Set 4 – Sampling Distributions

Q1. A manufacturer adevertises that their bottles contain, on the average, 12 ounces of drink. A random
sample of 100 bottles off their production line yielded a sample mean fill of 11.9 ounces, and a standard
deviation of 0.4 ounce. Compute the probability of observing a sample mean fill of 11.9 ounces or less,
assuming the manufacturer’s claim is valid.

P(x-bar <= 11.9) = P(z <= (11.9 – 12)/(0.4/10)) = P(z<=-2.5) = 0.0062

Q2. Automotive corporations are required by federal regulations to reveal estimates of gasoline mileage
for each new car model marketed. Recent testing of 36 automobiles of a new model yielded x-bar = 28.6
mpg and s = 2.4 mpg. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true (but unknown) mean number of
miles per gallon of gasoline that will be obtained by all new cars of this model. Also, interpret this
interval.

[28.6 – 1.96(2.4/6), 28.6 + 1.96(2.4/6)] = [27.82, 29.38]

If we were to select repeated random samples of 36 new automobiles of this particular model,
compute x-bar for each sample, and construct a 95% CI each time, then approximately 95% of the
intervals so constructed would contain the true value of the population mean. We are thus 95%
confident that this interval contain mew, although we do not know whether this particular interval is
one of the 95% which contain mew, or one of the remaining 5% which fail to contain mew.

Q3. A trans-oceanic airline conducted a study to determine whether the mean weight of baggage
checked by a passenger on its Miami to London flight differs significantly from 45 pounds. A random
sample of 25 passengers was selected, and weight of each passenger’s checked baggage was recorded.
X-bar = 43.5; s = 6. Construct a 95% CI for the true mean weight of checked baggage of passengers on
the Miami to London flight.

[43.5 – 2.064(6/5), 43.5 + 2.064(6/5)] = [41.02, 45.98]…..we use a t-distribution table in this case!

We assume that the relative frequency distribution of baggage weights for passengers on the Miami
to London flight is normal and as already stated we need to have a random sample.

Q4. An auditor takes a random sample of size n= 36 from a population of 1,000 accounts receivable. The
mean value for the accounts receivable for the population is $ 260 with the population standard
deviation of $45. What is the probability that the sample mean will be less than $250? What is the
probability that the sample mean will be within $15 of the population mean?

0.0918; 0.9544

Q5. Suppose x equals the number of heads observed when a single coin is tossed. The population
corresponding to x is the set of 0’s and 1’s generated when the coin is tossed repeatedly a large number
of times. Suppose we select n=2 observations from the population (i.e. we toss the coin twice and
observe two values of x). Construct the sampling distribution of x-bar.
Coin Toss Sample Values x-bar

H, H 1, 1 1

H, T 1, 0 0.5

T, H 0, 1 0.5

T, T 0, 0 0

So, the sampling distribution of x-bar is:

x-bar 0 0.5 1

p(x-bar) 0.25 .5 0.25

Q6. The manufacturer of official NFL footballs uses a machine to inflate its new balls to a pressure of
13.5 pounds. When the machine is properly calibrated, the mean inflation pressure is 13.5 pounds, but
uncontrollable factors cause the pressure of individual footballs to vary randomly from about 13.3 to
13.7 pounds. For quality control purposes, the manufacturer wishes to estimate the mean inflation
pressure to within 0.025 pound of its true value with a 99% confidence interval. What sample size
should be used?

σ σ
z 0.005 =0.025 →2.576 =0.025
√n √n
Range 13.7−13.3
σ≈ = =0.4 (a conservative estimate based onChebyche v ' sRule)
4 4

n= 106.17 107 (rounded off to a bigger integer, so that we may not end up having a smaller than
required sample size; it is even recommended to further round off to 110)