1.

The continuous random variable X has probability density function f (x) where

fk (x) =

(a) Show that k = 1.

(3)

(b) What is the probability that the random variable X has a value that lies between
1 and 1 ? Give your answer in terms of e.
4 2
(2)

(c) Find the mean and variance of the distribution. Give your answers exactly, in terms of e.
(6)

The random variable X above represents the lifetime, in years, of a certain type of battery.

(d) Find the probability that a battery lasts more than six months.
(2)

A calculator is fitted with three of these batteries. Each battery fails independently of the other
two. Find the probability that at the end of six months

(e) none of the batteries has failed;

(2)

(f) exactly one of the batteries has failed.

(2)
(Total 17 marks)

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2. A machine is set to produce bags of salt, whose weights are distributed normally, with a mean
of 110 g and standard deviation of 1.142 g. If the weight of a bag of salt is less than 108 g, the
bag is rejected. With these settings, 4% of the bags are rejected.

The settings of the machine are altered and it is found that 7% of the bags are rejected.

(a) (i) If the mean has not changed, find the new standard deviation, correct to three
decimal places.
(4)

The machine is adjusted to operate with this new value of the standard deviation.

(ii) Find the value, correct to two decimal places, at which the mean should be set so
that only 4% of the bags are rejected.
(4)

(b) With the new settings from part (a), it is found that 80% of the bags of salt have a weight
which lies between A g and B g, where A and B are symmetric about the mean. Find the
values of A and B, giving your answers correct to two decimal places.
(4)
(Total 12 marks)

3. (a) At a building site the probability, P(A), that all materials arrive on time is 0.85. The
probability, P(B), that the building will be completed on time is 0.60. The probability that
the materials arrive on time and that the building is completed on time is 0.55.

(i) Show that events A and B are not independent.

(ii) All the materials arrive on time. Find the probability that the building will not be
completed on time.
(5)

(b) There was a team of ten people working on the building, including three electricians and
two plumbers. The architect called a meeting with five of the team, and randomly
selected people to attend. Calculate the probability that exactly two electricians and one
plumber were called to the meeting.
(2)

(c) The number of hours a week the people in the team work is normally distributed with a
mean of 42 hours. 10% of the team work 48 hours or more a week. Find the probability
that both plumbers work more than 40 hours in a given week.
(8)
(Total 15 marks)

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4. Ian and Karl have been chosen to represent their countries in the Olympic discus throw. Assume
that the distance thrown by each athlete is normally distributed. The mean distance thrown by
Ian in the past year was 60.33 m with a standard deviation of 1.95 m.

(a) In the past year, 80% of Ian’s throws have been longer than x metres.
Find x, correct to two decimal places.
(3)

(b) In the past year, 80% of Karl’s throws have been longer than 56.52 m. If the mean
distance of his throws was 59.39 m, find the standard deviation of his throws, correct to
two decimal places.
(3)

(c) This year, Karl’s throws have a mean of 59.50 m and a standard deviation of 3.00 m.
Ian’s throws still have a mean of 60.33 m and standard deviation 1.95 m. In a competition
an athlete must have at least one throw of 65 m or more in the first round to qualify for
the final round. Each athlete is allowed three throws in the first round.

(i) Determine which of these two athletes is more likely to qualify for the final on
their first throw.

(ii) Find the probability that both athletes qualify for the final.
(11)
(Total 17 marks)

3
5. The speeds of cars at a certain point on a straight road are normally distributed with mean μ and
standard deviation σ. 15% of the cars travelled at speeds greater than 90 km h–1 and 12% of
them at speeds less than 40 km h–1. Find μ and σ.

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(Total 6 marks)

6. A random variable X is normally distributed with mean  and standard deviation σ, such that
P(X > 50.32) = 0.119, and P(X < 43.56) = 0.305.

(a) Find  and .

(5)

(b) Hence find P(|X – | < 5).

(2)
(Total 7 marks)

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7. A company buys 44% of its stock of bolts from manufacturer A and the rest from manufacturer
B. The diameters of the bolts produced by each manufacturer follow a normal distribution with
a standard deviation of 0.16 mm.

The mean diameter of the bolts produced by manufacturer A is 1.56 mm.

24.2% of the bolts produced by manufacturer B have a diameter less than 1.52 mm.

(a) Find the mean diameter of the bolts produced by manufacturer B.

(3)

A bolt is chosen at random from the company’s stock.

(b) Show that the probability that the diameter is less than 1.52 mm is 0.312, to three
significant figures.
(4)

(c) The diameter of the bolt is found to be less than 1.52 mm. Find the probability that the
bolt was produced by manufacturer B.
(3)

(d) Manufacturer B makes 8000 bolts in one day. It makes a profit of $1.50 on each bolt sold,
on condition that its diameter measures between 1.52 mm and 1.83 mm. Bolts whose
diameters measure less than 1.52 mm must be discarded at a loss of $0.85 per bolt.
Bolts whose diameters measure over 1.83 mm are sold at a reduced profit of $0.50 per
bolt.

Find the expected profit for manufacturer B.

(6)
(Total 16 marks)

8. A random variable X is normally distributed with mean  and variance 2. If P (X  6.2) =
0.9474 and P (X  9.8) = 0.6368, calculate the value of  and of .

Working:

Answer:

(Total 6 marks)

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9. The time, T minutes, required by candidates to answer a question in a mathematics examination
has probability density function

(a) Find

(i) , the expected value of T;

(ii) 2, the variance of T.

(7)

(b) A candidate is chosen at random. Find the probability that the time taken by this
candidate to answer the question lies in the interval [ – , ].
(5)
(Total 12 marks)

10. Buses arrive at a bus-stop T minutes apart, where T may be assumed to have an exponential
distribution with probability density function

f (t) =

(a) Show that

t
−
10
(i) P(T > t) = e ;

s
−
(ii) P(T  t + s  T  t) = 1 – e 10 , where s  0.
(10)

(b) Bill arrives at the bus-stop five minutes after the previous bus arrived at the bus-stop.
Find the probability that the next bus arrives within 10 minutes of his arrival at the
bus-stop.
(4)
(Total 14 marks)

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11. A certain type of vegetable has a weight which follows a normal distribution with mean 450
grams and a standard deviation 50 grams.

(a) In a load of 2000 of these vegetables, calculate the expected number with a weight greater
than 525 grams.

(b) Find the upper quartile of the distribution.

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(Total 6 marks)

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12. The lengths of a particular species of lizard are normally distributed with a mean length of 50
cm and a standard deviation of 4 cm. A lizard is chosen at random.

(a) Find the probability that its length is greater than 45 cm.

(b) Given that its length is greater than 45 cm, find the probability that its length is greater
than 55 cm.

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(Total 6 marks)

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13. The time, T minutes, spent each day by students in Amy’s school sending text messages may be
modelled by a normal distribution.

30 of the students spend less than 10 minutes per day.

35 spend more than 15 minutes per day.

(a) Find the mean and standard deviation of T.

(6)

The number of text messages received by Amy during a fixed time interval may be modelled by
a Poisson distribution with a mean of 6 messages per hour.

(b) Find the probability that Amy will receive exactly 8 messages between 16:00 and 18:00
on a random day.
(3)

(c) Given that Amy has received at least 10 messages between 16:00 and 18:00 on a random
day, find the probability that she received 13 messages during that time.
(5)

(d) During a 5-day week, find the probability that there are exactly 3 days when Amy
receives no messages between 17:45 and 18:00.
(4)
(Total 18 marks)

14. The times taken for buses travelling between two towns are normally distributed with a mean of
35 minutes and standard deviation of 7 minutes.

(a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen bus completes the journey in less than 40
minutes.
(2)

(b) 90 of buses complete the journey in less than t minutes. Find the value of t.
(5)

(c) A random sample of 10 buses had their travel time between the two towns recorded. Find
the probability that exactly 6 of these buses complete the journey in less than 40 minutes.
(4)
(Total 11 marks)

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15. A furniture manufacturer makes tables. A table leg is considered to be oversize if its width is
greater than 10.5 cm and undersize if its width is less than 9.5 cm. From past experience it is
found that 2 of the table legs that are made are oversize and that 4 of the table legs are
undersize. The widths of the table legs are normally distributed with mean  cm and standard
deviation  cm. Find the value of  and of .

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(Total 6 marks)

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16. Juan plays a quiz game. The scores he achieves on the separate topics may be modelled by
independent normal distributions.

(a) On the topic of sport, the scores have the distribution N (75, 122).

Find the probability that Juan scores less than 57 points on the topic of sport.
(2)

(b) On the topic of literature, Juan’s scores have a mean of 45, and 30 of his scores are
greater than 50.

Find the standard deviation of his scores on the topic of literature.

(3)

(c) Juan claims that he scores better in current affairs than in sport. He achieves the following
scores on current affairs in 10 separate quizzes.

91 84 75 92 88 71 83 90 85 78

Perform a hypothesis test at the 5 significance level to decide whether there is evidence
to support his claim.
(6)
(Total 11 marks)

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17. (a) The exponential distribution has the probability density function

f (x) =

Show that the mean is greater than the median.

(4)

(b) The time in seconds between arrivals of butterflies on a flowering bush can be modelled
by an exponential distribution with parameter  = 0.1.

A butterfly arrives on the bush.

(i) Calculate the probability that no other butterfly arrives within 20 seconds.

(ii) Given that no other butterfly has arrived within 20 seconds, calculate the
probability that the next butterfly arrives within 50 seconds of the first.
(6)

(c) The number of goals scored by a soccer team in a period of duration t minutes follows a
t
Poisson distribution with mean .
36

(i) Write down the probability that no goals are scored during a period of duration t
minutes.

(ii) The random variable T is defined as the length of time, in minutes, between
successive goals. Show that T follows an exponential distribution.
(5)
(Total 15 marks)

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18. A company produces computer microchips, which have a life expectancy that follows a normal
distribution with a mean of 90 months and a standard deviation of 3.7 months.

(a) If a microchip is guaranteed for 84 months find the probability that it will fail before the
guarantee ends.
(2)

(b) The probability that a microchip does not fail before the end of the guarantee is required
to be 99. For how many months should it be guaranteed?
(2)

(c) A rival company produces microchips where the probablity that they will fail after 84
months is 0.88. Given that the life expectancy also follows a normal distribution with
standard deviation 3.7 months, find the mean.
(2)

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(Total 6 marks)

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19. The distance travelled by students to attend Gauss College is modelled by a normal distribution
with mean 6 km and standard deviation 1.5 km.

(a) (i) Find the probability that the distance travelled to Gauss College by a randomly
selected student is between 4.8 km and 7.5 km.

(ii) 15 of students travel less than d km to attend Gauss College. Find the value of d.
(7)

At Euler College, the distance travelled by students to attend their school is modelled by a
normal distribution with mean  km and standard deviation  km.

(b) If 10 of students travel more than 8 km and 5 of students travel less than 2 km, find
the value of  and of .
(6)

The number of telephone calls, T, received by Euler College each minute can be modelled by a
Poisson distribution with a mean of 3.5.

(c) (i) Find the probability that at least three telephone calls are received by Euler College
in each of two successive one-minute intervals.

(ii) Find the probability that Euler College receives 15 telephone calls during a
randomly selected five-minute interval.
(8)
(Total 21 marks)

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20. The heights, x metres, of the 241 new entrants to a men’s college were measured and the
following statistics calculated.

(a) Calculate unbiased estimates of the population mean and the population variance.
(3)

(b) The Head of Mathematics decided to use a χ2 test to determine whether or not these
heights could be modelled by a normal distribution. He therefore divided the data into
classes as follows.

Interval x  1.60 1.60  x  1.65 1.65  x  1.70 1.70  x  1.75 1.75  x  1.80 x  1.80

Frequency 5 34 70 72 48 12

(i) State suitable hypotheses.

(ii) Calculate the value of the χ2 statistic and state your conclusion using a 10 level of
significance.
(12)
(Total 15 marks)

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