Frequency

Distribution
Past paper & model
questions

Inaamul Hassan Sarap

BSc. In Financial Engineering (R)
DIB (IBSL), Dip. In Psych & Counselling.
1. A frequency distribution containing information on the tickets issued to passengers
during a morning trip of a bus is shown in the table below.

Price of a ticket (Rs)

8 – 12 12 - 16 16 – 20 20 - 24 24 - 28 28 - 32
Number of tickets 6 7 13 17 13 8

i. Write down the modal class of the distribution.

ii. Find the mean price of the tickets issued.
iii. Find the expected income from a morning trip in which tickets are issued to
180 passengers.
iv. Assuming that the total expenditure including fuel is Rs. 700 for a morning
trip, estimate the minimum number of tickets that should be issued to make
a profit from such a trip.
(2015)
CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
INTERVAL
1. A frequency distribution containing information on the tickets issued to passengers
during a morning trip of a bus is shown in the table below.

Price of a ticket (Rs)

8 – 12 12 - 16 16 – 20 20 - 24 24 - 28 28 - 32
Number of tickets 6 7 13 17 13 8

i. Write down the modal class of the distribution.

ii. Find the mean price of the tickets issued.
iii. Find the expected income from a morning trip in which tickets are issued to
180 passengers.
iv. Assuming that the total expenditure including fuel is Rs. 700 for a morning
trip, estimate the minimum number of tickets that should be issued to make
a profit from such a trip.
(2015)
CLASS MID VALUE
INTERVAL
2. The information obtained from a survey conducted to find out how
much time it takes for a doctor to examine a patient who arrives at the
outpatient department of a certain hospital, is given in the following CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
INTERVAL
table. 100 patients were used in the survey. In the table, 2 – 4 denotes
the time interval “is greater than 2 less than or equal to 4”, and others
denote similarly.
Time taken to
examine a patient 2-4 4-6 6-8 8 - 10 10 - 12 12 - 14
(minute)
Number of patients 19 32 37 6 4 2

i. Using a suitable assumed mean or otherwise, find the mean time

taken by a doctor to examine a patient.
ii. Find the percentage of patients who were examined for more than
the mean time.

Each doctor in this department examines patients for 6 hours per day.

iii. Find the number of patients that can be expected to be examined

by a doctor during a day.
iv. Estimate the minimum number of doctors required to examine 400
patients who arrive at the outpatient department on a certain day.
(2016)
3. The mass of each of 100 sweetmeats of a particular type was measured
in grammes. A frequency distribution constructed using this information
is given below. CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
INTERVAL
Mass (grammes)
17 – 18 18 – 19 19 – 20 20 – 21 21 – 22 22 – 23

Number of sweetmeats 4 34 26 20 10 6

i. Find the modal class of this distribution.

ii. Using a suitable assumed mean or otherwise, find the mean mass of a
sweetmeat.

A packet of sweetmeats of this type contains 120 sweetmeats.

iii. Estimate the mass of sweetmeats in one such packet.
iv. The production cost of 100 grammes of this type of sweetmeat is 50
rupees. Estimate the cost of producing the sweetmeats in a packet, in
rupees.
(2017)
4. Nimal is involved in a small industry which produces sports items.
Information regarding the number of times he produce each day during a
period of 50 days is shown in the following frequency distribution.

Number of Items
20 – 30 30 – 40 40 – 50 50 – 60 60 – 70 70 – 80
Number of Days 5 8 10 12 9 6

Nimal gains a profit of 60 rupees by selling one of these items. He expects to

gain a profit of 370 000 rupees during the next 120 days by working and
selling the items in the above manner. Find the mean number of sports items
he produces in a day, and show with reasons whether his expectation is
fulfilled.
(2018)

CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION

INTERVAL
4. Nimal is involved in a small industry which produces sports items.
Information regarding the number of times he produce each day during a
period of 50 days is shown in the following frequency distribution.

Number of Items
20 – 30 30 – 40 40 – 50 50 – 60 60 – 70 70 – 80
Number of Days 5 8 10 12 9 6

Nimal gains a profit of 60 rupees by selling one of these items. He expects to

gain a profit of 370 000 rupees during the next 120 days by working and
selling the items in the above manner. Find the mean number of sports items
he produces in a day, and show with reasons whether his expectation is
fulfilled.
(2018)

CLASS MID VALUE

INTERVAL
5. Information collected on the masses of a sample of 40 bags of items
that were bought to be loaded into a lorry is given in the following
CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
frequency table. Here, 0 – 10 denotes the mass interval “greater than 0 INTERVAL
and less than or equal to 10” and the other intervals denote similarly.
Mass of a bag 0 - 10 10 - 20 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 – 50 50 - 60 60 - 70
of items (kg)
Number of
bags (frequency) 2 5 7 9 8 6 3

i. Find the mean mass of the bag of items according to the given
information.
ii. If the above sample has been obtained from a stock of 200 bags
of items, estimate the total mass of the stock of bags of items.

iii. If it is given that the maximum mass that can be loaded into the
lorry is 1500 kg, give reasons to show that there can be instances
when the above 40 bags of items cannot be loaded into the lorry.

(2019)
5. Information collected on the masses of a sample of 40 bags of items CLASS MID VALUE
that were bought to be loaded into a lorry is given in the following INTERVAL
frequency table. Here, 0 – 10 denotes the mass interval “greater than 0
and less than or equal to 10” and the other intervals denote similarly.
Mass of a bag 0 - 10 10 - 20 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 – 50 50 - 60 60 - 70
of items (kg)
Number of
bags (frequency) 2 5 7 9 8 6 3

i. Find the mean mass of the bag of items according to the given
information.
ii. If the above sample has been obtained from a stock of 200 bags
of items, estimate the total mass of the stock of bags of items.

iii. If it is given that the maximum mass that can be loaded into the
lorry is 1500 kg, give reasons to show that there can be instances
when the above 40 bags of items cannot be loaded into the lorry.

(2019)
6. Information collected on the number of runs scored last year by a CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
cricket team in 40 matches is given in the following frequency INTERVAL
distribution.
Score interval No. of
matches
131 – 141 2
142 – 152 4
153 – 163 5
164 – 174 6
175 – 185 8
186 – 196 5
197 – 207 4
208 – 218 3
219 – 229 3

(i) Take the mid value of the class interval 175 – 185 as the
assumed mean, find the mean number of runs scored by the
cricket team to the nearest whole number, hence calculate the
total number of runs that the team is expected to score in 60
matches held this year.

(ii) Show that in the 10 highest scoring matches, the total number
of runs scored by the cricket team is less than
(2020)
7. Susil goes to a certain bank every day for the banking affairs of his CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
business. He is used to noting down the time he spends in the bank till INTERVAL
his turn comes every day.
A table which indicates the time and the number of days he has noted
for a period of 30 days in a month is given here.
Time spent No. of days
(minutes)
0–6 1
6 – 12 3
12 – 18 3
18 – 24 4
24 – 30 10
30 – 36 6
36 – 42 2
42 – 48 1

i. What is the class interval that shows the maximum number of days
in relation to the time he has wasted in the bank?
ii. What could be the maximum time in minutes wasted by Susil in the
bank?
iii. Using a suitable assumed mean, calculate the mean time he has
wasted in the bank.
iv. Find the time he can be expected to waste in the bank during 60
days and show that it is more than 24 hours. Give reasons for your
answer.
7. Susil goes to a certain bank every day for the banking affairs of his CLASS MID VALUE
business. He is used to noting down the time he spends in the bank till INTERVAL
his turn comes every day.
A table which indicates the time and the number of days he has noted
for a period of 30 days in a month is given here.
Time spent No. of days
(minutes)
0–6 1
6 – 12 3
12 – 18 3
18 – 24 4
24 – 30 10
30 – 36 6
36 – 42 2
42 – 48 1

i. What is the class interval that shows the maximum number of days
in relation to the time he has wasted in the bank?
ii. What could be the maximum time in minutes wasted by Susil in the
bank?
iii. Using a suitable assumed mean, calculate the mean time he has
wasted in the bank.
iv. Find the time he can be expected to waste in the bank during 60
days and show that it is more than 24 hours. Give reasons for your
answer.
8. A student has recorded the time he spent per day on computer games
for a 30-day month. Given below is a frequency table which includes
CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
that information. INTERVAL
Time
(Minutes) 16 – 24 24 – 32 32 – 40 40 – 48 48 – 56 56 – 64
No. of days 1 3 6 10 8 2

i. In which time interval was he engaged in the game for a

maximum number of days?
ii. Find the mean time he was engaged in the game per day to the
approximate minute.
iii. Find the time that can be expected to be wasted due to
engagement in computer games during a 90 day school term.
iv. His mother says that the time wasted can be reduced by 20
hours within this three month period by reducing the play by 15
minutes per day. Explain its correctness or incorrectness giving
reasons.
8. A student has recorded the time he spent per day on computer games CLASS MID VALUE
for a 30-day month. Given below is a frequency table which includes INTERVAL
that information.

Time
(Minutes) 16 – 24 24 – 32 32 – 40 40 – 48 48 – 56 56 – 64
No. of days 1 3 6 10 8 2

i. In which time interval was he engaged in the game for a

maximum number of days?
ii. Find the mean time he was engaged in the game per day to the
approximate minute.
iii. Find the time that can be expected to be wasted due to
engagement in computer games during a 90 day school term.
iv. His mother says that the time wasted can be reduced by 20
hours within this three month period by reducing the play by 15
minutes per day. Explain its correctness or incorrectness giving
reasons.
9. The following information is gathered using a police drone on the
speeds of vehicles travelled during a day in a city. CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION
INTERVAL
Speed ( 30 – 40 40 – 50 50 – 60 60 – 70 70 – 80 80 – 90 90 – 100 100 - 110
No. of
Vehicles 3 8 12 7 4 2 3 1

(i) Taking the mid value of the modal class as the assumed mean,
find the mean speed of vehicles travelled during the day.
(ii) If the speed limit was , find the percentage of vehicles that
exceeded the speed limit.
(iii) A penalty of was charged for the vehicles that travelled between
the speeds and , and a penalty of was charged for the vehicles
which exceeded the speed of . Calculate the total amount of
penalty charged during the day.
10. Given below is the frequency distribution on the information about the daily count
of the COVID – 19 patients in 100 days.

No. of patients
1000 – 1100 1100 – 1200 1200 – 1300 1300 – 1400 1400 – 1500 1500 – 1600 1600 – 1700
(Class Interval)
No. of days 8 11 10 25 19 13 14

(i) What is the modal class?

(ii) Using a suitable assumed mean, find the mean number of patients identified
per day.

CLASS MID VALUE DEVIATION

INTERVAL