RV College of Engineering®

(An autonomous institution affiliated to VTU, Belagavi)

Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

18IM41 ENGINEERING STATISTICS

QUESTION BANK

1. Experiments were conducted to study the effectiveness of a braking system of a standard car.
When the car was moving at a speed of 45 KMPH, brakes were applied and the stopping
distances of car were measured, the stopping distances of car, in meters are given below.

76 70 63 53 55 62 47 30 64 42
39 56 53 66 44 58 70 71 45 57
40 41 29 42 58 44 51 60 62 49
(i) Tabulate the frequency distribution.
(ii) Plot the frequency histogram.
(iii) Compute the mean, median and standard deviation.
2. Provide a reasonable description of the sample space for each of the random experiments in
Exercises below. There can be more than one acceptable interpretation of each experiment.
Describe any assumptions you make.
(i) Each of three machined parts is classified as either above or below the target
specification for the part.
(ii) Each of four transmitted bits is classified as either in error or not in error.
(iii) In the final inspection of electronic power supplies, three types of nonconformities
might occur: functional, minor, or cosmetic. Power supplies that are defective are
further classified as to type of nonconformity.
(iv) In the manufacturing of digital recording tape, electronic testing is used to record
the number of bits in error in a 350-foot reel.
(v) In the manufacturing of digital recording tape, each of 24 tracks is classified as
containing or not containing one or more bits in error.
s denote the success of a read operation
f denote the failure of a read operation
F denote the failure of an error recovery procedure
S denote the success of an error recovery procedure
A denote an abort message sent to the operator.
Describe the sample space of this experiment with a tree diagram.
3. A sample of two printed circuit boards is selected without replacement from a batch. Describe
the (ordered) sample space for each of the following batches:
(a) The batch contains 90 boards that are not defective, 8 boards with minor defects, and 2
boards with major defects.
(b) The batch contains 90 boards that are not defective, 8 boards with minor defects, and 1
board with major defects.
4. A manufacturer of coil springs is interested in implementing a quality control system to monitor
his production process. As part of this quality system, it is decided to record the number of
nonconforming coil springs in each production batch of size 50. During 40 days of production,
40 batches of data were collected as follows:
Read data across.
9 12 6 9 7 14 12 4 6 7
8 5 10 7 8 11 3 6 7 7
11 4 4 8 7 5 6 4 8 8
19 19 18 12 11 17 15 17 13 16

(i) Construct a stem-and-leaf plot of the data.

(ii) Find the sample average and standard deviation.
(iii) Construct a time series plot of the data. Is there evidence that there was an increase or
decrease in the average number of nonconforming springs made during the 30 days?
Explain.
5. A part selected for testing is equally likely to have been produced on any one of six cutting
tools.
(a) What is the sample space?
(b) What is the probability that the part is from tool 1?
(c) What is the probability that the part is from tool 3 or tool 5?
(d) What is the probability that the part is not from tool 4?

6. Define the following terms:

(i) Probability of an event.
(ii) Additional law of probability
(iii) Multiplication law of probability
(iv) Conditional law of probability
7. Three events are shown on the Venn diagram in the following figure:

Reproduce the figure and shade the region that corresponds to each of the following events.
(a) A’ (b) A ∩ B (c) (A ∩ B) ∪ C (d) (B ∪ C)’ (e) (A ∩ B)’ ∪ C
8. The sample space of a random experiment is {a, b, c,d, e} with probabilities 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4,
and 0.2, respectively. Let A denote the event {a, b, c}, and let B denote the event {c, d, e}.
Determine the following:
(a) P(A) (b) P(B) (c) P(A’) (d) P(A∪B) (e) P(A∩B)

9. An injection-molded part is equally likely to be obtained from any one of the eight cavities on a
mold.
(a) What is the sample space?
(b) What is the probability a part is from cavity 1 or 2?
(c) What is the probability that a part is neither from cavity 3 nor 4?
10. A lot of 100 semiconductor chips contains 20 that are defective. Two are selected randomly,
without replacement, from the lot.
(a) What is the probability that the first one selected is defective?
(b) What is the probability that the second one selected is defective given that the first one
was defective?
(c) What is the probability that both are defective?
(d) How does the answer to part (b) change if chips selected were replaced prior to the next
selection?

11. Disks of polycarbonate plastic from a supplier are analyzed for scratch and shock resistance.
The results from 100 disks are summarized as follows:
shock resistance
high low
Scratch high 70 9
Resistance low 16 5
Let A denote the event that a disk has high shock resistance, and let B denote the event that a
disk has high scratch resistance. If a disk is selected at random, determine the following
probabilities:
(a) P(A) (b) P(B) (c) P(A’) (d) P(A∩B) (e) P(A∪B) (f ) P(A’∪B)
(g) P(A/B) (h) P(B/A)

12. Suppose 2% of cotton fabric rolls and 3% of nylon fabric rolls contain flaws. Of the rolls used
by a manufacturer, 70% are cotton and 30% are nylon. What is the probability that a randomly
selected roll used by the manufacturer contains flaws?

13. If P(A) = 0.3, P(B) = 0.2 , and P(A∩B) = 0.1, determine the following probabilities:

(a) P(A’) (b) P(A∪B) (c) P(A’∩B) (d) P(A∩B’) (e) P[(A∪B)’] (f ) P(A’∪B)

14. The following circuit operates if and only if there is a path of functional devices from
left to right. The probability each device functions is as shown. Assume that the
probability that a device functions does not depend on whether or not other devices are
functional. What is the probability that the circuit operates?

15. Software to detect fraud in consumer phone cards tracks the number of metropolitan
areas where calls originate each day. It is found that 1% of the legitimate users originate
calls from two or more metropolitan areas in a single day. However, 30% of fraudulent
users originate calls from two or more metropolitan areas in a single day. The
proportion of fraudulent users is 0.01%. If the same user originates calls from two or
more metropolitan areas in a single day, what is the probability that the user is
fraudulent?
16.

(a) P(X = 4) (b) P(X ≤ 1) (c) P(2 ≤ X < 4) (d) P( X > -10)

17.

(i) P(X ≤ 50)

(ii) P(X ≤ 40)
(iii) P(40 ≤ X ≤ 60)
(iv) P(X < 0)
(v) P(0≤ X < 10)
18. Thickness measurements of a coating process are made to the nearest hundredth of a
millimeter. The thickness measurements are uniformly distributed with values 0.15,
0.16, 0.17, 0.18 and 0.19. Determine the mean and variance of the coating thickness for
this process.

19. The random variable X has a binomial distribution with n = 10 and p = 0.01. Determine
the following probabilities.
(i) P (X = 5)
(ii) P( X ≤ 2)
(iii) P( X ≥ 9)
(iv) P(3 ≤ X < 5)
20. A random sample of 5 is selected from a lot of 15 articles, 4 of which are non-conforming. What
is the probability the sample will contain exactly one non-conforming article?

21. A sample of 20 pieces each is drawn at random from a very large lot of components. Determine
the probability that such a sample will contain:
(i) Two or more defectives
(ii) Less than two defectives
(iii) Less than or equal to two defectives.
(iv) Assume lot contains 20% defective. (Use the distribution which is theoretically
correct)

22. If a random variable is Poisson distributed with a mean of 4.2 determine:

(i) Standard deviation of this distribution
(ii) The probability that the random variable will have a value of 3 or less.

23. Find the probability distribution function of the random variable ‘X’ when a coin is tossed 4
times. Also find the cumulative probability distribution function of X, where ‘X’ is the number
of heads in 4 tosses.
24. Distinguish between continuous probability distribution and a discrete probability distribution.
25. A transistor radio operates on 3, size 1.5 volts batteries, so that nominally it operates on 4.5
volts. Suppose the actual voltage of a single new battery is normally distributed with mean 1.5
volts and standard deviation 0.2 volt. The radio will not operate properly at the outset, if the
voltage falls outside the range 4 to 5 volts. What is the probability that the radio will not operate
properly?
26. Suppose that f(x) = x/8 for 3 < x < 5. Determine the following probabilities:
(i) P(X < 4 ) (ii) P(X>3.5) (iii) P(4<X<5) (iv) P(X<4.5) (v) P(X<3.5 or X>4.5)

27. Suppose the cumulative distribution function of the random variable X is

Determine the following probabilities:

(a) P(X < 2.8) (b) P(X > 1.5)
(c) P(X < -2) (d) P(X > 6)
28. Suppose the time it takes a data collection operator to fill out an electronic form for a database is
uniformly between 1.5 and 2.2 minutes.
(i) What is the mean and variance of the time it takes an operator to fill out the form?
(ii)What is the probability that it will take less than two minutes to fill out the form?
(iii) Determine the cumulative distribution function of the time it takes to fill out the
form.
29. Assume X is normally distributed with a mean of 10 and standard deviation of 2. Determine the
following:
(i) P(X<13) (ii) P(X>9) (iii) P(6<X<14) (iv) P(2<X<4) (v) P(-2<X<8)

30. The line width of for semiconductor manufacturing is assumed to be normally distributed with a
mean of 0.5 micrometer and a standard deviation of 0.05 micrometer.
(i) What is the probability that a line width is greater than 0.62 micrometer?
(ii) What is the probability that a line width is between 0.47 and 0.63 micrometer?
(iii) The line width of 90% of samples is below what value?

31. Suppose that X is a binomial random variable with n = 200 and p = 0.4
(i) Approximate the probability that X is less than or equal to 70.
(ii) Approximate the probability that X is greater than 70 and less than 90.

32. A corporate Web site contains errors on 50 of 1000 pages. If 100 pages are sampled randomly,
without replacement, approximate the probability that at least 1 of the pages in error are in the
sample.

33. The time between calls to a plumbing supply business is exponentially distributed with a mean
time between calls of 15 minutes.
(i) What is the probability that there are no calls within a 30- minute interval?
(ii) What is the probability that at least one call arrives within a 10-minute interval?
(iii) What is the probability that the first call arrives within 5 and 10 minutes after opening?
(iv) Determine the length of an interval of time such that the probability of at least one call
in the interval is 0.90.
34. An electrical firm manufactures light bulbs that have a length of life that is
approximately normally distributed with a mean of 800 hours and a standard deviation
of 40 hours. Test the hypothesis that μ = 800 hours against the alternative μ ≠ 800 hours
if a random sample of 30 bulbs has an average life of 788 hours. Use a 0.04 level of
significance.
35. A manufacturer of cigarettes claims that 20% of the cigarette smokers prefer brand X.
To test this claim, a random sample of 20 cigarette smokers is selected and the smokers
are asked what brand they prefer. If 6 of the 20 smokers prefer brand X, what
conclusion do we draw? Use a 0.01 level of significance.

36. The grades in a statistics course for a particular semester were as follows:
Grade A B C D F
ƒ 14 18 32 20 16
Test the hypothesis, at the 0.05 level of significance, that the distribution of grades is
uniform.
37. Three cards are drawn from an ordinary deck of playing cards, with replacement, and
the number Y of spades is recorded. After repeating the experiment 64 times, the
following outcomes were recorded:

Y 0 1 2 3
ƒ 21 31 12 0

Test the hypothesis at the 0.01 level of significance that the recorded data may be fitted
by the binomial distribution b(Y; 3, ¼), Y = 0, 1, 2, 3.
38. The amounts of solids removed from a particular material when exposed to drying
periods of different lengths are as follows:

x (hours) y (grams)
4.4 13.1
4.5 9.0
4.8 10.4
5.5 13.8
5.7 12.7
5.9 9.9
6.3 13.8
6.9 16.4
7.5 17.6
7.8 18.3
(i) Estimate the linear regression line
(ii) Test whether the linear model is adequate
(iii) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the shop β.
39. The heights of a random sample of 50 college students showed a mean of 174.5
centimeters and standard deviation of 6.9 centimeters.
i. Construct a 98% confidence interval for the mean height of all college students
ii. What can we assert with 98% confidence about the possible size of our error if
we estimate the mean height of all college students to be 174.5 centimeters?
40. A machine is producing metal pieces that are cylindrical in shape. A sample of pieces is
taken and the diameters are 1.01, 0.97, 1.03, 1.04, 0.99, 0.98, 0.99, 1.01 and 1.03
centimeter. Find a 99% confidence interval for the mean diameter of pieces from this
machine, assuming an approximate normal distribution.

41. A study is to be made to estimate the percentage of citizens in a town who favor having
their water fluoridated. How large a sample is needed if one wishes to be at least 95%
confident that our estimate is within 1% of the true percentage?

42. At a certain university, 4% of men are over 6 feet tall and 1% of women are over 6 feet
tall. The total student population is divided in the ratio 3:2 in favour of women. If a
student is selected at random from among all those over six feet tall, what is the
probability that the student is a woman? Ans: 3/11
43. A factory production line is manufacturing bolts using three machines, A, B and C. Of
the total output, machine A is responsible for 25%, machine B for 35% and machine C
for the rest. It is known from previous experience with the machines that 5% of the
output from machine A is defective, 4% from machine B and 2% from machine C. A
bolt is chosen at random from the production line and found to be defective. What is the
probability that it came from
(a) machine A? (b) machine B? (c) machine C? Ans: 0.362, 0.406, 0.232
44. An engineering company advertises a job in three papers, A, B and C. It is known that
these papers attract undergraduate engineering readerships in the proportions 2:3:1. The
probabilities that an engineering undergraduate sees and replies to the job advertisement
in these papers are 0.002, 0.001 and 0.005 respectively. Assume that the undergraduate
sees only one job advertisement. (a) If the engineering company receives only one reply
to it advertisements, calculate the probability that the applicant has seen the job
advertised in
i. Paper A ii. Paper B iii. Paper C Ans: 1/3, 1/4, 5/12
45. Obtain the sample space of an experiment that consists of a ‘fair’ coin being tossed four
times. Consider the following events:
A is the event ‘all four results are the same.’
B is the event ‘exactly one Head occurs.’
C is the event ‘at least two Heads occur.’
Show that P (A) + P (B) + P (C) = 17 / 16, and explain why P (A) + P (B) + P (C) > 1.
46. The table below shows the number of complete years a group of people have been
working in their current employment.

Years of Employment Number of People

0 or 1 year 15
2 or 3 years 12
4 or 5 years 9
6 or 7 years 6
8 to 11 years 6
12 years and over 2

What is the probability that a person from the group, selected at random;
(a) falls in the modal group;
(b) has been working there for less than 4 years;
 (c) has been working there for at least 8 years. Ans: 15 / 50, 27 / 50, 8 / 50

47. From a batch of 100 items of which 20 are defective, exactly two items are chosen, one
at a time, without replacement. Calculate the probabilities that:
(a) the first item chosen is defective; (b) both items chosen are defective;
(c) the second item chosen is defective. Ans: 1/5, 19/495, 1/5
48. A garage mechanic keeps a box of good springs to use as replacements on customers
cars. The box contains 5 springs. A colleague, thinking that the springs are for scrap,
tosses three faulty springs into the box. The mechanic picks two springs out of the box
while servicing a car. Find the probability that:
(a) the first spring drawn is faulty (b) the second spring drawn is faulty. Ans: 3/8,
49. If A and B are independent events such that the probability that they both occur
simultaneously is 1/8 and the probability that neither of them will occur is 3/8, find their
individual probabilities. Ans: 1/2 and 1/4
50. Two coins are tossed. Find the conditional probability that two Heads will occur given
that at least one occurs. Ans: 1/3
51. The probability that each relay closes in the circuit shown below is p. Assuming that
each relay functions independently of the others, find the probability that current can
flow from L to R. Ans: 2p2 − p4

52. Machines A and B produce 10% and 90% respectively of the production of a
component intended for the motor industry. From experience, it is known that the
probability that machine A produces a defective component is 0.01 while the probability
that machine B produces a defective component is 0.05. If a component is selected at
random from a day’s production and is found to be defective, find the probability that it
was made by
(a) machine A; (b) machine B. Ans: 0.02, 0.98
53. X is a discrete uniform random variable with a range of -10, -9, -8, …,0, 1, 2, …9, 10.
Derive an expression for Var(X) and compute the same. Ans: 36.67
54. Samples of 20 parts are inspected from a process. The chance of a part being defective
is 10%. The process is suspected to have a serious problem if the no. of defective parts
in the sample exceeds its mean by more than 3 standard deviations. If Y denotes the no.
of defectives in a sample,
Compute E(Y) and Var(Y) Ans: 2, 1.34
What is the probability of a serious problem in the process? Ans:0.0024
55. 20 weight measurements in a process were recorded as:

2 8 11 10 8 4 2 2 9 8
4 11 12 2 4 4 20 1 10 15
 (i) Draw a box plot for the data. (ii)What are the range and the IQR for the data? (iii)
Are there any outliers? If yes, what are they?
56. 7 dignitaries are to be seated in a row of 12 numbered and non movable chairs.
i. How many different seating arrangements are possible?
ii. If you do not differentiate among the dignitaries, how many arrangements are
possible?
iii. If 3 dignitaries belong to a group and are not differentiated, how many
arrangements are possible?
Ans: 3991680, 792, 665280
57. In a production plant 6 steel rods are tested every hour for defects along their length. Y
= no. of defective rods found per hour. P(Y = n) = k/(n+1)

i) list the possibilities of the random variable Y ii) Compute the value of the constant k
iii) Compute expected value of Y Ans: {0,1,2,3,4,5,6}, 420/1089, 1.7

58. Pouches of a specialty chemical are tested for presence of impurities A or B, which
render the chemical unfit for use. The fitness for use is tested separately. Suppose 10%
of the pouches have impurity A, 5% have impurity B, 1% have both impurities A &
B. Other pouches are free of impurities. The probabilities of being unfit for use are 1%,
2%, 6%, and 0.1% for pouches with impurity A, impurity B, both impurities A & B,
and no impurities respectively. What is the probability of a randomly chosen pouch
being found unfit for use?

59. The no of defects when 25 parts were analyzed were recorded as:
15, 18, 20, 9, 11, 8, 16, 14, 13, 15, 17, 21, 7,
9, 11, 8, 18, 12, 6, 19, 15, 22, 19, 12, 10
Plot a stem and leaf diagram of the no. of defects in a part
Draw a box plot for the above data and comment on the distribution

60. A random variable has its probability density function as 10 e-kx, x >= 0
a) find k
b) Compute the probability of the random variable taking on a value of i) at least 20ii)
between 10 and 20 iii) between 0 and 10.
c) Find its expectation and variance.

61. If P(A) = 0.2, P(B) = 0.2, and P(A ∩ B) = 0.1, determine the following probabilities:
(a) P(A’) (b) P(A U B) (c) P(A’ U B’) (d) P(A|B)

62. Suppose your vehicle is licensed in a state that issues license plates that consist of three
digits (between 0 and 9) followed by three letters (between A and Z). If a license
number is selected randomly, what is the probability that yours is the one selected?

63. For each of the following exercises, determine the range (possible values) of the random
variable.
a. The random variable is the number of nonconforming solder connections on a printed
circuit board with 1000 connections. :integers from 0 to 1000
 b. In a voice communication system with 50 lines, the random variable is the number of
lines in use at a particular time. from 0 to 50
c. An electronic scale that displays weights to the nearest pound is used to weigh
packages. The display shows only five digits. Any weight greater than the display can
indicate is shown as 99999. The random variable is the displayed weight. from 0 to
99999
d. A batch of 500 machined parts contains 10 that do not conform to customer
requirements. The random variable is the number of parts in a sample of 5 parts that do
not conform to customer requirements. from 0 to 5
e. A batch of 500 machined parts contains 10 that do not conform to customer
requirements. Parts are selected successively, without replacement, until a
nonconforming part is obtained. The random variable is the number of parts
selected.rom 1to 491
f. The random variable is the moisture content of a lot of raw material, measured to the
nearest percentage point. from 0 to 100
g. The random variable is the number of surface flaws in a large coil of galvanized steel.
from 0 to infinity (apx)
h. The random variable is the number of computer clock cycles required to complete a
selected arithmetic calculation. from 0 to infinity (apx)
i. An order for an automobile can select the base model or add any number of 15
options. The random variable is the number of options selected in an order.
j. Wood paneling can be ordered in thicknesses of 1/8, 1/4, or 3/8 inch. The random
variable is the total thickness of paneling in two orders. ANS: 3/8, 1/2, 5/8
k. A group of 10,000 people are tested for a gene called Ifi202 that has been found to
increase the risk for lupus. The random variable X is the number of people who carry
the gene. ANS: integers from 0 to 10000
l. A software program has 5000 lines of code. The random variable is the number of
lines with a fatal error. ANS: integers from 0 to 5000
64. A team has 4 children, chosen from a large class with girls and boys equally likely in
the class. Let X denote the number of girls in the team.
a. Write down the probability distribution of X.
b. Compute E[X]
c. Compute Var[X].
ANS: integers from 0 to infinity (apx)
65. Toss a fair coin 4 times, let X denote the number of heads.
a. Write down the probability distribution of X.
b. Compute E[X]
c. Compute Var[X]
66. John pays Rs 400 per year for towing insurance. He thinks the probability that he will
need to have his car towed is 10% and the probability that he will need to have it towed
more than once is zero. Without insurance the cost of towing is Rs 1000, but the cost is
zero if insured. Let X=John’s expenses next year for towing and/or insurance.
a. If he buys insurance, what is the value of X?
 b. If he doesn’t buy insurance, what two values can X take?
c. Find E[X] for both (a) and (b). Should he buy the insurance?
67. Let X represent the number of jobs held during the past year for students at a school,
and suppose X has the following probability distribution:
x 0 1 2 3 4
P(x) 0.15 0.28 0.36 0.10 0.11
a. What is the probability that a randomly selected student has fewer than two jobs?
b. Find P(X>0)
c. Find P(X>2)
68. Suppose that E[X] = 10 and Var[X]=5. Compute the following:
a. E[2X+3] b. E[-X] c. Var(Write solution in terms of n.)
d. Var[0.1X] e. Var[10X+3]
69. Are the following valid probability distributions? If so, compute E[X] and Var[X]:
a. X: 0 1 2 3 4
f(x): 0.05 0.08 0.36 0.10 0.10
b. X: 0 1 10
f(x): 0.77 0.20 0.03

70. For some constant c, the random variable X has probability density function f(x) = cxn
for 0< x <1, 0 otherwise.
Find the following: (a) c (b) P(X > x) for 0 < x < 1.
71. Let X be the duration of a telephone call in minutes and suppose X has pdf f (x) =
c.e−x/10 for x ≥ 0.
Find c, and also find the chance that the call lasts less than 5 minutes.
72. A batch of 500 containers for frozen orange juice contains 5 that are defective. Two are
selected, at random, without replacement from the batch.
(a) What is the probability that the second one selected is defective given that the first
one was defective?
(b) What is the probability that both are defective?
(c) What is the probability that both are acceptable?
73. Continuation of above exercise: Three containers are selected, at random, without
replacement, from the same batch.
(a) What is the probability that the third one selected is defective given that the first and
second one selected were defective?
(b) What is the probability that the third one selected is defective given that the first one
selected was defective and the second one selected was okay?
(c) What is the probability that all three are defective?

74. A maintenance firm has gathered the following information regarding the failure
mechanisms for air conditioning systems:
Evidence of Evidence of gas leaks
electrical yes no
failure
yes 55 17
no 32 3
The units without evidence of gas leaks or electrical failure showed other types of
failure. If this is a representative sample of AC failure, find the probability
(a) That failure involves a gas leak
 (b) That there is evidence of electrical failure given that there was a gas leak
(c) That there is evidence of a gas leak given that there is evidence of electrical failure
75. In the manufacturing of a chemical adhesive, 3% of all batches have raw materials from
two different lots. This occurs when holding tanks are replenished and the remaining
portion of a lot is insufficient to fill the tanks.
Only 5% of batches with material from a single lot require reprocessing. However, the
viscosity of batches consisting of two or more lots of material is more difficult to
control, and 40% of such batches require additional processing to achieve the required
viscosity.
Let A denote the event that a batch is formed from two different lots, and let B denote
the event that a lot requires additional processing. Determine the following
probabilities:
(a) P(A) (b) P(A’) (c) P(B | A) (d) P(B | A’)
(e) P(A Ո B) (f) P(A Ո B’) (g) P(B)

76. An inspector working for a manufacturing company has a 99% chance of correctly
identifying defective items and a 0.5% chance of incorrectly classifying a good item as
defective. The company has evidence that its line produces 0.9% of nonconforming
items.
(a) What is the probability that an item selected for inspection is classified as defective?
(b) If an item selected at random is classified as non-defective, what is the probability
that it is indeed good?
77. Customers are used to evaluate preliminary product designs. In the past, 95% of highly
successful products received good reviews, 60% of moderately successful products
received good reviews, and 10% of poor products received good reviews. In addition,
40% of products have been highly successful, 35% have been moderately successful,
and 25% have been poor products.
(a) What is the probability that a product attains a good review?
(b) If a new design attains a good review, what is the probability that it will be a highly
successful product?
(c) If a product does not attain a good review, what is the probability that it will be a
highly successful product?
78. Show that for a discrete uniform random variable X, if each of the values in the range of
X is multiplied by the constant c, the effect is to multiply the mean of X by c and the
variance of X by c2 . That is, show that E(cX ) = cE(X ) and V(cX ) = c2V(X ).
Hint: Apply definitions of expectation and variance to pdf of cX
79. The probability of an operator entering alphanumeric data incorrectly into a field in a
database is equally likely. The random variable X is the number of fields on a data entry
form with an error. The data entry form has 28 fields. Is X a discrete uniform random
variable? Why or why not.
80. For each scenario described below, state whether or not the binomial distribution is a
reasonable model for the random variable and why. State any assumptions you make.
(a) A production process produces thousands of temperature transducers. Let X denote
the number of nonconforming transducers in a sample of size 30 selected at random
from the process.
(b) From a batch of 50 temperature transducers, a sample of size 30 is selected without
replacement. Let X denote the number of nonconforming transducers in the sample.
 (c) Four identical electronic components are wired to a controller that can switch from a
failed component to one of the remaining spares. Let X denote the number of
components that have failed after a specified period of operation.
(d) Let X denote the number of accidents that occur along the federal highways in
Arizona during a one-month period.
(e) Let X denote the number of correct answers by a student taking a multiple choice
exam in which a student can eliminate some of the choices as being incorrect in some
questions and all of the incorrect choices in other questions.
(f) Defects occur randomly over the surface of a semiconductor chip. However, only
80% of defects can be found by testing. A sample of 40 chips with one defect each is
tested. Let X denote the number of chips in which the test finds a defect.
(g) Reconsider the situation in part (f). Now, suppose the sample of 40 chips consists of
chips with 1 and with 0 defects.
(h) A filling operation attempts to fill detergent packages to the advertised weight. Let
X denote the number of detergent packages that are underfilled.
(i) Errors in a digital communication channel occur in bursts that affect several
consecutive bits. Let X denote the number of bits in error in a transmission of 100,000
bits.
(j) Let X denote the number of surface flaws in a large coil of galvanized steel.
81. The phone lines to an airline reservation system are occupied 40% of the time. Assume
that the events that the lines are occupied on successive calls are independent. Assume
that 10 calls are placed to the airline.
(a) What is the probability that for exactly three calls the lines are occupied?
(b) What is the probability that for at least one call the lines are not occupied?
(c) What is the expected number of calls in which the lines are all occupied?
Hint: Use binomial dist
82. This exercise illustrates that poor quality can affect schedules and costs. A
manufacturing process has 100 customer orders to fill. Each order requires one
component part that is purchased from a supplier. However, typically, 2% of
the components are identified as defective, and the components can be assumed to be
independent.
(a) If the manufacturer stocks 100 components, what is the probability that the 100
orders can be filled without reordering components?
(b) If the manufacturer stocks 102 components, what is the probability that the 100
orders can be filled without reordering components?
(c) If the manufacturer stocks 105 components, what is the probability that the 100
orders can be filled without reordering components?
Hint: Use binomial dist
83. The probability is 0.6 that a calibration of a transducer in an electronic instrument
conforms to specifications for the measurement system. Assume the calibration attempts
are independent. What is the probability that at most three
calibration attempts are required to meet the specifications for the measurement system?
Hint: Use geom dist
84. Printed circuit cards are placed in a functional test after being populated with
semiconductor chips. A lot contains 140 cards, and 20 are selected without replacement
for functional testing.
 (a) If 20 cards are defective, what is the probability that at least 1 defective card is in the
sample?
(b) If 5 cards are defective, what is the probability that at least 1 defective card appears
in the sample?
Hint: Use hyp geom dist
85. The number of cracks in a section of interstate highway that are significant enough to
require repair is assumed to follow a Poisson distribution with a mean of two cracks per
mile.
(a) What is the probability that there are no cracks that require repair in 5 miles of
highway?
(b) What is the probability that at least one crack requires repair in 1/2 mile of highway?
Hint: Define different Poisson random variables.
(c) If the number of cracks is related to the vehicle load on the highway and some
sections of the highway have a heavy load of vehicles whereas other sections carry
a light load, how do you feel about the assumption of a Poisson distribution for the
number of cracks that require repair?
86. ) From 500 customers, a major appliance manufacturer will randomly select a sample
without replacement. The company estimates that 25% of the customers will provide
useful data. If this estimate is correct, what is the probability mass function of the
number of customers that will provide useful data?
(a) Assume that the company samples 5 customers.
(b) Assume that the company samples 10 customers.
87. Let X be the duration of a telephone call in minutes and suppose X is exponentially
distributed with a mean of 4 minutes for a call. Find the chance that a call lasts less than
5 minutes.
Ans: P(X<5) = 1-e-(1/4)x5
88. Let X ~ U[a,b]. Show that E(X) = (a + b) / 2 and Var(X) = (b−a)2 / 12
Ans: Use definitions of expectation and variance, then simplify the expressions.
89. Suppose the weight of a new-born baby averages 2 Kgs, with a SD of 0. 5 Kgs. If
weights are normally distributed,
(a) what fraction of babies are between 3 and 4 Kgs?
(b) For what value of x does the interval [4−x, 4 +x] include 95% of birth weights?
Ans:a) Define X as weight of baby. P(3<X<4)=Φ((4-2)/0.5) - Φ((3-2)/0.5)
b) P(4−x < X < 4 +x) = 0.95 Φ((4+x-2)/0.5) - Φ((4-x-2)/0.5)= 0.95, or Φ(4+2x) -
Φ(4-2x)= 0.95. Since the 1st term in LHS is approximately 1, solve Φ(4-2x)= 0.05
90. Suppose that the travel time from your home to your office is normally distributed with
mean 40 minutes and standard deviation 7 minutes. If you want to be 95% percent
certain that you will not be late for an office appointment at 1 p.m., What is the latest
time that you should leave home?
Ans: Travel duration T ~ N(40,72). Solve P(T<t) = .95, for t. You should leave home t
minutes before 1 pm.
91. I toss 1000 coins. Find the chance (approximately) that the number of heads I get is
between 475 and 525, inclusive of both.
Ans: no of heads, H ~ Bin(1000, 0.5), H’is approximately normal. Find P(474.5 < H’<
525.5)
92. The ideal size of a first-year class at a particular college is 150 students. The college,
knowing from past experience that on the average only 30 percent of those accepted for
admission will actually attend, uses a policy of approving the applications of 450
students. Compute the probability that more than 150 first-year students attend this
college. Ans: no of students attending, S~Bin(450,0.3). P(S>150)=? Use Normal
approximation.
93. The amount of time, in hours, that a computer functions before breaking down is an
exponentially distributed random variable with a mean of 100 hours. Find the
probability that
(a) the computer will break down within the first 100 hours;
(b) given that it it still working after 100 hours, it breaks down within the next 100
hours.
Ans: a) H~Exponential(1/100). P(H<100) b) P(H<200|H>100), use conditional
probability formula to discover the memory lessness property.
94. Suppose that the lifetime of a battery is exponentially distributed with an average life
span of three months. What is the probability that the battery will last for more than four
months? Ans: P(L>4)
95. Suppose that the lifetime of a battery is exponentially distributed with an average life
span of two months. You buy six batteries. What is the probability that none of them
will last more than two months? (Assume that the batteries are independent.)
Ans: Define X=no of batteries lasting more than 2 months. Then X~Bin(6, p), where
p=P(L>2), with L~Exponential(1/2). The answer is P(X=0)
96. Let X1, X2, .. , X7 denote a random sample from a population having mean μ and
variance σ2 . Consider the following estimators of μ:
Θ1 = (X1 + X2 + p + X7) / 7
Θ2 = (2X1 - X6 + X4) / 2
(a) Is either estimator unbiased?
(b) Which estimator is best? In what sense is it best?
(c) Calculate the relative efficiency of Θ1 wrt Θ2.
97. Data on oxide thickness of semiconductors are as
follows: 425, 431, 416, 419, 421, 436, 418, 410, 431, 433, 423, 426, 410, 435, 436, 428,
411, 426, 409, 437, 422, 428, 413, 416.
(a) Calculate a point estimate of the mean oxide thickness for all wafers in the
population.
(b) Calculate a point estimate of the standard deviation of oxide thickness for all wafers
in the population.
(c) Calculate the standard error of the point estimate from part (a).
(d) Calculate a point estimate of the median oxide thickness for all wafers in the
population.
(e) Calculate a point estimate of the proportion of wafers in the population that have
oxide thickness greater than 430 angstrom.
98. Derive the maximum likelihood estimator of λ, based on a random sample of size n
from a Poisson distribution.
99. Consider the probability density function
F(x) = c (1 + Θx), -1 <= x <= 1
(a) Find the value of the constant c.
(b) What is the moment estimator for Θ?
(c) Show that Θ^ = 3X_bar is an unbiased estimator for Θ, where X_bar is the sample
mean.
(d) Find the maximum likelihood estimator for Θ.
100. The amount of time that a customer spends waiting at an airport check-in counter is a
random variable with mean 8.2 minutes and standard deviation 1.5 minutes. Suppose
that a random sample of n = 49 customers is observed. Find the probability that the
average time waiting in line for these customers is
(a) Less than 10 minutes
(b) Between 5 and 10 minutes
(c) Less than 6 minutes
101. A manufacturer of semiconductor devices takes a random sample of 100 chips and tests
them, classifying each chip as defective or non-defective. Let Xi = 0 if the chip is
non-defective and Xi = 1 if the chip is defective. The sample fraction defective is
P^ = (X1 + X2 +.. X100) / 100
What is the sampling distribution of the random variable P^?
102. A random sample of 36 observations has been drawn from a normal distribution with
mean 50 and standard deviation 12. Find the probability that the sample mean is in the
interval 47 <= X <= 53 . Is the assumption of normality important? Why?