BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

Second Semester, 2021-22

MATH F113 : Probability & Statistics
Tutorial Sheet - 5

1. Determine Zα for the following:

(a) α = 0.0055
(b) α = 0.09
(c) α = 0.663

2. Let X be a continuous random variable with density f (x) = ke−|x| ; −∞ < x < ∞

(a) Find the constant k. Hence

(b) compute E[X]
(c) if Y = X 2 , find the cdf and density for Y

3. Due to high volatility in the financial stock market, Mr. Agrawal, an equity investor, is quite frustrated. To
fresh himself up, he often climbs a slippery pole. He found that he can climb to a height of at least 1.850 m
once in five attempts, and to a height of at least 1.700 m nine times out of ten attempts. Assuming that the
heights he can reach in various attempts form a normal distribution, calculate the mean and standard deviation
of the distribution. Calculate also the height that Mr. Agrawal can expect to exceed once in one thousand
attempts. Given that P (0.8413 ≤ z ≤ 0) = 0.30, P (0 ≤ z ≤ 1.2817) = 0.40 and P (z ≤ −3.092) = 0.001.

4. A company pays its employees an average wage of Rs 15.90 an hour with a standard deviation of Rs 1.50. If
the wages per hour are approximately normally distributed,

(a) what percentage of the workers receive wages between Rs 12.9 and Rs 18.9 in an hour?
(b) the highest 5% of the employees hourly wages is greater than what amount?

5. Let X have a uniform distribution on the interval [A, B]

(a) Obtain an expression for the (100p)th percentile.

(b) Compute E(X), V (X) and σX
(c) For n, a positive integer, compute E[X n ].

6. Suppose only 75% of all drivers in a certain state regularly wear a seat belt. A random sample of 500 drivers is
selected. What is the probability that

(a) Between 360 and 400 (inclusive) of the drivers in the sample regularly wear a seat belt?
(b) Fewer than 400 of those in the sample regularly wear a seat belt?

7. The article ”Monte Carlo Simulation - Tool for Better Understanding of LRFD” (J. of Structural Engr., 1993 :
1586 − 1599) suggests that yield strength(ksi)for A36 grade steel is normally distributed with µ = 43 and
σ = 4.5

(a) What is the probability that yield strength is at most 40? Greater than 60?
(b) What yield strength value separates the strongest 75% from the others?

8. In response to concerns about nutritional contents of fast foods, McDonalds has announced that it will use
a new cooking oil for its french fries that will decrease substantially trans fatty acid levels and increase the
amount of more beneficial polyunsaturated fat. The company claims that 97 out of 100 people cannot detect a
difference in taste between the new and old oils. Assuming that this figure is correct (as a long-run proportion),
what is the approximate probability that in a random sample of 1000 individuals who have purchased fries at
McDonalds,
 (a) At least 40 can taste the difference between the two oils?
(b) At most 5% can taste the difference between the two oils?

9. A machine that produces ball bearings has initially been set so that the true average diameter of the bearings it
produces is 0.5 inch. A bearing is acceptable if its diameter is within 0.004 inch of this target value. Suppose,
however, that the setting has changed during the course of production, so that the bearings have normally
distributed diameters with mean value 0.499 inch and standard deviation 0.002 inch. What percentage of the
bearings produced will not be acceptable?

10. Suppose the picture tubes used in these new television sets are from two different manufacturers A and B. The
mean lifetime of picture tube of manufacturer A is 6.5 years with a standard deviation of 0.9 years, while those
of manufacturer B have a mean lifetime of 6 years and a standard deviation of 0.8 years. Consider a random
sample of 36 tubes from the manufacturer A and a random sample of 49 tubes from the manufacturer B. What
is the probability that the sample from A will have a mean lifetime that is at least 1 year more than the mean
lifetime of the sample from B.