ESTIMATION

CASE 2
Confidence interval for the difference
between two means when σ’s are
known.

æ s2 s2 ö
( x1 - x2 ) ± za ç n1 + n2 ÷
2 è 1 2 ø
Apex’s current packing machinery is known to pour ground
coffee into ‘1-lbcans’ with a standard deviation of 0.6
ounce. Apex is considering using a new packing machine
that is said to pour coffee into ‘1-lb cans’ more accurately,
with a standard deviation of 0.3 ounce. Both machines
pour ground coffee according to a normal distribution.
Before deciding to invest, apex wishes to evaluate the
performance of the new machine against that of the old
machine. A sample was taken on each machine yielding the
following results:
Sample using old machine Sample using new
machine
n1 = 25 n2 = 36
mean = 16.7 ounces mean = 15.8 ounces
Construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference in
the Avg. weight of the contents poured by the new versus
the old machine.
A manufacturing company consists of two departments producing identical
products. It is suspected that the hourly outputs of the two departments are
different. Two random samples of production hours are respectively
selected, and the following data are obtained:

Department 1 Department 2
Sample size 64 49
Sample mean 100 90

2
The variances of the hourly outputs for the departments are known to be σ1
2
256 ,σ2 = 196 respectively. Find the 95% confidence limits for the true
difference.
 Two independent samples of 100 mechanists and 100 carpenters are taken to
estimate the difference between the weekly wages of the two categories of
the workers. The relevant data are given below:

Sample mean wage Population variance

Mechanists 345 196
Carpenters 340 204

Determine the 95% and 99% confidence limits for the true difference between the
average wages for the mechanists and carpenters
• A random sample of size n1 = 100 yielded the
sample value ̅x1 = 509, σ12 = 950. A random
sample of size n2= 100 from another
population yielded ̅x2 = 447 and σ22 = 876.
Find a 95% confidence interval for μ1 – μ2.
• A random sample of size n1 = 100 yielded the
sample value ̅x1 = 509, σ12 = 950. A random
sample of size n2= 100 from another
population yielded ̅x2 = 447 and σ22 = 876.
Find a 95% confidence interval for μ1 – μ2.