Full Name: Student ID:

1. Given that historically, 40% of customers at Sam’s Automotive Service Station use a credit card to pay for their
purchases, what is the approximate probability that at least 75 out of a random sample of 200 customers will pay with
a credit card? (Hint: Normal Approximation to Binomial/Poisson distributions).
!
74.5 − (200)(0.4)
Answer: P (X ≥ 75) = P (X ≥ 75 − 0.5) = P Z ≥ p = P (Z ≥ −0.79) ≈ 0.785
(200)(0.4)(0.6)
2. Assuming the heights of men follow a normal distribution with a mean of 69.8 inches and a standard deviation of 2.1
inches, what is the probability that the mean height of a randomly selected sample of 36 men is greater than 70.8
inches? !
70.8 − 69.8
Answer: P (X̄ > 70.8) = P ZX̄ > √ = P (ZX̄ > 2.86) ≈ 0.002
2.1/ 36
3. A random sample of 50 people is taken from a certain population, and 14 of them are found to be over 6 feet tall. What
is the point estimate of the true proportion of individuals in this population who are over 6 feet tall?
14
Answer: Point estimate is the sample proportion p̂ = ≈ 0.28
50
4. Determine the sample mean, median, mode, and, range of the following ten measurements which represent furnace
temperatures recorded for consecutive batches in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

920 918 922 930 915 921 925 931 927 926 922

Answer: mean = 923.36, median = 922, mode = 922, range = 931 - 915 = 16
5. A teacher surveyed 10 students about the number of books they had read in the past 12 months. Here are their
responses: 12, 23, 19, 6, 10, 7, 15, 25, 21, 12. Construct the stem-and-leaf display for this dataset.
Answer:

Stem Leaves
0 67
1 02259
2 135

6. The time required for an oil and filter change on an automobile is normally distributed with a mean of 45 minutes and
a standard deviation of 10 minutes. For a random sample of 16 cars, 90% of the sample means will be greater than
what value?
σ 10
Answer: P (X̄ > t) = P (ZX̄ > Zt ) = 0.9 → Zt = −1.282. Hence X̄ = Zt √ +µ = (−1.282) √ +45 = −3.205+45 =
n 16
41.795
7. The lifespan of a 75-watt light bulb is normally distributed with a standard deviation of 25 hours. A random sample
of 20 bulbs has a mean lifespan of 1014 hours. How large should the sample be to ensure that, with 95% confidence,
the margin of error in estimating the mean lifespan is within 5 hours?
σ 25
Answer: margin of error = z0.025 √ . Hence, we have (1.96) √ = 5 → n = 96.04 ≈ 97
n n
8. The fraction of defective integrated circuits produced in a photo-lithography process is being studied. A random sample
of 300 circuits is tested, revealing 13 defectives. Calculate a 95% upper confidence bound on the fraction of defective
13
circuits. p̂ = ≈ 0.043
300
r r
p̂(1 − p̂ (0.043)(0.957)
Answer: p̂ + z0.05 = (1.645) = 0.043 + 0.019 = 0.062
n 300
9. Suppose a system has a certain type of component with a failure time, T , modeled by an exponential distribution with
a mean time to failure of 5 years. What is the probability that the component will still be functioning after 8 years?
1 1 1
Answer: µ = 5 = → λ = P (X > 8) = 1 − P (X ≤ 8) = 1 − (1 − e−λx ) = e− 5 (8) ≈ 0.202
λ 5

1
10. The following confidence interval is obtained for a population mean such that µ ∈ (817, 855). Find the point estimate
of µ.
855 + 817
Answer: the point estimate of µ is x̄ = = 836
2
11. A random sample of 16 fluorescent light bulbs shows a mean lifespan of 645 hours with a standard deviation of 31
hours. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true population mean lifespan, assuming the population is normally
distributed. 95% CI for µ with unknown σ is
s 31
Answer: X̄ ± t0.025 √ = 645 ± (2.13) √ = 645 ± 16.5075 = (628.4925, 661.5075)
n 16
Let z0.025 = 1.96, z0.05 = 1.65, t0.025,15 = 2.13, t0.05,15 = 1.75
12. An economist wants to analyze the incomes of consumers in a specific region. From a random sample of 50 individuals,
the average income was found to be 25,000, with a known population standard deviation of 1,500. What is the width
of the 95% confidence interval for the population mean income?
σ 1, 500
Answer: width = 2 × z0.025 √ = (1.96) √ ≈ 831.5576
n 50
Let z0.025 = 1.96, z0.05 = 1.65, t0.025,49 = 2.01, t0.05,49 = 1.68
13. Find the interquartile range (IQR) of the heights (in inches) for a sample of 20 adult males.
70, 72, 71, 70, 69, 73, 69, 68, 70, 71, 67, 71, 70, 74, 69, 68, 71, 71, 71, 72
Answer: IQR = Q3 − Q1 = 71 − 69 = 2
14. Suppose a random variable X has Poisson distribution with a mean of 1000. Use Normal approximation to Poisson
distribution to estimate P (X < 950).
!
949.5 − 1000
Answer: P (X < 950) = P (X ≤ 949 + 0.5) = P Z < √ = P (Z < −1.597) ≈ 0.0551
1000

15. At a sawmill in Oregon, a process improvement team measured the diameters for a sample of 1,500 logs. The following
summary statistics were computed: Q1 = 8.9 in, Q2 = 13.5 in, Q3 = 15.6 in, x̄ = 14.2 in
Given this information, which of the following statements is appropriate?
A. No tree will have a diameter of more than 22.3 in.
B. Fifty percent of the trees in the sample will have diameters between 13.5 in and 15.6 in.
C. Virtually all of the data should fall between 0 in and 25.65 in.
D. Twenty-five percent of the trees in the sample will have diameter between 13.5 in and 15.6 in.
16. The brightness of a television picture tube can be assessed by measuring the current needed to achieve a certain
brightness level. Given a sample of 20 tubes with a mean current of (x̄ = 517.2) and a standard deviation of (s = 17.7),
determine the 99% lower confidence bound for the mean current required. 99% CI for µ with unknown σ.
s 17.7
Answer: X̄ − t0.01 √ = 517.2 − (2.539) √ = 517.2 − 10.049 = 507.151
n 20
Let z0.01 = 2.326, z0.005 = 2.576, t0.01,19 = 2.539, t0.005,19 = 2.861

17. Tensile strength tests were performed on two different grades of aluminum spars used in manufacturing the wing of a
commercial transport aircraft. From past experience with the spar manufacturing process and the testing procedure,
the standard deviations of tensile strengths are assumed to be known. The data obtained are as follows: n1 = 10, x¯1 =
87.6, σ1 = 1 and n2 = 12, x¯2 = 74.5, σ2 = 1.5. Construct a 90% confidence interval for the difference in the means of
the two populations µ1 − µ2 .
s r
σ12 σ22 12 1.52
Answer: (x¯1 − x¯2 ) ± z0.025 + = (87.6 − 74.5) ± (1.645) + = 13.1 ± 0.882 = (12.218, 13.982)
n1 n2 10 12

18. The American Heart Association is about to conduct an anti-smoking campaign and wants to know the fraction of
Americans over 20 who smoke. Suppose a sample of 966 Americans over 20 is drawn. Of these people, 783 don’t smoke.

2
 Using the data, construct the 98% confidence interval for the population proportion of Americans over 20 who smoke.
183
98% CI for p who smoke. Hence p̂ = ≈ 0.189
966
r r
p̂(1 − p̂) (0.189)(0.811)
Answer: p̂ ± z0.01 = 0.189 ± = 0.189 ± 0.013 = (0.176, 0.202)
n 966
19. To estimate the average total compensation of CEOs in the service industry, data were randomly collected from 18
CEOs, and the 97% confidence interval was calculated to be (2181260, 5836180). Which of the following interpretations
of this confidence interval is correct?
A. We are 97% confident that the mean total compensation of all CEOs in the service industry is
between $2, 181, 260 and $5, 836, 180.
B. We are 97% confident that the mean total compensation of all sampled CEOs is between $2, 181, 260 and
$5, 836, 180.
C. In the service industry, 97% of CEOs will have total compensation within the range of $2, 181, 260 to $5, 836, 180
D. 97% of the sampled total compensation values fall within the interval of $2, 181, 260 to $5, 836, 180.
20. In a random sample of 85 automobile engine crankshaft bearings, 10 have a surface finish that is rougher than the
specifications allow. How large a sample is required if we want to be 95% confident that the error in using p̂ to estimate
10
p is less than 0.05? p̂ = = 0.12? A
85
r r
p̂(1 − p̂ (0.12)(0.88)
Answer: margin of error = z0.025 = (1.96) = 0.05. Hence n ≈ 162.27 ≈ 163
n n