Section M: Homework

1) Determine whether the random variable is discrete or continuous.

a) The number of people attending a meeting.____________________

b) The height of a 2 year old children.______________________

c) The amount of water used to fill a swimming pool._______________

d) The number of files on a computer._____________________

e) The weight capacity of an elevator._______________________

f) The number of people on a bus.__________________________

2) Determine whether the table represents a discrete probability distribution. If not, explain why.

a) b) c) d)

____________ _____________ _____________

______________

3) Fill in the missing value so that the following table represents a probability distribution.

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4) Compute the mean and standard deviation of the random variable with the given discrete probability
distribution.

a)

x P(x)
1 0.2
2 0.3
3 0.3
4 0.1
5 0.1

b)

x P(x)
-10 0.14
-5 0.16
0 0.32
5 0.26
10 0.12

5) Suppose the probability distribution for the number of years to earn a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree
is as follows:

x 3 4 5 6 7
P(x) 0.05 0.40 0.30 0.15 0.10

a) What is the probability of earning a B.S. degree in less than 5 years? _____________

b) What is the probability of earning a B.S. degree in more than 4 years?____________

c) What is the probability of earning a B.S. degree in 4 years?_______________

d) What is the mean?

e) What is the standard deviation?

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6) Suppose that 20,000 married adults in the United States were randomly surveyed as to the number of
children they have. The results are compiled and are used as theoretical probabilities. Let x = the number
of children the married couple have.

x 0 1 2 3 4 5 or more
P(x) 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.10

a) What is the probability of a married couple having 3 or more children? _____________

b) What is the probability of a married couple having no children?____________

c) What is the probability of a married couple having less than 3 children?_______________

d) What is the mean?

e) What is the standard deviation?

7) You play a game with an ordinary deck of 52 cards where one card is drawn at random. If the card
drawn is the ace of hearts you win $75. If the card is any heart other than the ace you win $8. If the card
is black, you win $4. However, if you pick a diamond, you lose $45.

a) Construct a probability distribution and find the expected value of this game for you.

x P(x)

b) Is it to your advantage to play? Explain.

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8) An investor is considering investing in a start-up company. She estimates that she has a probability of
0.25 of a $20,000 loss, probability of 0.20 of a $35,000 profit, probability of 0.15 of a $60,000 profit, and
probability 0.40 of breaking even (a profit of $0). What is the expected value of the profit? Would you
advise the investor to make the investment? Why or why not?

x P(x)

9) Suppose you play a game with a biased coin. The probability the coin lands on head is 0.65 and the
probability 0.35. If you flip a head you win $14, if you flip a tail you lose $20. If this game is played many
times is it to your advantage to play? Why?

x P(x)

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