Q1: A box contains 15 resistors.

Ten of them are labeled 50Ω and the other five are
labeled 100Ω. a) What is the probability that the first resistor is 100Ω? b) What is
the probability that the second resistor is 100Ω, given that the first resistor is 50Ω?
c) What is the probability that the second resistor is 100Ω, given that the first
resistor is 100Ω?

Solution:

(a) 5/15

(b) Given that the first resistor is 50Ω, there are 14 resistors remaining of which 5
are 100Ω. Therefore

P(2nd is 100Ω|1st is 50Ω) = 5/14.

(c) Given that the first resistor is 100Ω, there are 14 resistors remaining of which 4
are 100Ω. Therefore

P(2nd is 100Ω|1st is 100Ω) = 4/14.

Q2: A population of 600 semiconductor wafers contains wafers from three lots.
The wafers are categorized by lot and by whether they conform to a thickness
specification. The following table presents the number of wafers in each category.
A wafer is chosen at random from the
population.

a. If the wafer is from Lot A, what is the

probability that it is conforming?

b. If the wafer is conforming, what is the

probability that it is from Lot A?

c. If the wafer is conforming, what is the probability that it is not from Lot C?

d. If the wafer is not from Lot C, what is the probability that it is conforming?
Solution:

Q3: 7. Suppose that start-up companies in the area of biotechnology have

probability 0.2 of becoming profitable, and that those in the area of information
technology have probability 0.15 of becoming profitable. A venture capitalist
invests in one firm of each type. Assume the companies function independently.

a) What is the probability that both companies become profitable?

b.)What is the probability that neither company becomes profitable?

c) What is the probability that at least one of the two companies become
profitable?
Solution:

Let A represent the event that the biotechnology company is profitable, and let B
represent the event that the information technology company is profitable. Then
P(A) = 0.2 and P(B) = 0.15.

(a) P(A∩B) = P(A)P(B) = (0.2)(0.15) = 0.03.

(b) P(Ac ∩Bc) = P(Ac)P(Bc) = (1−0.2)(1−0.15)= 0.68.

(c) P(A∪B) = P(A)+P(B)−P(A∩B)

= P(A)+P(B)−P(A)P(B)

= 0.2+0.15−(0.2)(0.15)

= 0.32

Q4: Determine whether each of the following random variables is discrete or

continuous.

a. The number of heads in 100 tosses of a coin.

b. The length of a rod randomly chosen from a day’s production.

c. The final exam score of a randomly chosen student from last semester’s
engineering statistics class.

d. The age of a randomly chosen Colorado School of Mines student.

e. The age that a randomly chosen Colorado School of Mines student will be on his
or her next birthday.
Solution :

1. (a) Discrete

(b) Continuous

(c) Discrete

(d) Continuous

(e) Discrete

Q5:Let X represent the number of tires with low air pressure on a randomly chosen
car. a) Which of the three functions below is a possible probability mass function
of X? Explain. b) For the possible probability mass function, compute μX and σ2x.

(a) p3(x) is the only probability mass function, because it is the only one whose
probabilities sum to 1.
Q6: In a certain state, license plates consist of three letters followed by three
numbers.

a. How many different license plates can be made?

b. How many different license plates can be made in which no letter or number
appears more than

once?

c. A license plate is chosen at random. What is the probability that no letter or

number appears more than once?

Solution:

(a) (263)(103) = 17,576,000

(b) (26)(25)(24)(10)(9)(8) = 11,232,000

(c) 11,232,000 / 17,576,000 = 0.6391

Q7: A company has hired 15 new employees, and must assign 6 to the day shift, 5
to the graveyard shift, and 4 to the night shift. In how many ways can the
assignment be made?