CEE 3048 – Homework #6 (Due: 10/21, 3 pm EST)

1. According to a study published by a group of sociologists at the University of Massachusetts,

approximately 49% of the Valium users in the state of Massachusetts are white-collar workers.
What is the probability that between 482 and 510, inclusive, of the next 1000 randomly selected
Valium users from this state are white-collar workers?

2. In a chemical processing plant, it is important that the yield of a certain type of batch product
stay above 80%. If it stays below 80% for an extended period of time, the company loses money.
Occasional defective batches are of little concern. But if several batches per day are defective, the
plant shuts down and adjustments are made. It is known that the yield is normally distributed with
standard deviation 4%.
(a) What is the probability of a “false alarm” (yield below 80%) when the mean yield is 85%?
(b) What is the probability that a batch will have a yield that exceeds 80% when in fact the mean
yield is 79%?

3. In a human factor experimental project, it has been determined that the reaction time of a pilot
to a visual stimulus is normally distributed with a mean of 1/2 second and standard deviation of
2/5 second.
(a) What is the probability that a reaction from the pilot takes more than 0.3 second?
(b) What reaction time is that which is exceeded 95% of the time?

4. The length of time between breakdowns of an essential piece of equipment is important in the
decision of the use of auxiliary equipment. An engineer thinks that the best model for time between
breakdowns of a generator is the exponential distribution with a mean of 15 days.
What is the probability that the generator will operate for 30 days without a breakdown?

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5. The length of time for one individual to be served at a cafeteria is a random variable having an
exponential distribution with a mean of 4 minutes. What is the probability that a person is served
in less than 3 minutes on at least 4 of the next 6 days?

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