒙 ≥ 𝟑𝟑) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑+. 𝟐𝟐+. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔
iii. 𝑷𝑷(𝟐𝟐 ≤ 𝒙𝒙 ≤ 𝟒𝟒) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐+. 𝟑𝟑+. 𝟐𝟐 =. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕
iv. 𝑷𝑷(𝒙𝒙 < 𝟒𝟒) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏+. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐+. 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔

5.16 Five percent of all cars manufactured at a large auto company are lemons. Suppose two
cars are selected at random from the production line of this company. Let x denote the
number of lemons in this sample. Write the probability distribution of x. Draw a tree
diagram for this problem.
L: Lemon Car, 𝑷𝑷(𝑳𝑳) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
N: Not Lemon, 𝑷𝑷(𝑵𝑵) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗
𝑺𝑺 = {𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳, 𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳, 𝑵𝑵𝑵𝑵, 𝑵𝑵𝑵𝑵}

𝒙𝒙 0 1 2
𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙) 𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟐
(𝟎𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 (𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
= 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎

5.27 The following table gives the probability distribution of the number of camcorders sold
on a given day at an electronics store.
𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Sold
𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙) 0.05 0.12 0.19 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.04
Calculate the mean and standard deviation for this probability distribution. Give a brief
interpretation of the mean.

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 𝟔𝟔

𝝁𝝁 = 𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙) = � 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 ) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟑𝟑 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑 + 𝟒𝟒 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐 + 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏 + 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒊𝒊=𝟏𝟏
= 𝟐𝟐. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗
The average of the number of camcorders sold at an electronic store is 2.94 ≈ 𝟑𝟑 per day
𝟔𝟔
𝟐𝟐 )
𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙 = � 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 ) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟒𝟒 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟗𝟗 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑 + 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐 + 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏 + 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒊𝒊=𝟏𝟏
= 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕
𝟐𝟐
𝝈𝝈𝟐𝟐 = 𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗(𝒙𝒙) = 𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐 ) − �𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙)� = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 − 𝟐𝟐. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟐𝟐 = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝝈𝝈 = �𝝈𝝈𝟐𝟐 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒

5.33 Refer to the probability distribution you developed in Exercise 5.16 for the number of
lemons in two selected cars. Calculate the mean and standard deviation of x for that
probability distribution.
𝟑𝟑

𝝁𝝁 = 𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙) = � 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 ) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏

𝒊𝒊=𝟏𝟏
𝟑𝟑

𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐 ) = � 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 ) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟒𝟒 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

𝒊𝒊=𝟏𝟏
𝟐𝟐
𝝈𝝈 = 𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗(𝒙𝒙) = 𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐 ) − �𝑬𝑬(𝒙𝒙)� = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 − 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟐𝟐 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝟐𝟐

𝝈𝝈 = �𝝈𝝈𝟐𝟐 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑

5.42 Which of the following are binomial experiments? Explain why.

a. Drawing 3 balls with replacement from a box that contains 10 balls, 6 of which are red
and 4 are blue, and observing the colors of the drawn balls

Yes, because the drawing is with replacement trails are independent

Number of balls is finite and fixed
There are only two outcomes for the color with fixed probabilities

b. Drawing 3 balls without replacement from a box that contains 10 balls, 6 of which are red
and 4 are blue, and observing the colors of the drawn balls

No, because drawing is without replacement trails are dependent

c. Selecting a few households from New York City and observing whether or not they own
stocks when it is known that 28% of all households in New York City own stocks

Yes, fixed number of trials (n): You select a fixed number of households.
Two possible outcomes: Each household either owns stocks (success) or does not own
stocks (failure).

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 Constant probability (p): The probability of a household owning stocks is constant at 28%
(0.28).
Independent trials: The ownership of stocks by one household is independent of the others.

5.50 I n a poll, men and women were asked, “When someone yelled or snapped at you at
work, how did you want to respond?” Twenty percent of the women in the survey said that
they felt like crying (Time, April 4, 2011). Suppose that this result is true for the current
population of women employees. A random sample of 24 women employees is selected. Use
the binomial probabilities table (Table I of Appendix C) or technology to find the probability
that the number of women employees in this sample of 24 who will hold the above opinion in
response to the said question is

𝒏𝒏 = 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝒑𝒑 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐
𝒒𝒒 = 𝟏𝟏 − 𝑷𝑷 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖
a. at least 5 = 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 ≥ 𝟓𝟓) = 𝟏𝟏 − 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 < 𝟓𝟓) = 𝟏𝟏 − 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟎𝟎) − 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟏𝟏) − 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟐𝟐) − 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 =
𝟑𝟑) − 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟒𝟒) = 𝟏𝟏 − (𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓
from table I page 786 at book pdf

b. 1 to 3 = 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟏𝟏) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟐𝟐) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟑𝟑) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

c. at most 6 = 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 ≤ 𝟔𝟔) = 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟎𝟎) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟏𝟏) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟐𝟐) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟑𝟑) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟒𝟒) +
𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟓𝟓) + 𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟔𝟔) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎+. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 +
𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖

5.52 M agnetic resonance imaging (M RI ) is a process that produces internal body images
using a strong magnetic field. Some patients become claustrophobic and require sedation
because they are required to lie within a small, enclosed space during the M RI test. Suppose
that 20% of all patients undergoing M RI testing require sedation due to claustrophobia. I f
five patients are selected at random, using the binomial probability distribution formula,
find the probability that the number of patients in these five who require sedation is
𝒏𝒏 = 𝟓𝟓
𝒑𝒑 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐
𝒒𝒒 = 𝟏𝟏 − 𝑷𝑷 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖

a. exactly 2
𝟓𝟓
𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟐𝟐) = � � (𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐)𝟐𝟐 (𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖)𝟓𝟓−𝟐𝟐 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝟐𝟐

b. none
𝟓𝟓
𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟎𝟎) = � � (𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐)𝟎𝟎 (𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖)𝟓𝟓−𝟎𝟎 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑
𝟎𝟎

c. exactly 4
𝟓𝟓
𝒑𝒑(𝒙𝒙 = 𝟒𝟒) = � � (𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐)𝟒𝟒 (𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖)𝟓𝟓−𝟒𝟒 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝟒𝟒

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Exercise:
5.91 Based on its analysis of the future demand for its products, the financial department at
Tipper Corporation has determined that there is a .17 probability that the company will lose
$1.2 million during the next year, a .21 probability that it will lose $.7 million, a .37
probability that it will make a profit of $.9 million, and a .25 probability that it will make a
profit of $2.3 million.
a. Let x be a random variable that denotes the profit earned by this corporation during the
next year. Write the probability distribution of x.
b. Find the mean and standard deviation of the probability distribution of part a. give a brief
interpretation of the value of the mean.

5.93 Spoke Weaving Corporation has eight weaving machines of the same kind and of the
same age. The probability is .04 that any weaving machine will break down at any time. Find
the probability that at any given time
a. all eight weaving machines will be broken down
b. exactly two weaving machines will be broken down
c. none of the weaving machines will be broken down

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