MTH 306; STATISTICS

EXERCISE SET
ATTEMPT THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
1. A random variable X has the following probability distribution:
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P( X  x ) k 3k 5k 7k 9k 11k 13k 15k 17k

(i) Determine the value of a

(ii) P( X  4) and P(0  X  5)
2. Tom is sick in hospital. The probability that his brother John will come to visit him on a
certain day is 0.3 and the probability that his friend Janet will come on that day is 0.8 . If John
and Janet decide independently, what is the probability that:
(i) At least one of them will pay a visit on that day?
(ii) Neither will pay a visit on that day?

3. The following data gives the heights ( X ) and weights ( Y ) of 12 male students chosen at
random from a class.
X 168 150 174 144 158 168 177 156 150 161 156 163
Y 77 75 90 67 78 84 89 80 66 73 69 76
Obtain the least squares regression line of weights on heights and estimate the weight of the
student whose height is 151cm.

4. The study of a group of students showed that 17 of the students were taking accounting
course, 13 students were taking marketing course, 5 were taking both accounting and
marketing courses while 10 do not take either of the two courses. If a student is selected at
random from the study. Calculate the probability that.
(i) The students take only marketing course
(ii)The students take either marketing or accounting course

5. A student finds out that the average number of amoebas in 10 ml of pond water from a
particular pond is four. Assuming that the number of amoebas follow a Poisson distribution,
find the probability that in a 10 ml sample
(i) there are exactly five amoebas
(ii) there are no amoebas
(iii) There are than three amoebas

6. The marks of 500 students in an examination are normally distributed with mean 45 marks
and a standard deviation of 20 marks.
(i) Given that the passing mark is 41, estimate the number of candidates who passed
the examination.
(ii) If 15% of the candidates obtain a distinction by scoring x marks or more, estimate
the value of x.
7. Given that X is normally distributed with   15 and  2  25 , find the following
probabilities:
(i) P( X  20) (ii) P(10  X  18)

8. Let X be a continuous random variable with p.d.f. given by:

x
 , 0 x2
f ( x)   2
0, elsewhere

Find the distribution function of X and sketch its curve

9. The mass of vitamin E in a capsule manufactured by a certain drug company is normally

distributed with standard deviation 0.042mg . A random sample of five capsules was analyzed
and the mean mass of vitamin E was found to be 5.12mg . Calculate a 95% confidence interval
for the population mass of vitamin E per capsule.

10. Let the random variable X have the p.d.f.:

x
 , 2 x4
f ( x)   6
0, otherwise
Find the mean and variance of X .

11. Define the following terms as used in probability and statistics:

(i) A Parameter
(ii) A statistic
(iii) Sampling
(iv) Confidence interval

12. A manufacturer produces crankshafts for an automobile engine. The wear of the
crankshaft after 100, 000 miles is of interest because it is likely to have an impact on the
warranty claims. A random sample of n  15 shafts is tested and x  2.78. It is known that
  0.9 and that wear is normally distributed. Test
H0 :  3
Ha :  3
using   0.05 .