1. This is a sitter catch!!!! A fair die is rolled 10 times. Calculate the expected sum of 10 rolls.

∞
X
2. Let X be a discrete random variable that takes only positive integer values. Evaluate P (X ≥ k).
k=1

3. A line of length a units is divided into 2 parts. If the first part is of length X, find E(X)), V ar(X),
E{X(a − X)}.
4. If the roots of a quadratic equation x2 −ax+b = 0 are real and b is positive but otherwise unknown, what
are the expected values of the roots of the equation? You may assume that b has a uniform distribution
in the permissible range.

5. A die is tossed. The probability of obtaining a 1, 2 or 3 is the same. The probability of getting a 4, 5
or 6 is the same. However, 5 is twice as likely to be observed as a 1. For a large number of tosses, what
is the average value observed?
6. Give an example where the expected value is NOT its most probable value.
7. Give an example of two PMFs that have the same expected value.

8. In an experiment to monitor two packets on a computer network, the PMF of N , the number of video
packets is given by, 

 0.2 n = 0,

0.7 n = 1,
pN (n) =


 0.1 n = 2,
0 otherwise.


Find E[N ], E[N 2 ], V ar[N ], σN .

9. You simultaneously flip a pair of fair coins. Your friend gives you one dollar if both coins come up heads.
You repeat this ten times and your friend gives you X dollars. Find E[X], the expected number of
dollars you receive. What is the probability that you do worse than average?
10. A professor tries to count the number of students attending lecture. For each student in the audience,
the professor either counts the student properly with probability p or overlooks with probability 1- p.
The exact number of students in the course is 70.
(a) The number of students counted by the professor is a random variable N . What is the PMF of N ?
(b) Let U = 70 − N denote the number of uncounted students. What is the PMF of U ?
(c) What is the probability that the undercount U is 2 or more?
(d) For what value of p does E[U ] = 2?
11. The number of page requests that arrive at a web server is a Poisson random variable with an average
of 6000 requests per minute.
(a) Find the probability that there are no requests in a 100ms period.
(b) Find the probability that there are between 5 and 10 requests in a 100ms period.
12. A certain door can be opened by exactly one of six keys. If you try the keys one after another, what is
the expected number of keys you will have to try before the door is opened? Hint: This is a geometric
distribution.
13. A random variable X has pdf fX (x) give below.
(
cx(1 − x2 ) 0 ≤ x ≤ 1
fX (x) =
0 otherwise.
 (a) Find c.
(b) Find E[X].
(c) Find V ar[X].
14. The mileage (in thousands of miles) that car owners get with a certain type of tyre is a random variable
X with PDF (
Ae−x/20 x ≥ 0
fX (x) =
0 otherwise.
(a) Find the value of A.
(b) Find the CDF of X.
(c) What is P [X < 10]?
(d) What is P [16 < X < 24]?
15. The times between telephone calls that arrive at a switchboard are exponentially distributed with a
mean of 30 minutes. Given that a call has just arrived, what is the probability that it takes at least 2
hours before the next call arrives?

16. The time it takes a bank teller to serve a customer is uniformly distributed between 2 and 6 minutes. A
customer has just stepped up to the window, and you are next in line.
(a) What is the expected amount of time you will wait before it is your turn for you to be served?
(b) What is the probability that you wait less than 1 minute before being served?
(c) What is the probability that you wait between 3 and 5 minutes before being served?

Page 2