IB DP Maths 4 hours 29 questions

Exam Questions

Continuous Random
Variables
Probability Density Function

Medium (9 questions) /88 Scan here to return to the course

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Hard (10 questions) /71

Very Hard (10 questions) /85

Total Marks /244

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Medium Questions
1 (a) A ‘lucky dip’ bag contains seven bars of chocolate and 5 packets of sweets. Suraya selects
two items at random without replacing them.

The probability distribution table for the discrete random variable X , “the number of
packets of sweets selected”, is shown below.

X 0 1 2

PX x 21 7k 2k
66 66 66

Find the value of k .

(3 marks)

(b) Find E X

(2 marks)

(c) Find E X2 .

(2 marks)

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(d) Find Var X

(3 marks)

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2 (a) A population of grasshoppers is being studied. It is found that the length of an adult
kx 2 6 x 0 x 6
grasshopper, in cm, has PDF f x
0 otherwise

Find the value of k .

(4 marks)

(b) Sketch the probability density function.

(2 marks)

(c) Find the probability that a grasshopper picked at random is less than 4 cm in length.

(2 marks)

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3 (a) A game is played with two fair spinners. Each spinner is divided into three sections
numbered 1, 2 and 3. A player’s score is obtained by spinning both spinners simultaneously
and adding together the numbers that they land on.

Complete the table below for the probability distribution of the game.

Score, X

PX x

(2 marks)

(b) Find the expected score, E X

(2 marks)

(c) Jian Wei wants to award prizes such that a player receives $3 for the score that they achieve.

Find the expected prize money for the game.

(2 marks)

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4 (a) A continuous random variable has a probability distribution function

3
x 2 2x 0 x 2
f x 4
0 otherwise

Show that the mean of the random variable is equal to 1.

(4 marks)

(b) Find the variance of the random variable.

(6 marks)

(c) Hence, find the standard deviation of the random variable, leaving your answer in the form
a
.
b

(3 marks)

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5 (a) At a school probability fair, some students create a game using one complete suit from a
standard pack of cards. A player must pay $1 to pick a card at random. If their card is a jack,
queen or a king they will receive $1 back, if their card is an ace they will receive $5 otherwise
if their card is an ordinary number card from 2 to 10, they will receive nothing.

Show that the game is not fair.

(4 marks)

(b) Calculate

(i) E X2

(ii) Var X

(4 marks)

(c) The students want to make the game fair, so decide to give a prize to anyone who picks an
ordinary number card.

Calculate the value of the new prize for choosing an ordinary number card.

(2 marks)

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6 (a) A discrete random variable B has probability distribution given by B ab b 1 , where
b 5 6 7.

Find the value of a

(3 marks)

(b) Complete the probability distribution table below.

B 5 6 7

PB b

(2 marks)

(c) Find the mean of B.

(2 marks)

(d) Find the standard deviation of B.

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 (5 marks)

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7 (a) A continuous random variable has the probability density function given by

x2 7
tx 3 x 0 x 6
f x 18 36
0 otherwise

Find the value of t .

(4 marks)

(b) Hence, find the values of

(i) the mean

(ii) the mode

(iii) the median.

(8 marks)

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8 A random variable has E X 23 and Var X 1 5.

Find

(i) E X 6

(ii) E 2X 5

(iii) Var X 7

(iv) Var 3X 3

(6 marks)

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9 (a) Consider the function defined by

1 2
x 0 x 2
10
f x 82 14
x 2 x 5
135 135
0 otherwise

where f x is the probability density function of a continuous random variable.

Sketch the graph of f x

(3 marks)

(b) Find the value of E X .

(4 marks)

(c) Find the value of Var X .

(4 marks)

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Hard Questions
1 (a) A continuous random variable X has the probability density function given by

k sin 2x 0 x
f x 3
0 otherwise

Find the value of k .

(2 marks)

(b) Giving your answers to three significant figures, find

(i) the mean of X ,

(ii) the mode of X .

(3 marks)

(c) (i) Write down PX

3

(ii) Show that the median, m , of X lies in the interval m .

6 3

(2 marks)

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2 (a) The continuous random variable X has probability density function

kx 4 0 x 1
f x k6 x 1 x 6
0 otherwise

Find the value of k .

(3 marks)

(b) Sketch the probability density function.

(2 marks)

(c) Find:

(i) E X

(ii) Var X

(iii) P 05 X 15 .

(6 marks)

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3 (a) The discrete random variable, X , has probability distribution function

k
x 2 4 6 12
f x 2x
0 otherwise

Show that k 2.

(2 marks)

(b) Find the expected value and variance of X .

(2 marks)

(c) As part of a game, a four-sided spinner is created with the numbers 2, 4, 6 and 12. The
discrete random variable X is used to model the number that the spinner lands on. The
score allocated to a player on their turn is 4 more than double the value the spinner lands
on.

Find the expected value and variance of a player’s score from a single spin.

(2 marks)

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4 (a) A UK energy company charges £0.22 per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity used.
The amount of energy used per day by the company’s customers, X kWh, follows the
following probability density function

xk x
0 x 18
f x 972
0 otherwise

Show that k 18.

(2 marks)

(b) A customer’s total daily charge consists of a fixed (standing) charge of £0.38 per day plus the
charge for the electricity used.

(i) Find the expected total daily charge.

(ii) Find the standard deviation for the total daily charge.

(6 marks)

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5 (a) Consider the function f defined by,

kx 4 x 5 2 4 x 5
f x
0 otherwise

Use your GDC to verify that f

x can represent a probability density function for a
continuous random variable X in the case when k 12 . Explain your verification process in
full.

(2 marks)

(b) Use your GDC to find the mode of X .

(1 mark)

(c) Use your GDC to estimate the median of X .

(2 marks)

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6 (a) Consider the probability density function for a continuous random variable, X

1
3x 20 a x 12
64
f x 1
x 16 2 12 x 16
64
0 otherwise

1
(i) Given that P 12 X 16 , find the value of a .
3

(ii) Briefly explain how, without further calculations, it can be deduced that the median of X ,
m , lies in the interval a m 12

(2 marks)

(b) Find

(i) E X

(ii) E X2

(iii) Var X .

(4 marks)

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7 (a) In a quick-fire quiz consisting of 25 questions, contestants have just over 2 seconds to
answer each question. The time taken on any single question in the quiz is modelled by the
continuous random variable, T , which has probability density function

1
sin t 0 t T max
f t 2
0 otherwise

Find the exact value of T and verify that this is just over 2 seconds.
max

(2 marks)

(b) Find the probability that a contestant takes between 1 and 2 seconds to answer a question.

(2 marks)

(c) Sketch the graph of y f t

(1 mark)

(d) Write down the mode of T .

(1 mark)

(e) Find the median of T .

(2 marks)

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(f) Find the mean time for a contestant to answer all 25 questions.

(3 marks)

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8 (a) The continuous random variable, Θ , has probability density function

1
cos θ q a θ a
f θ p
0 otherwise

Given that f a 0 , write down, in terms of a , the mean, median and mode of Θ , briefly
explaining how you obtained your answers.

(2 marks)

(b) (i) Given that a , deduce the smallest positive value of q

6

(ii) Hence, or otherwise, find the value of p

(3 marks)

(c) R and S are values of Θ such that PΘ R P Θ S . Write down an equation

connecting R and S.

(1 mark)

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9 (a) Two random variables, X and Y are such that E 3X 5 Var 3Y 5.

It is also known that E Y E X and E Y 2 EX 2.

Show that 9EX 2 12E X 5 0.

(3 marks)

(b) Given that E X 0 , find E X .

(2 marks)

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10 (a) Consider the function

1
f x 4 x2
2

Sketch the graph of y f x .

(2 marks)

(b) Write down a domain for f x such that it could be a probability density function for a
continuous random variable X .

(1 mark)

(c) Write down

(i) P X 1,

(ii) E X ,

(iii) The median of X .

(3 marks)

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Very Hard Questions
1 (a) The continuous random variable X has the probability density function

kex 0 x a
f x k e2 ex a x 2
0 otherwise

where a and k are constants.

Given that f is a continuous function, find the values of a and k .

(3 marks)

(b) (i) Find P05 X 15

(ii) Find P X 1

(5 marks)

(c) Find the median of X .

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 (3 marks)

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2 (a) The continuous random variable, X , follows a uniform distribution.

The probability density function is given by

k a x b
f x
0 otherwise

(i) Write down an expression for k in terms of a and b .

(ii) Write down an expression for E X in terms of a and b .

b a 2
(iii) Show that Var X .
12

(5 marks)

(b) Given that E X 8 5 and Var X 6 75, find the values of a and b .

(3 marks)

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3 (a) A company meeting lasts T hours. The continuous random variable T can be modelled by
the probability density function

3 2
tt 2 0 t 2
f t 4
0 otherwise

Find the mean time of a meeting, giving your answer in minutes.

(3 marks)

(b) Show that the median meeting time is greater than the modal meeting time. Fully explain
your solution.

(3 marks)

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4 (a) The continuous random variable X has probability density function

k
2 x a
f x x3
0 otherwise

8a 2
Show that k .
a2 4

(3 marks)

20
(b) Given that E X show that a 5 and hence find the value of k .
7

(5 marks)

(c) Find the exact value of Var X .

(2 marks)

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5 (a) Paul is travelling around France to try to find the perfect baguette. The continuous random
variable C represents the cost, in euros, of a baguette. It can be modelled by the probability
density function

1
14c c 2 40 4 c 10
f c 36
0 otherwise

Sketch the graph of y f c .

(3 marks)

(b) Explain why the mean cost of a baguette is €7.

(1 mark)

25
(c) Given that the probability that a randomly selected baguette costs less than €9 is , find
27
the probability that a randomly selected baguette costs between €5 and €9

(2 marks)

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6 (a) The amount of time, t years, it takes for an investment to return a profit is modelled by a
continuous random variable, T , with probability density function

1 2
a t b 0 t 3
f t 24
0 otherwise

where a and b are integer constants.

Given that the mode of T is 1, find the values of a and b .

(4 marks)

(b) Find the expected length of time that a typical investor will have to wait before they make a
profit. Give your answer in months, to the nearest month.

(2 marks)

(c) A particular company owner will only commit to this investment if there is at least a 75%
chance they will make a profit within the first 18 months. Determine whether the company
owner will invest or not.

(2 marks)

(d) Give a criticism of the model.

(1 mark)

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7 The continuous random variable, X , has probability density function given by

1
x 1 1 x 3
6
f x 1
7 x 3 x 7
12
0 otherwise

Draw a box plot for the distribution of X . Mark the exact values of the quartiles on your
diagram.

(6 marks)

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8 (a) The discrete random variable, X , has the probability distribution given in the table below

x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

PX x k 1 k k 1 k 1 k k 1 k 1 k k 1
27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

where k .

Show that k 3.

(1 mark)

(b) Find

(i) P X 4 X 7

(ii) P X is prime X 5 .

(4 marks)

(c) Find

(i) E 4X 5

(ii) Var 6X q , where q is a constant.

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 (4 marks)

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9 (a) A continuous random variable, X , has a probability distribution such that

PX x kx 3 0 x 2

Given that P X 2 1 , find the value of k .

(1 mark)

(b) Find

(i) P X 1

(ii) PX 15

(iii) P 1 X 15

(4 marks)

(c) Find

(i) P X 1 X 05

(ii) PX 15 X 1

(4 marks)

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 1
10 (a) The function defined by f x x x 2 8x 17 has a local maximum when x p and a
54
local minimum when x q.

Sketch the graph of f . State the values of p and q.

(3 marks)

(b) The continuous random variable, X , has probability density function

f x 0 x 6
gx
0 otherwise

Briefly explain how it can be verified that g x is a suitable model for a probability density
function.

(2 marks)

(c) Write down the mode of X .

(2 marks)

(d) Find the probability that

(i) X is such that g x gp

(ii) X is such that gx gq .

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 (4 marks)

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