Mechanical Engineering Study Program

Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Institut Teknologi Bandung
MS2200 Statistics
HW#3, due on Thursday, 2 March 2023 (before 2 PM in the class)

1. Find a constant b > 0 so that the function:

3𝑥/4
𝑓𝑋 (𝑥 ) = { 𝑒 0≤𝑥≤𝑏
0 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
is a valid probability density.

2. In constructing the bridge shown in figure below, an engineer is concerned with forces acting on the end
supports caused by a randomly applied concentrated load P, the term ‘randomly applied’ meaning that
the probability of the load lying in any region is proportional only to the length of that region. Suppose
that the bridge has a span 2b. Determine and sketch the probability density function (pdf) of random
variable X, which is the distance from the load to the nearest edge support.

3. For each of the joint probability mass functions (jpmf) or joint probability density function (jpdf),
𝑓𝑋𝑌 (𝑥, 𝑦), given below (case 1 and 2), determine:
a. The marginal mass or density functions
b. Whether the random variables are independent

Case 1
0.5, for (𝑥, 𝑦) = (1,1);
0.1, for (𝑥, 𝑦) = (1,2);
𝑓𝑋𝑌 (𝑥, 𝑦) =
0.1, for (𝑥, 𝑦) = (2,1);
{ 0.3, for (𝑥, 𝑦) = (2,2);
Case 2
𝑎 (𝑥 + 𝑦), for 0 < 𝑥 ≤ 1, and 1 < 𝑦 ≤ 2
𝑓𝑋𝑌 (𝑥, 𝑦) = {
0, elsewhere

4. The distance X (in miles) from a nuclear plant to the epicenter of potential earthquakes within 50 miles
is distributed according to
2𝑥
𝑓𝑋 (𝑥 ) = {2500 , for 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 50;
0, elsewhere
and the magnitude Y of potential earthquakes of scales 5 to 9 is distributed of scales 5 to 9 is distributed
according to

HW#3 – MS2200 Statistics 1

Semester 2, 2022/2023
 3( 9 − 𝑦 )2
𝑓𝑌 (𝑦) = { , for 5 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 9;
64
0, elsewhere

Assume that X and Y are independent. Determine 𝑃(𝑋 ≤ 25 ∩ 𝑌 > 8), the probability that the next
earthquake within 50 miles will have a magnitude greater than 8 and that its epicenter will lie within 25
miles of the nuclear plant.

HW#3 – MS2200 Statistics 2

Semester 2, 2022/2023