Application of the Normal Distribution

Envelope Production 1
Company X is producing envelopes in mass production. The length of the
envelopes is normally distributed with a mean of 21.1392 cm and a standard
deviation of 0.06 cm. The length of an envelope has to be at least 21 cm to ensure
the fit of a regular folded DIN A4 paper.

What percentage of the produced envelopes cannot be used? (Use normal

distribution table included at the end of this section)
2.54%
12.30%
5.42%
1.02%

Envelope Production 2
Company X is producing envelopes in mass production. The length of the
envelopes is normally distributed with a standard deviation of 0.06 cm. The length
of an envelope has to be at least 21 cm to ensure the fit of a regular folded DIN A4
paper.

The CEO wants to have rejection rate below 1%. What mean value of the process
should be achieved. (Hint: find the smallest value, which gives a rejection rate
under 1%)?
22.456
24.789
21.1398
10.589

Plastic milk containers

A dairy factory fills up cream in plastic containers. The average volume of the
containers according the plant is 0.25 liters. The filling process is automated and
the machines can achieve the fill amount only with a standard deviation of 0.010
liter.
What is the probability that a plastic container is filled to more than 0.26 liters, if
you assume a normal distribution for the parameters and the random variable X =
fill level of a plastic milk container?

0.1523
0.1409
0.1587

Memory chip
L is the length of a memory chip in cm and L ~ N(2.55, 0.01^2). Chip specs call for
2.54 +/- 0.02 cm. What proportion of the chips will meet the spec?
[Note: in this problem, the mean of the chip lengths is 2.55 cm and the variance =
0.01^2 cm^2. This means that the standard deviation of the chip lengths is
equal to 0.01 cm]
0.08
0.04
0.84
0.48

Polar Bear
The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, on the brink of extinction.
Scientists are continuing research as to what are the reasons for polar bears not
being able to survive. Many have speculated that global warming has to do
something with this. According to this theory, as the world is getting warmer, ice is
melting at a much higher rate. Though born on land, polar bears spend most of
their life at sea. They hunt seals from the edge of sea ice. The Melting of this ice
reduces their hunting opportunities, so the polar bears start to migrate to places
where they can find suitable hunting ground. Most of the polar bears die from this
migration, as there are not many hunting grounds suitable for them.

To prove this theory, a group of scientists designed an experiment. They installed

an array of thermal sensors in regions in the arctic, where there are subpopulations
of polar bears. From observation, the scientists have found that polar bears can
endure temperature of -15°C ± 20°C. If temperature goes out of this range, polar
bears tend to migrate to a much suitable region.

[Note from Holly: BBC article just appeared about penguins suffering from over-
heating.]
What is the probability of polar bears in a region to migrate if the thermal sensors’
temperature readings from that regions show that the temperature can modeled
using a normal distribuiton ~N(-3, 10^2). (Standard Deviation = 10 degrees)
0.7881
0.7022
0.2126
0.2201

Penalty for overloading

A supplier transports his semi-products with trucks whose loading capacity is 5000
kg. According to historical data,the weight of the delivered goods follows the
normal distribution with a mean of 4800 kg and a standard deviation of 100 kg
(variance =(100kg)^2). We know that the penalty for overloading is 1000 Euro.

How much penalty is expected to be paid (in Euros) per shipment on average?
(Regardless of other costs related to the transport)

22.8
492
508
977.2

Electrical generators 1
A certain company produces electrical generates producing a mean power of 50
Megawatts and a standard deviation of 3 Megawatts.

Assuming that the power generated follows a normal distribution, what percentage
of generators will have a power output exceeding 54 Megawatts? (See standard
normal distribution table below.)
90.82%
9.18%
1.5%
98.5%
Electrical generators 2
What is the percentage of generators exceeding 54.5 Megawatts?
1.5%
93.32%
6.68%
4.5%

Electrical generators 3
Find the standard deviation such that the percentage of generators above 54
Megawatts is only 4%.
2.28
1.75
7
0.04

Christmas tree sale 1

Every year in Germany, a few weeks before the Christmas holidays, people start
looking for a nice Christmas tree. There is a man who grows Christmas trees which
have an average (μ) height of 193 cm. The variance (σ^2) of the tree height is 34
cm^2.

We assume that the height variable (H) follows the normal distribution. H ~ N(193,
34)

Note: variance = 34 cm^2 ==> standard deviation = √34 cm

[Clarification: please note the variance is 34. Variance = Sigma^2 = 34 and the
Standard Deviation = Sigma = √34 ]

Please round your adapted value for reading the table to its second decimal place.

The major of the town where the man lives, wants to put a big Christmas tree on
the main square. The tree has to be greater than 205 cm. What percent of the
trees are expected to be larger than 205 cm?
1.02%
1.97%
 36.3%
35.32%

Christmas tree sale 2

The man also sells his trees to local shop, they want to use them as decoration
and are more interested in the small trees. They want the trees that belong to the
20% smallest ones. What is the maximum height of those trees? (in cm)
188
165
154
150

Paper Bridge
Students are asked to build a paper bridge that can carry one person over an one
meter gap.

For this the students calculated a required tensile strength of 40 pounds per square
inch.

Now they ask the local paper shop about the strenght and quality of their paper.

The local shop says, the tensile strength of their paper is modelled by a normal
distribution with a mean of 35 pounds per square inch and a standard deviation of
2 pounds per square inch.

What is the probability that the strength of a sample is less than 40 pounds per
square inch?

0.9999
0.9938
0.2309
0.8927