1. X is a random variable with mean μ and variance σ2.

Y is a random variable
with mean m and variance s2. Find in terms of μ, σ, m and s:
(a) E ( X − 2Y )
(b) Var ( X − 2Y )
(c) Var ( 4X )
 ( X1 + X2 + X3 + X 4 ) where Xi is the ith observation of X.
(d) Var
[4 marks]

2. The heights of trees in a forest have mean 16 m and variance 60 m2. A sample of
35 trees is measured.
(a) Find the mean and variance of the average height of the trees in the sample.
(b) Use
 the Central Limit Theorem to find the probability that the average
height of the trees in the sample is less than 12 m. [5 marks]

3. The number of cars arriving at a car park in a five minute interval follows
a Poisson distribution with mean 7, and the number of motorbikes follows
Poisson distribution with mean 2. Find the probability that exactly 10 vehicles
arrive at the car park in a particular five minute interval. [4 marks]

4. The number of announcements posted by a head teacher in a day follows a

normal distribution with mean 4 and standard deviation 2. Find the mean and
standard deviation of the total number of announcements she posts in a
five-day week. [3 marks]

5. The masses of men in a factory are known to be normally distributed with

mean 80 kg and standard deviation 6 kg. There is an elevator with a maximum
recommended load of 600 kg. With 7 men in the elevator, calculate the probability
that their combined weight exceeds the maximum recommended load.
[5 marks]

6. Davina makes bracelets using purple and yellow beads. Each bracelet consists of
seven randomly selected purple beads and four randomly selected yellow beads.
The diameters of the beads are normally distributed with standard deviation
0.4 cm. The average diameter of a purple bead is 1.5 cm and the average
diameter of a yellow bead is 2.1 cm. Find the probability that the length of the
bracelet is less than 18 cm. [7 marks]

  
 7. The masses of the parents at a primary school are normally distributed with
mean 78 kg and variance 30 kg2, and the masses of the children are normally
distributed with mean 33 kg and variance 62 kg2. Let the random variable
P represent the combined mass of two randomly chosen parents and the
random variable C the combined mass of four randomly chosen children.
(a) Find the mean and variance of C – P.
(b) Find
 the probability that four children have a mass of more than two
parents. [6 marks]

8. X is a random variable with mean μ and variance σ2. Prove that the
expectation of the mean of three observations of X is μ but the standard
σ
deviation of this mean is . [7 marks]
3

9. An animal scientist is investigating the lengths of a particular type of fish. It is

known that the lengths have standard deviation 4.6 cm. She wishes to take a
sample to estimate the mean length. She requires that the standard deviation
of the sample mean is smaller than 1, and that the standard deviation of the
total length of the sample is less than 22. What is the smallest sample size she
could take? [6 marks]

10. The marks in a Mathematics test are known to follow a normal distribution
with mean 63 and variance 64. The marks in an English test follow a normal
distribution with mean 61 and variance 71.
(a) Find
 the probability that a randomly chosen mark in English is higher
than a randomly chosen Mathematics mark.
(b) Find
 the probability that the mean of 12 English marks is higher than the
mean of 12 Mathematics marks. [9 marks]
11. A bottling company uses a filling machine to fill plastic bottles with a popular cola. The bottles
are supposed to contain 300 millilters (ml). In fact, the contents vary according to a normal
distribution with mean m = 303 ml and standard deviation s = 3 ml.

a. What is the probability that an individual bottle contains less than 300 ml?
b. Now take a random sample of 10 bottles. What are the mean and standard deviation of the
sample mean contents x -bar of these 10 bottles?
c. What is the probability that the sample mean contents of the 10 bottles is less than 300
ml?

12.The length of human pregnancies from conception to birth varies according to a distribution
that is approximately normal with mean 264 days and standard deviation 16 days. Consider 15
pregnant women from a rural area. Assume they are equivalent to a random sample from all women.

a. What are the mean and standard deviation of the sample mean length of pregnancy x -bar
of these 15 pregnancies?
b. If we want to predict, with 90% accuracy, the sample mean length of pregnancy for 15
randomly selected women, what values do we use? (That is, find value L AND U such that
there's a 90% probability the sample mean x -bar lies between L and U .)
c. What's the probability the sample mean length of pregnancy lasts less than 250 days?
(Contrast this with the probability a single pregnant women is pregnant for less than 250
days, which is 0.1908.)
d. Toxic waste is believed to have affected the health of residents of this area. Suppose the
sample mean length of pregnancy is indeed 250 days; use the result of part (c) to argue
that the waste has an effect of length of pregnancy.

13. The weights of the eggs produced by a certain breed of hen are normally distributed with
mean 65 grams and standard deviation of 5 grams.
(a) What is the probability that one egg selected at random from a hen house will weigh more than
68 grams?
(b) Consider a carton of 12 eggs to be a simple random sample (SRS) of hen's eggs. If you were to
take a large number of repeated samples of size n = 12, what would the mean and standard
deviation be of these sample means?
(c) What is the probability that the average weight of the 12 eggs in a carton selected at random
will be more than 68 grams?
(d) Explain why the numbers from (a) and (c) are so different, using the Central Limit Theorem.

14. In a study done on the life expectancy of 500 people in a certain geographic region, the
mean age at death was 72 years and the standard deviation was 5.3 years.
(a) What is the probability that an individual selected at random will be less than 70 years old?
(b) If a sample of 50 people from this region is selected, and the probability that the mean life
expectancy will be less than 70 years.
(c) In your own words, explain so that someone not in this class can understand why
there is a difference between (a) and (b). Feel free to use specific examples.