School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University

STAT 3502: Probability and Statistics - Assignment 2

Section B due on Friday, February 9, 2018

INSTRUCTIONS
I) Assignments are to be handed in prior to the beginning of tutorial on the due dates listed
above.
II) Show all your work. No credit will be given for answers without justification.
III) No late assignments will be accepted.
IV) Total marks of 50.

Question 1. [6 Marks] Consider the following cumulative distribution function of the random vari-
able T , 


 0 t<1


 0.41 16t<3



F (t) = 0.78 36t<5


0.94 56t<7






1 t > 7.


Find

a) [1 mark] P (T > 3); b) [1 mark] P (1.5 < T 6 6);

c) [2 marks] P (T 6 5|T > 2); d) [1 mark] E(3T + 5);

e) [1 mark] V (3T + 5).

Question 2. [8 Marks] A shipment of seven television sets contains two defective sets. A hotel
makes a purchase of three sets. Let X be the number of the defective sets purchased by hotel.

a) [3 marks] Find the probability distribution of X.

b) [3 marks] Find the cumulative distribution function of the random variable X.

c) [2 marks] Use CDF to find P (X = 1) and P (0 < X ≤ 2).

Stat 3502 B Assignment 2 Due In Tutorial

Question 3. [9 Marks] In testing a certain kind of truck tire over rugged terrain, it is found that
20% of the trucks fail to complete the test run without a blowout. Of the next 15 trucks tested,
find the probability that

a) from 3 to 6 have blowouts;

b) fewer than 4 have blowouts;

c) more than 5 have blowouts.

Question 4. [6 Marks] A company generally purchases large lots of a certain kind of electronic
device. A method is used to make a decision, which is to reject a lot if two or more defective units
are found in a random sample of 100 units.

a) What is the probability of rejecting a lot that has 1% defective?

b) What is the probability of accepting a lot that has 5% defective?

Question 5. [6 Marks] Suppose the probability that any given person will believe a tale about the
transgression of a famous actress is 0.8. What is the probability that

a) the third person to hear this tale is the first one to believe it?

b) the sixth person to hear this tale is the fourth one to believe it?

Question 6. [6 Marks] For each of the following equations, determine the value of c for which p(x)
is a pmf:

 c(1/6)x , x = 1, 2, 3, · · ·
a) p(x) =
 0 otherwise.

 cx, x = 1, 2, 3, · · ·
b) p(x) =
 0 otherwise.

Question 7. [6 Marks] Suppose that earthquakes occur in a certain region of California, in accor-
dance with a Poisson process, at a rate of five per year.

a) What is the probability that at most two earthquakes occur in a given eight-week period?
(Note that there are 52 weeks in a year.)

b) What is the probability of no earthquake occurring in two years?

c) What is the probability that no earthquake occurs in exactly two of the next eight years?

Page 2 of 2 End of Assignment