Exercise 1

If P(A) = 1/3 and P( B ¿=1/4, can be P(A∩B)=0?

Answer:

No!

If P( B ¿=1/4, then P(B) = 1- P( B ¿=1-1/4= 0.75

We know that P(A U B) = P(A)+P(B)-P(A ∩ B), and we know that any

probability is always lower than or equal to 1.

Then,

P(A U B) = P(A)+P(B)-P(A ∩ B) ≤ 1

P(A U B) = 0.33+0.75- P(A ∩ B) ≤ 1

P(A ∩ B) ≥ 0.08

Exercise 2

Determine if the following situations suggest a random variable with a

binomial distribution:

a) The number of questions correct if one randomly guesses on a quiz of

20 multiple choice questions where each question has 4 possible
answers
b) The number of people with blue eyes in a group of 10 people drawn
from a room of 30 people without replacement.
c) The number of bird chirps one can hear in a day if the average
number of chirps per hour is 15.
d) The number of heads seen in 30 flips of a coin
e) The number of each of 3 species of flowers present in a collection of
100 flowers.
f) The number of rolls of two dice that result in a prime total if the dice
are rolled 50 times.
g) The number of 400 subjects taking Atorvastatin that indicated they
experienced a headache the same day they first took this drug.
Answers:

a) Yes, this suggests a random variable with a binomial distribution

b) No. The "trials" (the people drawn from the room and tested if they have
blue eyes or not) are not independent. As people with blue eyes are
drawn from the room, the probability the next person drawn from the
room has blue eyes decreases

c) No. There is no upper limit on how many chirps one could hear. In a
binomial situation, the maximum number of successes is limited by the
fixed number of trials.

d) Yes, this suggests a random variable with a binomial distribution

e) No. There are more than two outcomes. If one species could be the
"success" and another be "failure", what would the third species be?

f) Yes, this suggests a random variable with a binomial distribution

g) Yes, this suggests a random variable with a binomial distribution

Exercise 3

For each random variable below that follows a binomial distribution

corresponding to the given number of trials n, and probability of success p,
find the probability of seeing x successes.

a) n=12, p=3/4, x=10

b) n=9, p=0.35, x=2
c) n=20, p=0.15, x=4
d) n=15, p=1/3, x=13

Answers:

a) 0.2323
b) 0.2162
c) 0.1821
d) 0.00002927

Exercise 4
Based on historical information, the duration of Milan-New York direct
flights is normally distributed with 𝜇=500 minutes and 𝜎2=625 (squared
minutes).

a) How likely a flight will last between 500 and 550 minutes?
b) How likely will a flight take less than 9 hours (540 min) to arrive at
destination?
c) How likely will a flight take more than 8½ hours (510 min) to arrive?
d) Assess the percentage of aircrafts that takes between 470 and 530
minutes.
e) What is the maximum flight duration recorded by 10% of the fastest
aircrafts? 

Answers:
a)
P ( 500< X <550 ) =P ( 500−500
25
≤ Z≤
550−500
25 )=P ( 0 ≤ Z ≤ 2)=F ( 2)−F ( 0)=0.9772−0.5=0.4772
z z

b)
(
P ( X <540 ) ¿ P Z<
540−500
25 )
=P(Z <1.6)=F ( 1.6 )=0.9452
z

c)
(
P ( X >510 ) ¿ P Z>
510−500
25 )
=P ( Z >0.4 )=1−F ( 0.4 )=1−0.6554=0.3446
z

d)
P ( 470< X< 520 ) ¿ P ( 470−500
25
≤Z≤
520−500
25 )=P (−1.2 ≤ Z ≤0.8 )=F ( 0.8)−F (−1.2) =F ( 0.8 )−[ 1−F ( 1.2)
z z
z
z

e)
P ( X < x )=0.10 → P Z < ( x−500
25 )=0.10

x −500
z=−1.28= → x =468
25

Exercise 5

Quarterly sales in a store of a company that produces supplies for printers

are (approximately) distributed according to a normal distribution with
mean μ = €5000 and standard deviation σ = €1600.
a) Calculate the probability that sales in the next quarter will be smaller
than €3000.
b) What value of quarterly sales will not be exceeded with a probability of
67%?

Answers:

Exercise 6

A confetti box contains, on average, 997 confetti, with standard deviation

equal to 150. A random sample of 50 boxes is extracted. Calculate the
probability that the average number of confetti contained in the 50 boxes is
greater than 1000.

Answers:

Exercise 7

The probability that a randomly selected customer of a music store

purchases (during his or her visit) at least one of the CDs placed at the
entrance of the store is equal to 35%. Consider a sample of 700
independent customers.
a) What is the probability that more than 250 customers purchase during
their visit at least one of the CDs placed at the entrance?
b) What is the probability that the number of customers who purchase at
least one of the CDs placed at the entrance is between 230 and 260?
Answers:
a) Let’s define X = “Number of customers that purchase one of the CDs placed
at the entrance”,

^
P N ¿ = 0.000325)

(
P P
700) (
^ > 250 =P Z> 0.3 57−0.35
√ 0.000325=0.018 )
=P ( Z >0. 3 9 ) =1−F ( 0. 39 )

¿ 1−0. 6517=0. 3483

(
2 30 260
) (
b) P 700 < P^ < 700 =P
0.329−0.35
0.018
<Z <
0.3 71−0.35
0.018 )
=P (−1.17< Z<1.17 )=F ( 1.17 )−¿

Exercise 8

For a large distribution chain it is assumed that the amount a customer

spends on proprietary brands is normally distributed with expected value
13.2 Euros and standard deviation 1.2 Euro.

a) What is the probability that a customer will spend more than 12 Euros
on the purchase of proprietary brands?
b) The management wants to pick 10% of the customers that spend the
most on proprietary brands in order to offer them a promotion. What is the
minimum purchase that allows access to the promotion?
Answers:
Exercise 9

A tlc company estimated that a customers’ calls to the call-centre follow a

normal distribution with mean equal to 180 seconds and standard
deviation equal to 40 seconds.
a) Calculate the probability that a call will last more than 120 seconds.
b) A manager wants to reward those employees who answer customers’
queries the most promptly. She decides to allot a 15% bonus to the shortest
calls. What is the benchmark call time below which the bonus will be
awarded?
Answers:

Exercise 10
A confetti box contains, on average, 997 confetti, with standard deviation
equal to 150. A random sample of 50 boxes is extracted.
What is the standard error of the sample mean of the sample of 50 boxes?

Answers:

Exercise 11

During last year, the proportion of candidates who passed the admission
test to the faculty of Medicine was equal to 0.2. Considering a random
sample of 100 candidates, answer the following questions:
a) Which distribution (approximate) can be assumed to describe the
probability distribution of the proportion of candidates who passes the
admission test?
b) What is the probability that the proportion of students who passes the
admission test is greater than 30%?
c) How many students out of 100 candidates are expected to pass the test?

Answers: