Chapter 1 Extra Examples (P-values)

Question 1

A machine is set to produce bolts with a mean length of 1 inch. The manufacturer is concerned that
the bolts being produced by this machine are too short. It is previously known that the standard
deviation of the length of bolts is 0.08 inches. If a random sample of 50 bolts is collected which gives
a mean length of 0.97 inches, test the manufacturers claim at a 5% level of significance.

Question 2

The building specifications in a certain city require that the sewer pipe used in residential areas have
a mean breaking strength of more than 1000kg per lineal foot. The manufacturer would like to test
this claim using a batch of 10 pipes selected at random, which gave a mean breaking strength of
1002kg. It is known that the standard deviation of the breaking strength of the pipes from this
manufacturer is 14kg. Use a level of significance of 1%.

Question 3

An inventor has developed a new, energy-efficient lawn mower engine. He claims that the engine
will run continuously for 5 hours on a single gallon of regular gasoline. Suppose a random sample of
50 engines is tested. The engines run for an average of 295 minutes, with a standard deviation of
20 minutes. Test the inventors claim at a 5% level of significance.

Question 4:

Bon Air Primary School has 300 students. The principal of the school thinks that the average IQ of
students at Bon Air is 110. To prove her point, she administers an IQ test to 100 randomly selected
students. Among the sampled students, the average IQ is 113 with a standard deviation of 14.
Based on these results, should the principal reject her original hypothesis or not? Assume a
significance level of 0.01.

Question 5:

The owner of a shop that sells camping supplies is receiving complaints that the weights of the 9kg
gas bottles that are being sold are less than 9kg.

To investigate this complaint, the owner randomly selects 15 gas bottles which gives a mean weight
of 8.1kg with a standard deviation of 1.09kg. The owner does a hypothesis test using 10% level of
significance.

a) State the null and alternative hypotheses to be tested.

b) When will a type II error be made?
c) Determine the value of the test statistic.
d) State the decision and conclusion for this hypothesis test using the P-value approach.
Question 6:

Refer to question 5: Suppose a test for the population variance of the weights of the 9kg gas bottles
that are being sold is to be carried out where it is thought that the variation less than 0.7. Using the
P-value approach, determine the conclusion of a hypothesis test if this claim is tested at a 10% level
of significance.