Homework Session 8

1. Assume that the mean success rate of a Poisson process is six successes per hour.
a. Find the expected number of successes in a 40-minute period.
b. Find the expected number of successes in a three-hour period.
c. Find the probability of at least two successes in a 30-minute period.
2. Sam is a trucker and believes that for every 60 miles he drives on the freeway in
Indiana, there is an average of 2 state troopers checking his speed with a radar gun.
a. What is the probability that at least one trooper is checking his speed on a randomly
selected 60-mile stretch?
b. What is the probability that exactly three troopers are checking his speed on a
randomly selected 60-mile stretch?
c. Sam drives 240 miles a day. What is the average number of state troopers that
check his speed on a given day?
d. Sam drives 240 miles a day. What is the probability that exactly five troopers
check Sam's speed on a randomly selected day?
3. Due to turnover and promotion, a bank manager knows that, on average, she hires four
new tellers per year. Suppose the number of tellers she hires is Poisson-distributed
a. What is the probability that in a given year, the manager hires exactly five new tellers?
b. What is the average number of tellers the manager hires in a six-month period?
c. What is the probability that the manager hires at least one new teller in a given
six-month period?
4. A telemarketer knows that, on average, he is able to make three sales in a 30-minute
period. Suppose the number of sales he can make in a given time period is Poisson-
distributed.
a. What is the probability that he makes exactly four sales in a 30-minute period?
b. What is the probability that he makes at least two sales in a 30-minute period?
c. What is the probability that he makes five sales in an hour-long period?
5. A construction company found that on average its workers get into four car accidents per
week.
a. What is the probability of exactly six car accidents in a random week?
b. What is the probability that there are less than two car accidents in a random week?
c. What is the probability that there are exactly eight car accidents over the
course of three weeks?
6. During an hour of class, a professor anticipates six questions on average.
a. What is the probability that in a given hour of class, exactly six questions are asked?
 b. What is the expected number of questions asked in a 20-minute period?
c. What is the probability that no questions are asked over a 20-minute period?
7. A plane taking off from an airport in New York can expect to run into a flock of birds
once out of every 1,250 take-offs.
a. What is the expected number of bird strikes for 10,000 take-offs?
b. What is the standard deviation of the number of bird strikes for 10,000 take-offs?
c. What is the probability of running into seven flocks of birds in 10,000 take-offs?
8. You were informed at the nursery that your peach tree will definitely bloom sometime between
March 18 and March 30. Assume that the bloom times follow a continuous uniform distribution
between these specified dates.
a. What is the probability that the tree does not bloom until March 25?
b. What is the probability that the tree will bloom by March 20?
9. The Netherlands is one of the world leaders in the production and sale of tulips. Suppose the
heights of the tulips in the greenhouse of Rotterdam’s Fantastic Flora follow a continuous
uniform distribution with a lower bound of 7 inches and an upper bound of 16 inches. You
have come to the greenhouse to select a bouquet of tulips, but only tulips with a height
greater than 10 inches may be selected. What is the probability that a randomly selected tulip
is tall enough to pick?