Chapter 6

Discrete Probability Distributions

True/False

1. The Poisson probability distribution is always negatively skewed.

Answer: False

2. A random variable is assigned numerical values based on the outcomes of an experiment.

Answer: True

3. A random variable represents the outcomes of an experiment.

Answer: True

4. The probability of a particular outcome, designated X, must always be between 0 and 100 inclusive.
Answer: False

5. If we toss two coins and count the number of heads, there could be 0, 1 or 2 heads. Since the exact
number of heads resulting from this experiment is due to chance, the number of heads appearing is a
random variable.
Answer: True

6. If Unique Buying Services has 100 employees, there might be 0, 1, 2, 3 up to 100 employees absent on
Monday. In this case, the day of the week is the random variable.
Answer: False

7. A discrete random variable can have only certain clearly separated values.
Answer: True

8. A discrete variable may assume fractional or decimal values, but they must have distance between
them.
Answer: True

9. For a binomial distribution, each trial has a known number of successes. For example, a four question
multiple-choice test can only have zero, one, two, three and four successes (number correct).
Answer: True

10. The random variable for a Poisson probability distribution can assume an infinite number of values.
Answer: True
11. A probability distribution is a mutually exclusive listing of experimental outcomes that can occur by
chance and their corresponding probabilities.
Answer: True

12. To construct a binomial probability distribution, the number of trials and the probability of success
must be known.
Answer: True

13. The Poisson probability distribution is a continuous probability distribution.

Answer: False

14. If we measure the weight of a car, the variable is a discrete random variable.
Answer: False

15. A binomial distribution has a characteristic that the trials are independent, which means that the
outcome of one trial does not affect the outcome of any other trial.
Answer: True

16. For a binomial distribution, outcomes of an experiment are classified into one of two mutually
exclusive categories (a success or a failure).
Answer: True

17. For a binomial distribution, the probability of a success stays the same for each trial, but the
probability of a failure varies from trial to trial.
Answer: False

18. For a binomial distribution, the data collected are the result of counts.
Answer: True

19. When sampling is done without replacement and the outcomes are measured as either a success or
failure, the hypergeometric distribution should be applied.
Answer: True

20. A Poisson distribution is a discrete probability distribution. It has the same four characteristics as the
binomial, but in addition, the probability of a success is small and the number of trials is relatively large.
Answer: True

21. A random variable may be either discrete or continuous.

Answer: True
22. The mean of a binomial probability distribution can be determined by multiplying the probability of a
failure by the number of trials.
Answer: False

23. A binomial distribution is a continuous probability distribution.

Answer: False

24. The binomial and Poisson distributions are discrete probability distributions.
Answer: True Goal: 4, 6

25. To construct a binomial distribution, it is necessary to know the total number of trials and the
probability of success on each trial.
Answer: True

26. If the probability of success (  ) remains the same, but n increases, the shape of the binomial
distribution becomes more symmetrical.
Answer: True

27. The mean of a probability distribution is called its expected value.

Answer: True

28. The mean of a binomial distribution is the product of n and  .

Answer: True

29. The variance of a binomial distribution is found by   (1 -  ).

Answer: True

30. As a general rule of thumb, if the items selected for a sample are not replaced and the sample size is
less than 5 percent of the population, the binomial distribution can be used to approximate the
hypergeometric distribution.
Answer: True

31. In a Poisson distribution, the probability of success may vary from trial to trial.
Answer: False
32. A mail-order house, advertising "same day" service, received a large number of complaints. A
change in the handling of orders was made with less than 5 unfilled orders on hand (per picker) at the end
of 95 out of every 100 working days. Frequent checks of unfilled orders at the end of the day revealed
that the distribution of unfilled orders approximated a Poisson distribution; that is, most of the days there
were no unfilled orders; some of the days there was one order, and so on. Since the average number of
unfilled orders per picker was 2.0, the mail-order house lived up to its goal.
Answer: True

33. The binomial probability distribution is always negatively skewed.

Answer: False

34. The expected value of summing two random variables is the sum of their expected values.
Answer: True Goal: Covariance

35. If the covariance between two random variables is zero, the two variables are related.
Answer: False Goal: Covariance

36. The variance of the sum of two random variables is the sum of their variances plus two times the
covariance.
Answer: True Goal: Covariance

37. If the covariance between two random variables is zero, the two variables are not related.
Answer: True Goal: Covariance

Multiple Choice

38. If the variance of a probability was computed to be 3.6 grams, what is the standard deviation?
A) 0.6
B) 1.9
C) 6.0
D) 12.96
Answer: B

39. Sixty percent of the customers of a fast food chain order the Whopper, french fries and a drink. If a
random sample of 15 cash register receipts is selected, what is the probability that 10 or more will show
that the above three food items were ordered?
A) 1,000
B) 0.186
C) 0.403
D) 0.000
Answer: C
40. Judging from recent experience, 5 percent of the computer keyboards produced by an automatic,
high-speed machine are defective. What is the probability that out of six keyboards selected at random,
exactly zero keyboards will be defective?
A) 0.001
B) 0.167
C) 0.735
D) 0.500
Answer: C

41. The probabilities and the number of automobiles lined up at a Lakeside Olds at opening time (7:30
a.m.) for service are:

N um ber P ro b a b ility
1 0 .0 5
2 0 .3 0
3 0 .4 0
4 0 .2 5
On a typical day, how many automobiles should Lakeside Olds expect to be lined up at opening?
A) 10.00
B) 1.00
C) 2.85
D) 1.96
Answer: C

42. On a very hot summer day, 5 percent of the production employees at Midland States Steel are absent
from work. The production employees are randomly selected for a special in-depth study on absenteeism.
What is the probability of randomly selecting 10 production employees on a hot summer day and finding
that none of them are absent?
A) 0.002
B) 0.344
C) 0.599
D) 0.100
Answer: C

43. The marketing department of a nationally known cereal maker plans to conduct a national survey to
find out whether or not consumers of flake cereals can distinguish one of their favorite flake cereals. To
test the questionnaire and procedure to be used, eight persons were asked to cooperate in an experiment.
Five very small bowls of flake cereals were placed in front of a person. The bowls were labeled A, B, C,
D and E. The person was informed that only one bowl contained his or her favorite flake cereal. Suppose
that the eight persons in the experiment were unable to identify their favorite cereal and just guessed
which bowl it was in. What is the probability that none of the eight guessed correctly?
A) 0.168
B) 0.009
C) 0.788
D) 0.125
Answer: A
44. An insurance agent has appointments with four prospective clients tomorrow. From past experience
the agent knows that the probability of making a sale on any appointment is 1 out of 5. Using the rules of
probability, what is the likelihood that the agent will sell a policy to 3 of the 4 prospective clients?
A) 0.250
B) 0.500
C) 0.410
D) 0.026
Answer: D

45. Sweetwater & Associates write weekend trip insurance at a very nominal charge. Records show that
the probability that a motorist will have an accident during the weekend and file a claim is 0.0005.
Suppose they wrote 400 policies for the coming weekend, what is the probability that exactly two claims
will be filed?
A) 0.8187
B) 0.2500
C) 0.0164
D) 0.0001
Answer: C

46. In which of the following discrete distribution does the probability of a success vary from one trial to
the next?
A) Binomial
B) Poisson
C) Hypergeometric
D) All of the above
Answer: C

47. Which of the following is a requirement for use of the hypergeometric distribution?
A) Only 2 possible outcomes
B) Trials are independent
C) Probability of a success is greater than 1.0
D) All of the above
Answer: A

48. What is a listing of all possible outcomes of an experiment and their corresponding probability of
occurrence called?
A) Random variable
B) Probability distribution
C) Subjective probability
D) Frequency distribution
Answer: B
49. Which one of the following is NOT a condition of the binomial distribution?
A) Independent trials
B) Only two outcomes
C) Probability of success remains constant from trial to trial
D) At least 10 observations
Answer: D

50. Which is true for a binomial distribution?

A) There are three or more possible outcomes
B) Probability of success remains the same from trial to trial
C) Value of p is equal to 1.50
D) All of the above are correct
Answer: B

51. Which shape describes a Poisson distribution?

A) Positively skewed
B) Negatively skewed
C) Symmetrical
D) All of the above
Answer: A

52. Sponsors of a local charity decided to attract wealthy patrons to its $500-a-plate dinner by allowing
each patron to buy a set of 20 tickets for the gaming tables. The chance of winning a prize for each of the
20 plays is 50-50. If you bought 20 tickets, what is the chance of winning 15 or more prizes?
A) 0.250
B) 0.021
C) 0.006
D) 0.750
Answer: B

53. What kind of distribution are the binomial and Poisson distributions?
A) Discrete
B) Continuous
C) Both discrete and continuous
D) Neither discrete or continuous
Answer: A AACSB: CA

54. Which of the following is correct about a probability distribution?

A) Sum of all possible outcomes must equal 1
B) Outcomes must be mutually exclusive
C) Probability of each outcome must be between 0 and 1 inclusive
D) All of the above
Answer: D
55. The weight of an offensive linesman may be 205.15 pounds, 210.23 pounds, 225.05 pounds or
219.14 pounds. What is this an illustration of?
A) Continuous random variable
B) Discrete random variable
C) Complement rule
D) All of the above
Answer: A

56. Carlson Jewelers permits the return of their diamond wedding rings, provided the return occurs
within two weeks of the purchase date. Their records reveal that 10 percent of the diamond wedding rings
are returned. Five different customers buy five rings. What is the probability that none will be returned?
A) 0.250
B) 0.073
C) 0.590
D) 0.500
E) 0.372
Answer: C

57. In a large metropolitan area, past records revealed that 30 percent of all the high school graduates go
to college. From 20 graduates selected at random, what is the probability that exactly 8 will go to
college?
A) 0.114
B) 0.887
C) 0.400
D) 0.231
Answer: A

58. Chances are 50-50 that a newborn baby will be a girl. For families with five children, what is the
probability that all the children are girls?
A) 0.900
B) 0.031
C) 0.001
D) 0.250
Answer: B

59. A new car was put into production. It involved many assembly tasks. Each car was inspected at the
end of the assembly line and the number of defects per unit was recorded. For the first 100 cars
produced, there were 40 defective cars. Some of the cars had no defects; a few had one defect, and so on.
The distribution of defects followed a Poisson distribution. Based on the first 100 produced, about how
many out of every 1,000 cars assembled should have one or more defects?
A) About 660
B) About 165
C) About 630
D) About 330
Answer: D
60. The production department has installed a new spray machine to paint automobile doors. As is
common with most spray guns, unsightly blemishes often appear because of improper mixture or other
problems. A worker counted the number of blemishes on each door. Most doors had no blemishes; a few
had one; a very few had two, and so on. The average number was 0.5 per door. The distribution of
blemishes followed the Poisson distribution. Out of 10,000 doors painted, about how many would have
no blemishes?
A) About 6,065
B) About 3,935
C) About 5,000
D) About 500
Answer: A

61. A manufacturer of headache medicine claims it is 70 percent effective within a few minutes. That is,
out of every 100 users 70 get relief within a few minutes. A group of 12 patients are given the medicine.
If the claim is true, what is the probability that 8 have relief within a few minutes?
A) 0.001
B) 0.168
C) 0.667
D) 0.231
Answer: D

62. A true-false test consists of six questions. If you guess the answer to each question, what is the
probability of getting all six questions correct?
A) 0
B) 0.016
C) 0.062
D) 0.250
Answer: B

63. A farmer who grows genetically engineered corn is experiencing trouble with corn borers. A random
check of 5,000 ears revealed the following: many of the ears contained no borers. Some ears had one
borer; a few had two borers; and so on. The distribution of the number of borers per ear approximated the
Poisson distribution. The farmer counted 3,500 borers in the 5,000 ears. What is the probability that an
ear of corn selected at random will contain no borers?
A) 0.3476
B) 0.4966
C) 1.000
D) 0.0631
Answer: B
64. A tennis match requires that a player win three of five sets to win the match. If a player wins the first
two sets, what is the probability that the player wins the match, assuming that each player is equally likely
to win each match?
A) 0.5
B) 1/8 or 0.125
C) 7/8 or 0.875
D) Cannot be computed.
Answer: C

65. A machine shop has 100 drill presses and other machines in constant use. The probability that a
machine will become inoperative during a given day is 0.002. During some days no machines are
inoperative, but during some days, one, two, three or more are broken down. What is the probability that
fewer than two machines will be inoperative during a particular day?
A) 0.0200
B) 0.1637
C) 0.8187
D) 0.9824
Answer: D

66. What is the following table called?

N um ber of H eads P ro b a b ility of O u tc o m e

0 1 /8 = 0 .1 2 5
1 3 /8 = 0 .3 7 5
2 3 /8 = 0 .3 7 5
3 1 /8 = 0 .1 2 5
A) Probability distribution
B) Cumulative frequency distribution
C) Standard deviation
D) Frequency table
Answer: A

67. What is the only variable in the Poisson probability formula?

A) 
B) x
C) e
D) P
Answer: B

68. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a binomial probability distribution?

A) Each outcome is mutually exclusive
B) Each trial is independent
C) Probability of success remains constant from trial to trial
D) Each outcome results from two trials
E) All of the above are characteristics of the binomial distribution
Answer: D
69. What must you know to develop a binomial probability distribution?
A) Probability of success
B) Number of trials
C) Number of successes
D) "a" and "b" only
E) "a" and "c" only
Answer: D

70. In a Poisson distribution the mean is equal to

A) n 
x
B) n
C) e - x.
 x e
D) x!
E) zero.
Answer: A

71. In a Poisson distribution the variance is equal to

A) n  .
x
B) n
C) e - x.
 x e
D) x!
E) zero.
Answer: A

Fill-in-the-Blank

72. How many possible experimental outcomes do the binomial distribution and the Poisson distribution
have? _______
Answer: two

73. What type of population consists of a fixed number of individuals, objects, or measurements?
___________
Answer: finite

74. A probability distribution is a listing of the expected outcomes of an experiment and the probability
of each outcome occurring. What is the sum of the probabilities? _____
Answer: one
75. To construct a binomial distribution we need to know the total number of ___________ and the
probability of a success.
Answer: trials

76. A probability distribution shows the outcomes of an experiment and the ___________________ of
each one occurring.
Answer: probability

77. In a binomial experiment, the probability of a _________ remains constant.

Answer: success or failure

78. In a binomial experiment, what does the probability of a failure equal?

_____________________________
Answer: 1 - probability of success

79. A binomial probability distribution approaches a greater degree of symmetry as the probability of
success remains constant and the number of trials becomes ____________
Answer: larger or greater

80. The Poisson distribution or, the law of improbable events, is _______________ skewed.
Answer: positively

81. If  = 1/3 and n = 900, what is the mean of this binomial distribution? ______________
Answer: 300

82. If  = 1/5 and n = 100, what is the standard deviation of this binomial distribution? _______
Answer: four

83. If n = 900 and  = 1/3, what is the variance of this binomial distribution? ________
Answer: 200

84. A _______________ random variable can assume only a certain number of separated values.
Answer: discrete

85. A continuous random variable can assume one of an ____________ number of values within a
specific range.
Answer: infinite
86. In the _______________________ distribution the probability of a success is not the same on each
trail.
Answer: hypergeometric

87. For the hypergeometric distribution there are ________________ possible outcomes.
Answer: only 2

88. A random variable with a Poisson distribution has one of _______ mutually exclusive values.
Answer: two

89. In a Poisson distribution each trial is ____________________.

Answer: independent

90. The arrival of customers at a service desk follows a Poisson distribution. If they arrive at a rate of
two every five minutes, what is the probability that no customers arrive in a five-minute period? ______
Answer: 0.1353

91. The arrival of customers at a service desk follows a Poisson distribution. If they arrive at a rate of
four every five minutes, what is the probability that more than four customers arrive in a five minute
period?_________
Answer: 0.3711

Use the following to answer questions 92-95:

Elly's hot dog emporium is famous for its chilidogs. Elly's latest sales indicate that 30% of the customers
ordering her chilidogs order it with hot peppers. Suppose 18 customers are selected at random.

92. What is the probability that exactly ten customers will ask for hot peppers? _______
Answer: 0.015

93. What is the probability that between two and six people inclusive want hot peppers? ________
Answer: 0.708

94. What is the probability that fifteen or more customers will want hot peppers? ____________
Answer: 0.0000

95. This situation is an example of what type of discrete probability distribution?

_______________________
Answer: binomial probability distribution
Multiple Choice Questions

Use the following to answer questions 96-99:

David's gasoline station offers 4 cents off per gallon if the customer pays in cash and does not use a credit
card. Past evidence indicates that 40% of all customers pay in cash. During a one-hour period twenty-
five customers buy gasoline at this station.

96. What is the probability that at least ten pay in cash?

A) 0.416
B) 0.575
C) 0.586
D) 0.425
Answer: B

97. What is the probability that no more than twenty pay in cash?
A) 0.0
B) 0.1
C) 0.9
D) 1.0
Answer: D

98. What is the probability that more than ten and less than fifteen customers pay in cash?
A) 0.541
B) 0.401
C) 0.380
D) 0.562
Answer: C

99. This situation is an example of what type of discrete probability distribution?

A) Continuous probability distribution
B) Poisson probability distribution
C) Binomial probability distribution
D) Hypergeometric probability distribution
Answer: C

Use the following to answer questions 100-103:

Affirmative action commitments by industrial organizations have led to an increase in the number of
women in executive positions. Satellite Office Systems has vacancies for two executives that it will fill
from among four women and six men.
100. What is the probability that no woman is selected?
A) 1/5
B) 1/3
C) 2/15
D) 8/15
Answer: B

101. What is the probability that at least one woman is selected?

A) 8/15
B) 3/5
C) 2/3
D) 3/4
Answer: C

Fill-in-the-Blank

102. What is the probability that exactly one woman is selected? ________
Answer: 8/15 or 0.5333

103. This is an example of what type of probability distribution? ___________

Answer: hypergeometric

Multiple Choice

Use the following to answer questions 104-106:

A statistics professor receives an average of five e-mail messages per day from students. Assume the
number of messages approximates a Poisson distribution.

104. What is the probability that on a randomly selected day she will have no messages?
A) 0.0067
B) zero
C) 0.0335
D) Impossible to have no messages
Answer: A

105. What is the probability that on a randomly selected day she will have five messages?
A) 0.0067
B) 0.875
C) 0.175
D) 1.0
Answer: C
106. What is the probability that on a randomly selected day she will have two messages?
A) 0.0067
B) 0.0014
C) 0.420
D) 0.084
Answer: D

Use the following to answer questions 107-109:

A company is studying the number of monthly absences among its 125 employees. The following
probability distribution shows the likelihood that people were absent 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 days last month.

N u m b er o f d ay s ab sen t P ro b a b ility
0 0 .6 0
1 0 .2 0
2 0 .1 2
3 0 .0 4
4 0 .0 4
5 0

107. What is the mean number of days absent?

A) 1.00
B) 0.40
C) 0.72
D) 2.5
Answer: C

108. What is the variance of the number of days absent?

A) 1.99
B) 1.41
C) 5.00
D) 55.52
Answer: A

109. Given the probability distribution, which of the following predictions is correct?
A) 60% of the employees will have more than one day absent for a month
B) There is a 0.04 probability that an employee will be absent 1 day during a month
C) There is a 0.12 probability that an employee will be absent 2 days during a month
D) There is a 0.50 probability that an employee will be absent 0.72 days during a month.
Answer: C
Fill-in-the-Blank

Reference: 06_05
Use the following to answer questions 110-113:
A company is studying the number of daily debit card purchases. If there were 20 purchases and the
probability of a debit card purchase is 0.5, answer the following questions.

110. Of the 20 purchases, what is the expected value of the number of debit card purchases?
_________________
Answer: 10 purchases

111. What is the standard deviation of the number of debit card purchases? ____
Answer: 2.24

112. What is the shape of this distribution? Explain your answer.

Answer: The binomial distribution is perfectly symmetric because the probability of success is 50%.
___________

113. Based on the shape of the distribution, approximately 99.7 % of the purchases should be between
_______ and _________.
Answer: 10 Plus or minus 3(2.24) or 3 and 17.

Essay

114. What is the difference between a binomial and a hypergeometric distribution?

Answer: For a binomial distribution, the trials are independent and the probability of a success is the same
from trial to trial. For a hypergeometric distribution, the trials are not independent and the probability of
a success is not the same from trial to trial. Goal: 4, 5

n   xP  x 
115. For a binomial distribution, explain why .

Answer:  xP  x  is the mean or expected value for any discrete probability distribution. If we know
that a discrete probability distribution is a binomial distribution with n independent trials and a success
probability of π, then the expected value can be computed as n .
Goal:2, 4