Exercise 4A

1 a Sketching the function:

There are negative values for f(x) when −1  x < 0 , so this is not a probability density function.

b Sketching the function:

There is no negative value of f(x)

3
3  x3  27 1 26
Area under f ( x) = ∫ x dx =   =
2
− =
1 3
 1 3 3 3
Area is not equal to 1, therefore this is not a valid probability density function.
1
c When f(x) = 0, = x 2= 3
1.26 (2 d.p.) . So for −1x < 1.26 , f(x) < 0. As there are negative values
for f(x), this is not a probability density function.
Alternatively, reach this result by sketching the function:

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2 The area under the curve must equal 1, so:
−2
∫
−4
k ( x 2 − 1)dx =
1
−2
 x3 
k  − x = 1
3  −4
 8   64 
k  − + 2 −  − + 4 =1
 3   3 
 56 
k  − 2 = 1
 3 
50
k =1
3
3
k=
50

3 a For the non-zero parts of the function, its graph is a straight line running from (2, 0) to (6, 0.5).

 8  2
b For the non-zero parts of the function, its graph is a straight line running from 1,  to  4,  .
 15   15 

4 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

3
∫1
kx dx = 1
3
 kx 2 
 2  =1
 1
9k k
− = 1
2 2
4k = 1
1
k=
4

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 3
4 b ∫
0
kx 2 dx = 1
3
 kx3 
 3  =1
 0
27 k
=1
3
9 k =1
1
k=
9
2
c ∫
−1
k (1 + x 2 )dx =
1
2
 x3 
k x +  = 1
 3  −1
 8  1 
k   2 +  −  −1 −   =1
 3  3 
 9
k 3+  =
1
 3

6k = 1
1
k=
6

5 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

2
∫
0
k (4 − x)dx =
1
2
 x2 
k 4 x −  = 1
 2 0
k (8 − 2) =
1
6k = 1
1
k=
6

 2  1
b For the non-zero parts of the function, its graph is a straight line running from  0,  to  2,  .
 3  3

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 2
1 2 1 
2
5 c P( X > 1)= ∫ (4 − x)dx=  x − x 2 
1 6
3 12 1
 4 1  2 1  1 1 5
= −  −  −  = + =
 3 3   3 12  3 12 12

6 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

2
∫
0
kx 2 (2 − x) dx =
1
2
 2 x3 x 4 
k −  = 1
 3 4 0
 16 16 
k − = 1
 3 4
16k
=1
12
3
k= = 0.75
4

1
3 1 3 1 5
= ∫ x 2 (2 − x)d=
b P(0 < X < 1) x  x 3 − x 4 =
0 4
2 16  0 16

7 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

4
∫
1
kx3 dx = 1
4
 kx 4 
 4  =1
 1
256k k
− = 1
4 4
255k
=1
4
4
k=
255

2
2 4 3  1 4 15 1
b ∫
1 255
x d=
x  x = = = 0.0588 (4 d.p.)
 255 1 255 17

8 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

2 3
∫ 0
k dx + ∫ k (2 x − 3) dx =
2
1
3
[ kx ]0 +  kx 2 − 3kx  2 =
2
1
2k + [ (9k − 9k ) − (4k − 6k ) ] = 1
2k + 2k =1
1
k= = 0.25
4

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8 b For the non-zero parts of the function, its graph is a horizontal line running from (0, 0.25) to
(2, 0.25) and then a straight line from (2, 0.25) to (3, 0.75) .

1
x [ 0.25 x]
1
c P( X=
< 1) ∫ 0.25d
=
0
= 0
0.25
1
3 2
1  1 3 1  8 9
P(Y < 1)= ∫−2 16 y dy= 16 y  −2 = 16 −  − 16 = 16
As X and Y are independent:
1 9 9
P( X < 1 ∩ Y < 1) = P( X < 1) × P(Y < 1) = × =
4 16 64

0.5 1 1 0.5
9 a P( X < 0.5)
= ∫
0 60
( x + 1)d
= x
60
0.5 x 2 + x 
0

1 1 1 1 5 1
=  + = × = = 0.0104 (4 d.p.)
60  8 2  60 8 96

 1 
b For the non-zero parts of the function, its graph is a straight line running from  0,  to
 60 
 11 
10, .
 60 

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9 c By definition, every visitor would spend some time (however short) on the site, but the probability
of spending a long time on the site would be very low but not become zero as x gets larger. So in
reality the probability density might look like this:

11 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

5k
∫1 x dx = 1
[ k ln x ]1 = 1
5

k ln 5 = 1
1
k=
ln 5

1 41 1
[ln x ]2
4
b P(2 < =
X < 4) ∫
=
ln 5 x2
dx
ln 5
1 ln 2
= (ln 4 − ln =
2)
ln 5 ln 5

12 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:

4 k
∫−1 x + 2 dx = 1
[ k ln( x + 2)]−1 =
4
1
k ln 6 = 1
1
k=
ln 6

1 3 1 1
[ln( x + 2)]1
3
b P(1 < X=
< 3) ∫
ln 6 x + 2
1
= dx
ln 6
1 ln1.666
= (ln 5 − ln =
3) = 0.285 (3 d.p.)
ln 6 ln 6

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13 a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:
1
∫ k sin πx dx =
0
1
1
 k 
 − π cos πx  = 1
0

k
π
(1 − ( −1) ) =1
π
k=
2

π
b For the non-zero parts of the function, its graph is a sine curve of amplitude running from
2
(0, 0) to (1, 0) .

1
1 π 13 π 1 3 1 1 1
c P(0 < X < ) = ∫ sin πx dx =  − cos πx  =− + =
3 2 0 2 π 0 4 2 4

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Challenge
a The area under the curve must equal 1, so:
∞ k ∞ 1 1
∫1 t 3 d t =1 ⇒ k ∫1 t 3 dt =1 ⇒ k × 2 =1 ⇒ k = 2
3
2 3 1 8
b i P(0 < T < 3) =∫ 3 d t = −t −2  =1 − =
1 t
1 9 9

∞
2 ∞ 1 1
∫20 t 3 dt =
ii P(T > 20) =  −t −2  = 2 =
20 20 400

2p
2p 2 1 1
c P( p < T < 2 p ) =∫ 3
dt = −t −2  = 2 − 2
p t p p 4p
1 1
So 2
− 2 = 0.12
p 4p
3
⇒ = 0.12
4 p2
3 1 1
⇒=p2 = = = 6.25
4 × 0.12 4 × 0.04 0.16
⇒ p= 2.5

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