PROBLEM SET of CONTINUOUS PDF

SPRING SEMESTER 2016

ME 201/ES 202 - ENGINEERING STATISTICS
1. Boeing 757s flying certain routes are configured to have 168 economy-class seats.
Experience has shown that only 90% of all ticket holders on those flights will actually show up in time to board the plane. Knowing that, suppose an airline sells 178
tickets for the 168 seats. What is the probability that not everyone who arrives at
the gate on time can be accommodated?
Answer:

0.0190

2. An examination is frequently regarded as being good (in the sense of determining

a valid grade spread for those taking it) if the test scores of those taking the examination can be approximated by a normal density function. (In other words, a
graph of the frequency of grade scores should have approximately the bell-shaped
form of the normal density.) The instructor often uses the test scores to estimate
the normal parameters and 2 and then assigns the letter grade A to those whose
test score is greater than + , B to those whose score is between and + , C to
those whose score is between and , D to those whose score is between 2
and , and F to those getting a score below 2. (This strategy is sometimes
referred to as grading on the curve.) Under this grading scheme, approximately
what percentage of students are granted grades A, B, C, D, and F respectively.
Answer:

A = 0.1587

B = 0.3413

C = 0.3413

D = 0.1359

F = 0.0228

3. It is estimated that 80% of all eighteen-year old women have weights ranging from
103.5 to 144.5 lb. Assuming the weight distribution can be adequately modeled by
a normal curve and that 103.5 and 144.5 are equidistant from the average weight
, calculate .
Answer:

= 17.0833

4. 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.
Answer:

0.0554

5. Suppose that the number of miles that a car can run before its battery wears out
is exponentially distributed with an average value of 10,000 miles. If a person desires to take a 5000-mile trip, what is the probability that he or she will be able to
complete the trip without having to replace the car battery?
Answer:

e 2 = 0.6065
1

6. Trains headed for destination A arrive at the train station at 15-minute intervals
starting at 7:00 A.M., whereas trains headed for destination B arrive at 15-minute
intervals starting at 7:05 A.M.
(a) If a certain passenger arrives at the station at a time uniformly distributed
between 7:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M. and then gets on the first train that arrives,
what proportion of time does he or she go to destination A?
(b) What if the passenger arrives at a time uniformly distributed between 7:10
A.M. and 8:10 A.M.?
Answer:

(a)

2
3

(b)

2
3

7. A bus travels between the two cities A and B, which are 100 miles apart. If the
bus has a breakdown, the distance from the breakdown to city A has a uniform
distribution over (0, 100). There is a bus service station in city A, in city B, and
in the center of the route between A and B. It is suggested that it would be more
efficient to have the three stations located 25, 50, and 75 miles respectively from A.
Do you agree? Why?
Answer:

Yes, it would be more efficient.

8. Suppose that X is a normal random variable with mean 5. If P r(X > 9) = 0.2,
approximately what is Var(X)?
Answer:

(4.7619)2 = 22.6757

9. The width of a slot of a forging is (in inches) normally distributed with = 0.9000
and = 0.0030. The specification limits were given as 0.9000 0.0050.
(a) What percentage of forgings will be defective?
(b) What is the maximum allowable value of that will permit no more than 1 in
100 defectives when the widths are normally distributed with = 0.9000 and
?
Answer:

(a) 0.0956

(b) = 0.0021

10. One thousand independent rolls of a fair die will be made.

(a) Compute an approximation to the probability that the number 6 will appear
between 150 and 200 times inclusively.
(b) If the number 6 appears exactly 200 times, find the probability that the number
5 will appear less than 150 times.
Answer:

(a) 0.9258

(b) 0.1767

11. Each item produced by a certain manufacturer is, independently, of acceptable

quality with probability 0.95. Approximate the probability that at most 10 of the
next 150 items produced are unacceptable.
Answer:

Approximate = 0.8695, Exact = 0.8678

2

12. The number of years a radio functions is exponentially distributed with parameter
= 81 . If Jones buys a used radio, what is the probability that it will be working
after an additional 8 years?
Answer:

e1 = 0.3679

13. If Y is uniformly distributed over (0, 5), what is the probability that the roots of
the equation 4x2 + 4xY + Y + 2 = 0 are both real?
Answer:

3
5

14. If Z is a standard normal random variable and x > 0, then show that
(a) P r(Z > x) = P r(Z < x);
(b) P r(|Z| > x) = 2P r(Z > x);
(c) P r(|Z| < x) = 2P r(Z < x) 1.
Interpret these relations graphically.
15. The mode of a continuous random variable having density f is the value of x for
which f (x) attains its maximum. Compute the mode of X if X is
(a) uniformly distributed over (a, b);
(b) normal with parameters and 2 ;
(c) exponential with rate .
Answer:

(a) All values in (a, b)

(b)

(c) 0

16. If X is an exponential random variable with parameter , and c > 0, show that cX
is exponential with parameter /c.
17. Beginning at 12:00 midnight, a computer center is up for one hour and then down
for two hours on a regular cycle. A person who is unaware of this schedule dials
the center at a random time between 12:00 midnight and 5:00 A.M. What is the
probability that the center is up when the persons call comes in?
Answer:

2
5

18. The grade point averages (GPAs) of GIKI students are approximately normally
distributed with mean 2.7 and standard deviation 0.8.
(a) What fraction of the students possess a GPA in excess of 3.0?
(b) If students possessing a GPA less than 2.0 are dropped from the rolls, what
percentage of the students will be dropped?
(c) Suppose that three students are randomly selected from the student body.
What is the probability that all three will possess a GPA in excess of 3.0?
Answer:

(a) 0.3538

(b) 0.1908

(c) 0.0443

19. A soft-drink machine can be regulated so that it discharges an average of ounces

per cup.
(a) If the ounces of fill are normally distributed with standard deviation 0.3 ounce,
give the setting for so that 8-ounce cups will overflow only 1% of the time.
(b) The standard deviation of the machine can be fixed at certain levels by
carefully adjusting the machine. What is the largest value of that will allow
the actual amount dispensed to fall within 1 ounce of the mean with probability
at least 0.95.
Answer:

(a) = 7.613

(b) 0.5102

20. Assume that Y is normally distributed with mean and standard deviation .
After observing a value of Y , a mathematician constructs a rectangle with length
L = |Y | and width W = 3|Y |. Let A denote the area of the resulting rectangle.
What is E(A)?
Answer:

3 (2 + 2 )