Exam 1 – Solution Manual

1. A baker is deciding how many batches of muffins to make to sell in his bakery. He
wants to make enough to sell everyone and no fewer. Through observation, the baker
has established a probability distribution.

x P(x)
1 0.15
2 0.35
3 0.40
4 0.10

What is the probability the baker will sell more than one batch? P(x > 1)
Answer: 0.85
Explain: P(x > 1) = P(x = 2) + P(x = 3) + P(x = 4) = 0.35 + 0.40 + 0.10 = 0.85

2. On average, a clothing store gets 5 customers per hour. If this scenario can be
modeled by a Poisson distribution.
What is the probability that the store will have 3 customers in one hour? P (x = 3)
Answer: 0.1404
Explain: By using the given Poisson distribution spreadsheet, you can get the
following answer:

If you prefer to use the statistical table, the answer can be found at:
3. David volunteers in community events each month. He does not do more than five
events in a month. He attends exactly five events 35% of the time, four events 25% of
the time, three events 20% of the time, two events 10% of the time, one event 5% of
the time, and no events 5% of the time.

x P(x)
0 0.05
1 0.05
2 0.10
3 0.20
4 0.25
5 0.35

Find the probability that Javier volunteers for five events each month.
P(x = 5) =_______
Answer: 0.35
Explain: According to the given probability table, when x= 5, P(x) = P(x = 5) = 0.35.

4. Mary wants to study the popularity of tropical juices, so she randomly records the
number of tropical juices sold in six days in the last month.
5; 12; 7; 6; 9; 8
In order to measure the spread of the data, what is the sample standard deviation?
Answer: 2.48
Explain: You can use either the Excel formula function or calculator to find the
answer. Just be careful, the question asks for the Sample standard deviation.
5. Choose the statement that is TRUE:
A. Independent and mutually exclusive do not mean the same thing.
B. Outcome is the set of all possible outcomes of an experiment.
C. Probabilities are between negative and zero.
D. Two events are mutually exclusive if the probability that they both happen at
the same time is one.
Answer: Independent and mutually exclusive do not mean the same thing.
Explain: This statement can be found in textbook chapter 3.2.

• Two events are independent if the knowledge that one occurred does not
affect the chance the other occurs.

• Two events are mutually exclusive events if they cannot occur at the same
time.

6. The following data show the lengths of boats moored in a marina. The data are
ordered from smallest to largest:
16; 17; 19; 20; 20; 21; 23; 24; 25; 25; 25; 26; 26; 27; 27; 27; 28; 29; 30; 32; 33; 33;
34; 35; 37; 39; 40
Identify the mode.
Answer: 25 & 27
Explain: Only 25 and 27 appears three times in this data.

7. The switchboard in a Dallas CPA firm gets an average of 5.5 incoming phone calls
during the noon hour on Mondays.
Let X = the number of calls received at noon.
What is the probability that the firm receives less than 6 calls at noon on Monday?
Assume Poisson situation. P(x < 6)
Answer: 0.5289
Explain: By using the given Poisson distribution spreadsheet, you can get the
following answer:
 If you prefer to use the statistical table, remember:
P(x < 6) = P(x = 0) + P(x = 1) + P(x = 2) + P(x = 3) + P(x = 4) + P(x = 5)

8. There are 23 countries in North America, 12 countries in South America, 47 countries

in Europe, 44 countries in Asia, 54 countries in Africa, and 14 in Oceania (Pacific
Ocean region).
• Let A = the event that a country is in Asia.
• Let E = the event that a country is in Europe.
• Let F = the event that a country is in Africa.
• Let N = the event that a country is in North America.
• Let O = the event that a country is in Oceania.
• Let S = the event that a country is in South America.
What is the value of P(S)?
Answer: B
Explain: Chapter 3.1
To calculate the probability of an event A when all outcomes in the sample space are
equally likely, count the number of outcomes for event A and divide by the total
number of outcomes in the sample space.

𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎

𝑃(𝑆) =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠
12
= ≈ 0.06
23 + 12 + 47 + 44 + 54 + 14
9. The students in Dr. Water's class have birthdays in each of the four seasons. The
following table and bar graph shows the four seasons, the number of students who
have birthdays in each season, and the percentage (%) of students in each group.

Number of Proportion of
Seasons
students population
Spring 8 24%

Summer 9 26%

Autumn 11 32%

Winter 6 18%

According to the results, the proportion of students who have birthdays in Summer to
all students is ______.
Answer: 26%
Explain: The question asks for the proportion of Summer, according to the table and
figure, it is 26%.

10. A ________ is often used to represent a set of data values in which a quantity varies
with time. These graphs are useful for finding trends.
Answer: line graph
Explain: This statement comes from the textbook Chapter 2 – Chapter Review.
“A line graph is often used to represent a set of data values in which a quantity varies
with time. These graphs are useful for finding trends. That is, finding a general
pattern in data sets including temperature, sales, employment, company profit or
cost over a period of time.”
11. Flip two fair coins. Let A = tails on the first coin. Let B = tails on the second coin.
Then A = {TT, TH} and B = {TT, HT}.
The sample space when you flip two fair coins is X = {HH, HT, TH, TT}. The
outcome HH is in NEITHER A NOR B. The Venn diagram is as follows:

According to the Venn diagram, A ∪ B = ___________

Answer: {TH, TT, HT}

Explain: An outcome is in the event A ∪ B if the outcome is in A or is in B or is in both
A and B.

12. The manager of a resort is interested in the mean age that children take their first ski
and snowboard lessons. She needs this information to plan the ski classes optimally.
In this case, a group of these children is __________
Answer: sample
Explain: To study the population, we select a sample. The idea of sampling is to
select a portion (or subset) of the larger population and study that portion (the
sample) to gain information about the population.
13. In a survey, 40 heads of household were asked how many times they visited a store
before making a major purchase. The results are shown below:

Number of times
Frequency
in store
1 4
2 10
3 16
4 6
5 4

According to the results, how many heads of household visited the store four times
before making a major purchase?
Answer: 6
Explain: The question asks for the number of four times visits, according to the table
and figure, it is 6.

14. The following graph shows the square footage (in 1,000 feet squared) of houses in a
certain area.

The distribution can be written as X ~ U(1.5, 4.5) and f(x) = 1/3 for 1.5 ≤ x ≤ 4.5.
Find the probability that x falls in the shaded area.
 Answer: 0.3333
Explain: From the question, we know f(x) = 1/3.
1 1
Probability in the shaded area = (base)(height) = (3 – 2)(3) = 3 = 0.3333

15. A supermarket manager is interested in the distances between the supermarket and the
warehouse distribution center. She randomly picks up 10 supermarkets and the
following data are the distances between supermarkets and the distribution center.
The distances are in miles.

55 56 61 62 66

77 83 92 95 99

What is the median?

Answer: 71.5
Explain: n = 10 is an even number. Therefore, we have:
66 + 77
𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = = 71.5
2

16. For a continuous probability distribution, 0 ≤ x ≤ 10. What is P(x = 7)?

Answer: 0
Explain: For continuous probability distribution, we only calculate the area in the
given interval, and the entire area under the curve and above the x-axis is equal to
one.

17. Legacy fitness center is interested in the mean amount of time a client exercises in the
center each week. In this case, the clients that use the fitness center for a given week
is the _______
Answer: sample
Explain: Sample is a subset of the population studied. In this question, clients who
use the fitness center for a given week are a subset of all of the clients of the fitness
center.
18. A cardiologist is interested in the mean recovery period of her patients who have had
heart attacks. In this case, all cardiologist’s patients are _______
Answer: population
Explain: Population is all individuals, objects, or measurements whose properties are
being studied. In this question, all patients are population.

19. The following table shows a random sample of pianists and how they learned to play
the piano.

Self- Studied Private

Gender Total
taught in School Instruction

Female 12 38 22 72

Male 19 24 15 58

Total 31 62 37 130

Let’s denote the events M = Male, F = Female, ST = Self-taught, SS = Studied in

School, PI = Private Instruction.
P(M ∩ PI) = ________
Answer: 0.12
Explain: An outcome is in the event A ∩ B if the outcome is in both A and B at the
same time. In this question, the total number of pianists is 130, and there are 15
pianists are both Male and Studied in Private Instruction.
Thus, we have: P(M ∩ PI) = 15/130 ≈ 0.12.

20. A result of an experiment is called _______.

Answer: Outcome
Explain: Outcome is a particular result of an experiment
21. The following table describes the distribution of a random sample S of 100
individuals, organized by gender and whether they are right- or left-handed.

Left-
Right-handed
handed

Males 43 9

Females 44 4

Let’s denote the events M = the subject is male, F = the subject is female, R = the
subject is right-handed, L = the subject is left-handed.
P (M ∩ R) = ________________
Answer: 0.43
Explain: An outcome is in the event A ∩ B if the outcome is in both A and B at the
same time. In this question, the total number is 100, and there are 43 individuals are
both Males and Right-handed.
Thus, we have: P(M ∩ R) = 43/100 ≈ 0.43

22. A bank account manager must spend different amounts of time with each customer to
resolve various concerns. The amount of time spent with each customer can be
modeled by the following distribution: X ~ Exp(0.2)

Find P(2 < x < 10).

Answer: 0.5350
Explain: First, the exponential distribution can be written as X ~ Exp(m). In this
question, X ~ Exp(0.2) means m = 0.2.
 Second, “CH05_Formula Review.pdf” shows that P(a < X < b) = 𝑒 (–𝑚𝑎) − 𝑒 (–𝑚𝑏) . You
can find this file on Canvas Module “Week 5 - Continuous Random Variables - Part
2”.

Therefore, P(2 < x < 10) = 𝑒 (–𝑚∙2) − 𝑒 (–𝑚∙10) = 𝑒 (–0.2∗2) − 𝑒 (–0.2∗10) = 𝑒 (–0.4) −
𝑒 (–2) = 0.6703 − 0.1353 = 0.5350

23. Which of the following statements related to the binomial distribution is FALSE?
Answer: Probability is found for intervals of x values rather than for individual x
values.
Explain: Binomial distribution is a discrete distribution. This statement is for the
continuous distribution.

24. For a continuous probability distribution, 0 ≤ x ≤ 15. What is P(x > 17)?
Answer: 0
Explain: In this question, x > 17 is out of the given interval. Therefore, P(x > 17) = 0.

25. The age of RVs in a campground is uniformly distributed from brand new (0 years) to
15 years. Let X = The age (in years) of Rvs in the campground.

P(x < 12.5) = ?

Answer: 0.833
1
Explain: In this question, 𝑓(𝑥) = 15.

According to the given graph, the shaded area is 0 < x < 12.5.
1 12.5
Therefore, P(x < 12.5) = (base)(height) = (12.5 - 0)(15) = = 0.833
15