ENGR 210

QUIZ: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, PROBABILITY & DISCRETE PROBABILITY

DISTRIBUTIONS STUDY GUIDE
Points:
6 shorter calculation problems @ 5 points / each = 30 pts
9 longer calculation problems @ 11 points / each = 99 pts
Honor code @ 1 point = 1 pt
Total: 130 points
Content:
1.1: Sampling number.
1.2: Create stem-and-leaf display; determine various proportions from a given data set.
1.3: Compute mean, median, or trimmed mean; compute median and explain affect of data
value changes on median.
1.4: Compute mean and standard deviation (shortcut formula provided); compute fourth
spread and outliers.

2.1: Develop sample spaces.

2.2: Compute probabilities based on given values of probability (i.e., Venn; matrix/table).
2.3: Counting techniques using permutations and combinations (formulas provided).
2.4: Compute conditional probabilities P(A | B) = P(A  B) / P(B).
2.5: Compute probabilities of independent events – several parts: P (A  B) = P(A) P(B).

3.1: Random variables: possible outcomes (sample space) and values.

3.2: Develop probability mass function (pmf); develop pmf from cumulative distribution
function (cdf), then answer probability questions – 1 or more parts.

Instructions
Please answer the questions as instructed. You will have 90 minutes to complete the exam. You
only have 1 attempt. The exam is worth 130 points: points per problem are noted. The exam is
open book/ open notes but remember that this eats up time during the quiz. After completing the
quit, scan your handwritten work for partial / full credit on relevant questions and submit it.
Please remember that your instructor cannot grade what he or she cannot read. Please submit the
quiz and work by end of day (11:59 pm). Do well!
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HOMEWORK NOTES

Populations/Samples/Processes Assignment

For each of the following hypothetical populations, give a plausible sample of size 4:
(a) All distances that might result when you throw a football

We will use an average person's ability to toss a football and taking into account variables such
as strength, technique, and the surrounding conditions (such as wind), a sample that makes sense
would have lengths of 20, 30, 40, and 50 yards. These measurements show a range of throw
lengths, including long, average, and somewhat short throws.

(b) Page lengths of books published 5 years from now

we can predict that future book lengths involves taken into account various changes and more, A
sample might include books of 200 pages, 300 pages, 400 pages, and 500 pages. This sample
will cover the variety in genres, formats, novels, short and longer ones.

(c) All possible earthquake-strength measurements (Richter scale) that might be recorded in
California during the year

I live in El Salvador, this is a country were earthquakes are quite often recorded, as for California
which is known for earthquakes as well, A sample can include measurements like 2.0, 3.5, 5.0,
and 6.5 on the Richter scale. This sample covers minor earthquakes that are often felt but not
damaging all the way through ones that can cause a more serious damage.

(d) All possible yields (in grams) from a certain chemical reaction carried out in a laboratory

The yield of a chemical reaction can change depending on many factors like reactant purity,
reaction conditions, and measurement accuracy. A sample can include yields of 80 grams, 90
grams, 100 grams, and 110 grams. This range covers a reaction designed to produce around 100
grams, allowing for changes in outcomes due to the mentioned factors.

A certain city divides naturally into ten district neighborhoods. How might a real estate appraiser
select a sample of single-family homes that could be used as a basis for developing an equation
to predict appraised value from characteristics such as age, size, number of bathrooms, distance
to the nearest school, and so on?

An appropriate method is to generate a simple random sample of all single-family homes in

the city or a stratified random sample by taking a simple random sample from each of the ten
district neighborhoods.
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Is the study enumerative or analytic?

enumerative

The amount of flow through a solenoid valve in an automobile's pollution-control system is an

important characteristic. An experiment was carried out to study how flow rate depended on
three factors: armature length, spring load, and bobbin depth. Four different levels (low, fair,
moderate, and high) of each factor were chosen, and a single observation on flow was made for
each combination of levels.

(a) The resulting data set consisted of how many observations?

64

(b) Is this an enumerative or analytic study? Explain your reasoning.

This is an analytic study because the data would be collected on an existing process. There is
no sampling frame.

HW: Independence Assignment (Homework)

An oil exploration company currently has two active projects, one in Asia and the other in
Europe. Let A be the event that the Asian project is successful and B be the event that the
European project is successful. Suppose that A and B are independent events with P(A) = 0.5 and
P(B) = 0.9.

(a) If the Asian project is not successful, what is the probability that the European project is
also not successful?

0.1

Explain your reasoning.

Since the events are independent, then A′ and B′ are independent.

(b) What is the probability that at least one of the two projects will be successful?

0.95

(c) Given that at least one of the two projects is successful, what is the probability that only the
Asian project is successful? (Round your answer to three decimal places.)

0.053
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Suppose that the proportions of blood phenotypes in a particular population are as follows:
A B AB O
0.46 0.07 0.01 0.46
Assuming that the phenotypes of two randomly selected individuals are independent of one
another, what is the probability that both phenotypes are O? (Enter your answer to four decimal
places.)

0.2116

What is the probability that the phenotypes of two randomly selected individuals match? (Enter
your answer to four decimal places.)

0.4282

Suppose that a flaw in a certain computer chip installed in computers was discovered that could
result in a wrong answer when performing a division. The manufacturer initially claimed that the
chance of any particular division being incorrect was only 1 in 8 billion, so that it would take
thousands of years before a typical user encountered a mistake. However, statisticians are not
typical users; some modern statistical techniques are so computationally intensive that a billion
divisions over a short time period is not outside the realm of possibility. Assuming that the 1 in 8
billion figure is correct and that results of different divisions are independent of one another,
what is the probability that at least one error occurs in one billion divisions with this chip?
(Round your answer to four decimal places.)

0.1175

An aircraft seam requires 20 rivets. The seam will have to be reworked if any of these rivets is
defective. Suppose rivets are defective independently of one another, each with the same
probability. (Round your answers to four decimal places.)
(a) If 17% of all seams need reworking, what is the probability that a rivet is defective?

0.0093

(b) How small should the probability of a defective rivet be to ensure that only 5% of all seams
need reworking?

0.0026

HW: Random Variables Assignment (Homework)

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A concrete beam may fail either by shear (S) or flexure (F). Suppose that three failed beams are
randomly selected and the type of failure is determined for each one. Let X = the number of
beams among the three selected that failed by shear. List each outcome in the sample space along
with the associated value of X.
S: FFF SFF FSF FFS FSS SFS SSF SSS
X: 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3

Let X = the number of nonzero digits in a randomly selected 4-digit PIN that has no restriction
on the digits. What are the possible values of X?

0, 1, 2, 3, 4

For the following possible outcomes, give their associated X values.

associated
PIN
value

1189
4

2
2060
3

7302

Starting at a fixed time, each car entering an intersection is observed to see whether it turns left
(L), right (R), or goes straight ahead (A). The experiment terminates as soon as a car is observed
to turn left. Let X = the number of cars observed. What are possible X values?

1, 2, 3, 4, …

Given the outcomes below, find their associated X values.

Outcome: RRRRL AARL RRL AAL RL
X: 5 4 3 3 2
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HW: Probability Dist.Discrete Rndm Var.

Assignment (Homework)
Airlines sometimes overbook flights. Suppose that for a plane with 50 seats, 55 passengers have
tickets. Define the random variable Y as the number of ticketed passengers who actually show up
for the flight. The probability mass function of Y appears in the accompanying table.
y 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
0.06 0.14 0.05
p(y) 0.10 0.11 0.24 0.18 0.06 0.03 0.02 0.01

(a) What is the probability that the flight will accommodate all ticketed passengers who show
up?

0.830

(b) What is the probability that not all ticketed passengers who show up can be accommodated?
0.170

(c) If you are the first person on the standby list (which means you will be the first one to get on
the plane if there are any seats available after all ticketed passengers have been accommodated),
what is the probability that you will be able to take the flight?
0.650

(d) What is this probability if you are the third person on the standby list?
0.270

A mail-order company business has six telephone lines. Let X denote the number of lines in use
at a specified time. Suppose the pmf of X is as given in the accompanying table.
x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
p(x) 0.11 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.19 0.07 0.03

Calculate the probability of each of the following events.

(a) {at most three lines are in use}
0.71

(b)
{fewer than three lines are in use}
0.46

(c)
{at least three lines are in use}
0.54
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(d)
{between two and five lines, inclusive, are in use}
0.71

(e)
{between two and four lines, inclusive, are not in use}
0.64

(f)
{at least four lines are not in use}
0.46

Some parts of California are particularly earthquake-prone. Suppose that in one metropolitan
area, 35% of all homeowners are insured against earthquake damage. Four homeowners are to be
selected at random. Let X denote the number among the four who have earthquake insurance.
(a) Find the probability distribution of X. [Hint: Let S denote a homeowner that has insurance
and F one who does not. Then one possible outcome is SFSS, with probability (0.35)(0.65)(0.35)
(0.35) and associated X value 3. There are 15 other outcomes.] (Round your answers to four
decimal places.)
x 0 1 2 3 4
p(x) 0.1785 0.3845 0.3105 0.1115 0.0150

(b) Draw the corresponding probability histogram.

(c) What is the most likely value for X?

1
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(d) What is the probability that at least two of the four selected have earthquake insurance?
(Round your answer to four decimal places.)

0.4370

A new battery's voltage may be acceptable (A) or unacceptable (U). A certain flashlight requires
two batteries, so batteries will be independently selected and tested until two acceptable ones
have been found. Suppose that 93% of all batteries have acceptable voltages. Let Y denote the
number of batteries that must be tested.

(a) What is p(2), that is P(Y = 2)? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
p(2) = 0.8649

(b) What is p(3)? [Hint: There are two different outcomes that result in Y = 3.]. (Round your
answer to three decimal places.)
p(3) = 0.121

(c) To have Y = 5, what must be true of the fifth battery selected?

The fifth battery must be an A.

List the four outcomes for which Y = 5. (Enter your answer in set notation.)
$$

Determine p(5). (Round your answer to five decimal places.)

p(5) = 0.00119

(d) Use the pattern in your answers for parts (a)–(c) to obtain a general formula for p(y).
p(y) =
$$

A mail-order computer business has six telephone lines. Let X denote the number of lines in use
at a specified time. Suppose the pmf of X is as given in the accompanying table.
x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

p(x) 0.12 0.18 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.08 0.02

Calculate the cdf F(x).

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x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

F(x) 0.12 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 0.98 1.00

Graph the cdf F(x).

Use the graph to calculate the probabilities of the events given below.
(a) {at most three lines are in use}
0.70

(b) {fewer than three lines are in use}

0.50

(c) {at least three lines are in use}

0.50

(d) {between two and five lines, inclusive, are in use}

0.68
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A branch of a certain bank has six ATMs. Let X represent the number of machines in use at a
particular time of day. The cdf of X is as follows:

F(x) =
0 x<0
0.07 0≤x<1
0.22 1≤x<2
0.45 2≤x<3
0.60 3≤x<4
0.89 4≤x<5
0.99 5≤x<6
1 6≤x

Calculate the following probabilities directly from the cdf:

(a) p(2), that is,
P(X = 2)

0.23

(b) P(X > 3)

0.40

(c)
P(2 ≤ X ≤ 5)

0.77

(d)
P(2 < X < 5)

0.44
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An insurance company offers its policyholders a number of different premium payment options.
For a randomly selected policyholder, let X = the number of months between successive
payments. The cdf of X is as follows:
F(x) =
0 x<1
0.35 1≤x<3
0.48 3≤x<4
0.50 4≤x<6
0.84 6 ≤ x < 12
1 12 ≤ x

(a) What is the pmf of X?

x 1 3 4 6 12
p(x) 0.35 0.13 0.02 0.34 0.16

(b) Using just the cdf, compute P(3 ≤ X ≤ 6) and P(4 ≤ X).
P(3 ≤ X ≤ 6) = 0.49
P(4 ≤ X) = 0.52

HW: Expected Values Assignment (Homework)

The pmf of the amount of memory X (GB) in a purchased flash drive is given as the following.
x 1 2 4 8 16
p(x) 0.05 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.20

(a) Compute E(X) (in GB). (Enter your answer to two decimal places.)
7.05 GB
(b) Compute V(X) (in GB2) directly from the definition. (Enter your answer to four decimal
places.)
25.5475 GB2
(c) Compute the standard deviation of X (in GB). (Round your answer to three decimal places.)
5.054 GB
(d) Compute V(X) (in GB2) using the shortcut formula. (Enter your answer to four decimal
places.)
25.5475 GB2
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An individual who has automobile insurance from a certain company is randomly selected. Let Y
be the number of moving violations for which the individual was cited during the last 3 years.
The pmf of Y is the following.
y 0 1 2 3
p(y) 0.45 0.20 0.30 0.05
(a) Compute E(Y).
E(Y) = 0.95

(b) Suppose an individual with Y violations incurs a surcharge of $80Y2. Calculate the expected
amount of the surcharge.
$148

An certain brand of upright freezer is available in three different rated capacities: 16 ft 3, 18 ft3,
and 20 ft3. Let X = the rated capacity of a freezer of this brand sold at a certain store. Suppose
that X has the following pmf.
x 16 18 20
p(x)
0.1 0.2 0.7

(a) Compute E(X), E(X2), and V(X).

E(X) = 19.2 ft3
E(X2) = 370.4
V(X) = 1.76

(b) If the price of a freezer having capacity X is 60X − 650, what is the expected price paid by the
next customer to buy a freezer?
$502

(c) What is the variance of the price paid by the next customer?
6336

(d) Suppose that although the rated capacity of a freezer is X, the actual capacity is h(X) = X −
0.009X2. What is the expected actual capacity of the freezer purchased by the next customer?
(Enter your answer to four decimal places.)

15.8664
 ENGR 210

A small market orders copies of a certain magazine for its magazine rack each week. Let X =
demand for the magazine, with the following pmf.
x 1 2 3 4 5 6

p(x) 2 1 3 3 3 3
15 15 15 15 15 15

Suppose the store owner actually pays $2.00 for each copy of the magazine and the price to
customers is $4.00. If magazines left at the end of the week have no salvage value, is it better to
order three or four copies of the magazine? [Hint: For both three and four copies ordered,
express net revenue as a function of demand X, and then compute the expected revenue.]

What is the expected profit if three magazines are ordered? (Round your answer to two decimal
places.)
$ 4.67

What is the expected profit if four magazines are ordered? (Round your answer to two decimal
places.)
$ 5.07

How many magazines should the store owner order?

4 magazines

Let X be the damage incurred (in $) in a certain type of accident during a given year. Possible X
values are 0, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000, with probabilities 0.84, 0.09, 0.05, and 0.02, respectively.
A particular company offers a $500 deductible policy. If the company wishes its expected profit
to be $100, what premium amount should it charge (in dollars)?

$560

HW: Pictorial and Tabular Methods Assignment

(Homework)
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Flexural strength is a measure of a material's ability to resist failure in bending. The

accompanying data are on flexural strength of concrete (in MegaPascal, MPa, where 1 Pa
(Pascal) = 1.45 ⨯ 10−4 psi):
5. 7. 7. 6. 8. 6. 7. 7. 6. 9.
6.5 7.0 6.3 7.9
7 2 3 1 1 8 0 6 8 0
8. 8. 7. 9. 7. 7. 9. 7. 7. 11. 11. 11. 10.
2 7 8 7 4 7 7 8 7 6 4 8 5
(a) Construct a stem-and-leaf display of the data. (Enter numbers from smallest to largest
separated by spaces. Enter NONE for stems with no values.)
Stem
Leaves
s
5 7
6 13588
7 00234677889
8 127
9 077
10 5
11 468

What appears to be a representative strength value?

7.8MPa

Do the observations appear to be highly concentrated about the representative value or rather
spread out?

spread out with a large range

(b) Does the display appear to be reasonably symmetric about a representative value, or would
you describe its shape in some other way?
positive skewness

(c) Do there appear to be any outlying strength values? No

(d) What proportion of strength observations in this sample exceed 10 MPa? (Round your answer
 ENGR 210

to two decimal places.)

0.15

How does the speed of a runner vary over the course of a marathon (a distance of 42.195 km)?
Consider determining both the time to run the first 5 km and the time to run between the 35-km
and 40-km points, and then subtracting the former time from the latter time. A positive value of
this difference corresponds to a runner slowing down toward the end of the race. The
accompanying histogram is based on times of runners who participated in several different
Japanese marathons.†

What are some interesting features of this histogram? (Select all that apply.)
mostly positive values positively skewed

What is a typical difference value? (Enter an approximate value.)

200 sec

Roughly what proportion of the runners ran the late distance more quickly than the early
distance? (Round your answer to two decimal places.)
0.01

Automated electron backscattered diffraction is now being used in the study of fracture
phenomena. The following information is on misorientation angle (degrees).
Class: 0−<5 5−<10 10−<15 15−<20 20−<30 30−<40 40−<60 60−<90
Rel freq: 0.176 0.161 0.170 0.134 0.190 0.074 0.069 0.026
(a) Is it true that more than 50% of the sampled angles are smaller than 15°, as asserted by
researchers?
Yes, the proportion of sampled angles smaller than 15° is greater than 0.50.

(b) What proportion of the sampled angles are at least 30°? (Round your answer to three decimal
places.)
0.169
 ENGR 210

(c) Roughly what proportion of angles are between 10° and 25°? (Round your answer to three
decimal places.)
0.399

(d) Construct a histogram.

Comment on any interesting features. (Select all that apply.)

Without more precise information, we cannot tell if the data contain outliers.
The distribution of misorientation angles is heavily positively skewed.

Fire load (MJ/m2) is the heat energy that could be released per square meter of floor area by
combustion of contents and the structure itself. The following cumulative percentages are for fire
loads in a sample of 388 rooms:
Value 0 150 300 450 600 750 900

Cumulative % 0 19.4 37.9 62.4 77.4 87.3 94.1

Value 1050 1200 1350 1500 1650 1800 1950

Cumulative % 95.6 98.5 98.9 99.5 99.6 99.8 100.0

(a) Construct a relative frequency histogram.

The typical middle value is somewhere between 300 and 450.

The relative frequency distribution exhibits a large positive skew.
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(b) What proportion of fire loads are less than 600? At least 1200? (Round your answers to three
decimal places.)
less than 600 0.774
at least 1200 0.015

(c) What proportion of the loads are between 600 and 1200? (Round your answer to three
decimal places.)
0.211

The number of contaminating particles on a silicon wafer prior to a certain rinsing process was
determined for each wafer in a sample of size 100, resulting in the following frequencies:
Number of
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
particles
Frequency 1 3 3 12 11 15 19 10 10 4 5 3 1 2 1
(a) What proportion of the sampled wafers had at least one particle? At least five particles?
(Round your answers to two decimal places.)
at least one particle 0.99
at least five particles 0.70

(b) What proportion of the sampled wafers had between five and ten particles, inclusive? Strictly
between five and ten particles? (Round your answers to two decimal places.)
between five and ten particles, inclusive 0.63
strictly between five and ten particles 0.43

(c) Draw a histogram/bar chart using relative frequency on the vertical axis.

How would you describe the shape of the histogram?

The histogram is fairly symmetric and unimodal.
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HW: Measures of Location Assignment

(Homework)
A sample of 26 offshore oil workers took part in a simulated escape exercise, resulting in the
accompanying data on time (sec) to complete the escape:
380 350 356 360 378 422 324 397 404

374 374 372 362 368 365 327 337 394

393 368 376 356 354 406 332 397

(a) Construct a stem-and-leaf display of the data. (Enter numbers from smallest to largest
separated by spaces. Enter NONE for stems with no values.)
Stems Leaves
32 47
33 27
34 NONE
35 0466
36 02588
37 24468
38 0
39 3477
40 46
41 NONE
42 2

How does it suggest that the sample mean and median will compare?
The display is reasonably symmetric, so the mean and median will be close.

(b) Calculate the values of the sample mean x and median . [Hint: Σxi = 9626.] (Round your
answers to two decimal places.)
x = 370.23
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sec
= 370 SEC

(c) By how much could the largest time, currently 422, be increased without affecting the value
of the sample median? (Enter ∞ if there is no limit to the amount.)
$$

By how much could this value be decreased without affecting the value of the sample median?
(Enter ∞ if there is no limit to the amount.)
$$

(d) What are the values of x and when the observations are reexpressed in minutes? (Round
your answers to two decimal places.)
x = 6.17 min
= 6.17 min

The article "Snow Cover and Temperature Relationships in North America and Eurasia"† used
statistical techniques to relate the amount of snow cover on each continent to average continental
temperature. Data presented there included the following ten observations on October snow
cover for Eurasia during the years 1970-1979 (in million km2):
6.5 12.0 14.9 10.0 10.7 7.9 21.9 12.5 14.5 9.2
What would you report as a representative, or typical, value of October snow cover for this
period, and what prompted your choice?
The median of this sample because a potential outlier may produce a misleading mean.

Exposure to microbial products, especially endotoxin, may have an impact on vulnerability to

allergic diseases. The following are data on concentration (EU/mg) in settled dust for one sample
of urban homes and another of farm homes.
U: 6.0 5.0 11.0 33.0 4.0 5.0 80.0 18.0 35.0 17.0 23.0
F: 2.0 15.0 13.0 6.0 8.0 9.0 4.0 17.0 3.0 8.5 23.0 8.2 5.0 3.0 0.6
(a) Determine the sample mean for each sample. (Round your answers to four decimal places.)
urban homes 21.5455 EU/mg
farm homes 8.3533 EU/mg

How do they compare?

The average endotoxin concentration in urban homes is more than double the average
concentration in farm homes

(b) Determine the sample median for each sample.

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urban homes 17 EU/mg

farm homes 8 EU/mg

How do they compare?

The median endotoxin concentration in urban homes is roughly double the median
concentration in farm homes

Why is the median for the urban sample so different from the mean for that sample?
The mean and median for urban homes are so different because the few large values raise
the mean but not the median

(c) Calculate the trimmed mean for each sample by deleting the smallest and largest observation.
(Round your answers to four decimal places.)
urban homes 17.0000 EU/mg
farm homes 7.8231 EU/mg

What are the corresponding trimming percentages? (Round your answers to two decimal places.)
urban homes 9.09 %
farm homes 6.67 %

How do the values of these trimmed means compare to the corresponding means and medians?
Urban homes:
The trimmed mean is less than the mean of the entire sample. The trimmed mean is equal to
the median of the entire sample.

Farm homes:
The trimmed mean is less than the mean of the entire sample. The trimmed mean is less than
the median of the entire sample.

HW: Sample Spaces and Events Assignment

(Homework)
Three components are connected to form a system as shown in the accompanying diagram.
Because the components in the 2–3 subsystem are connected in parallel, that subsystem will
function if at least one of the two individual components functions. For the entire system to
function, component 1 must function and so must the 2–3 subsystem.
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The experiment consists of determining the condition of each component [S (success) for a
functioning component and F (failure) for a nonfunctioning component]. (Enter your answers in
set notation. Enter EMPTY or ∅ for the empty set.)
(a) Which outcomes are contained in the event A that exactly two of the three components
function?
A=

(b) Which outcomes are contained in the event B that at least two of the components
function?
B=

(c) Which outcomes are contained in the event C that the system functions?
C=

(d) List outcomes in C'.

C' =

List outcomes in A ∪ C.
A∪C=

List outcomes in A ∩ C.
A∩C=

List outcomes in B ∪ C.
B∪C=

List outcomes in B ∩ C.
B∩C=
A college library has five copies of a certain text on reserve. Two copies (1 and 2) are first
printings, and the other three (3, 4, and 5) are second printings. A student examines these
books in random order, stopping only when a second printing has been selected. One possible
outcome is 5, and another is 213. (Enter your answers in set notation. Enter EMPTY or ∅ for
the empty set.)
(a) List the outcomes in .
=
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(b) Let A denote the event that exactly one book must be examined. What outcomes are in A?
A=

(c) Let B be the event that book 5 is the one selected. What outcomes are in B?
B=

(d) Let C be the event that book 1 is not examined. What outcomes are in C?
C=

An engineering construction firm is currently working on power plants at three different sites.
Let Ai denote the event that the plant at site i is completed by the contract date. Use the
operations of union, intersection, and complementation to describe each of the following events
in terms of A1, A2, and A3, draw a Venn diagram, and shade the region corresponding to each one.
(a) At least one plant is completed by the contract date.
A1 ∪ A2 ∪ A3

(b) All plants are completed by the contract date.

A1 ∩ A2 ∩ A3

(c) Only the plant at site 1 is completed by the contract date.

A1 ∩ A2' ∩ A3'
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(d) Exactly one plant is completed by the contract date.

(A1 ∩ A2' ∩ A3') ∪ (A1' ∩ A2 ∩ A3') ∪ (A1' ∩ A2' ∩ A3)

(e) Either the plant at site 1 or both of the other plants are completed by the contract date.
A1 ∪ (A2 ∩ A3)

HW: Axioms, Interpretations, Properties

Assignment (Homework)
An insurance company offers four different deductible levels—none, low, medium, and high—
for its homeowner's policyholders and three different levels—low, medium, and high—for its
automobile policyholders. The accompanying table gives proportions for the various categories
of policyholders who have both types of insurance. For example, the proportion of individuals
 ENGR 210

with both low homeowner's deductible and low auto deductible is 0.07 (7% of all such
individuals).
Homeowner's
Auto N L M H
L 0.04 0.07 0.05 0.04
M 0.07 0.09 0.20 0.09
H 0.02 0.03 0.15 0.15
Suppose an individual having both types of policies is randomly selected.
(a) What is the probability that the individual has a medium auto deductible and a high
homeowner's deductible?
0.09

(b) What is the probability that the individual has a low auto deductible? A low homeowner's
deductible?
auto deductible 0.20
homeowner's deductible 0.19

(c) What is the probability that the individual is in the same category for both auto and
homeowner's deductibles?
0.42

(d) Based on your answer in part (c), what is the probability that the two categories are different?
0.58

(e) What is the probability that the individual has at least one low deductible level?
0.32

(f) Using the answer in part (e), what is the probability that neither deductible level is low?
0.68

The route used by a certain motorist in commuting to work contains two intersections with traffic
signals. The probability that he must stop at the first signal is 0.45, the analogous probability for
the second signal is 0.5, and the probability that he must stop at at least one of the two signals is
0.75.
(a) What is the probability that he must stop at both signals?
0.2
 ENGR 210

(b) What is the probability that he must stop at the first signal but not at the second one?
0.25

(c) What is the probability that he must stop at exactly one signal?
0.55

A certain system can experience three different types of defects. Let Ai (i = 1,2,3) denote the
event that the system has a defect of type i. Suppose that the following probabilities are true.
P(A1) = 0.15 P(A2) = 0.10 P(A3) = 0.08
P(A1 ∪ A2) = 0.17 P(A1 ∪ A3) = 0.18
P(A2 ∪ A3) = 0.14 P(A1 ∩ A2 ∩ A3) = 0.02
(a) What is the probability that the system does not have a type 1 defect?
0.85

(b) What is the probability that the system has both type 1 and type 2 defects?
0.08

(c) What is the probability that the system has both type 1 and type 2 defects but not a type 3
defect?
0.06

(d) What is the probability that the system has at most two of these defects?
0.98

An academic department with five faculty members—Anderson, Box, Cox, Cramer, and Fisher
—must select two of its members to serve on a personnel review committee. Because the work
will be time-consuming, no one is anxious to serve, so it is decided that the representative will be
selected by putting the names on identical pieces of paper and then randomly selecting two.

(a) What is the probability that both Anderson and Box will be selected? [Hint: List the equally
likely outcomes.]
0.1

(b) What is the probability that at least one of the two members whose name begins with C is
selected?
0.7
 ENGR 210

(c) If the five faculty members have taught for 3, 6, 7, 10, and 14 years, respectively, at the
university, what is the probability that the two chosen representatives have a total of at least 15
years teaching experience there?
0.6

HW: Counting Techniques Assignment

(Homework)
A stereo store is offering a special price on a complete set of components (receiver, compact disc
player, speakers, turntable). A purchaser is offered a choice of manufacturer for each component.

 Receiver: Kenwood, Onkyo, Sony, Sherwood

 Compact disc player: Onkyo, Pioneer, Sony, Technics
 Speakers: Boston, Infinity
 Turntable: Onkyo, Sony, Teac, Technics

A switchboard display in the store allows a customer to hook together any selection of
components (consisting of one of each type). Use the product rules to answer the following
questions.
(a)
In how many ways can one component of each type be selected?
128 ways
(b)
In how many ways can components be selected if both the receiver and the compact disc player
are to be Sony?
8 ways
(c)
In how many ways can components be selected if none is to be Sony?
54 ways
(d)
In how many ways can a selection be made if at least one Sony component is to be included?
74
(e)
If someone flips switches on the selection in a completely random fashion, what is the
probability that the system selected contains at least one Sony component? Exactly one Sony
component? (Round your answer to three decimal places.)
at least one Sony component 0.578
exactly one Sony component 0.422
 ENGR 210

A production facility employs 10 workers on the day shift, 8 workers on the swing shift, and 6
workers on the graveyard shift. A quality control consultant is to select 3 of these workers for in-
depth interviews. Suppose the selection is made in such a way that any particular group of 3
workers has the same chance of being selected as does any other group (drawing 3 slips without
replacement from among 24).
(a) How many selections result in all 3 workers coming from the day shift?
120 selections

What is the probability that all 3 selected workers will be from the day shift? (Round your
answer to four decimal places.)
0.0593

(b) What is the probability that all 3 selected workers will be from the same shift? (Round your
answer to four decimal places.)
0.0968

(c) What is the probability that at least two different shifts will be represented among the selected
workers? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.9032

(d) What is the probability that at least one of the shifts will be unrepresented in the sample of
workers? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.7628

An academic department with five faculty members narrowed its choice for department head to
either candidate A or candidate B. Each member then voted on a slip of paper for one of the
candidates. Suppose there are actually three votes for A and two for B. If the slips are selected for
tallying in random order, what is the probability that A remains ahead of B throughout the vote
count (e.g., this event occurs if the selected ordering is AABAB, but not for ABBAA)?
0.2

A box in a supply room contains 20 compact fluorescent lightbulbs, of which 6 are rated 13-watt,
9 are rated 18-watt, and 5 are rated 23-watt. Suppose that three of these bulbs are randomly
selected. (Round your answers to three decimal places.)
(a) What is the probability that exactly two of the selected bulbs are rated 23-watt?
0.132

(b) What is the probability that all three of the bulbs have the same rating?
0.100
 ENGR 210

(c) What is the probability that one bulb of each type is selected?
0.237

(d) If bulbs are selected one by one until a 23-watt bulb is obtained, what is the probability that it
is necessary to examine at least 6 bulbs?
0.194

HW: Conditional Probability Assignment

(Homework)
A certain system can experience three different types of defects. Let Ai (i = 1,2,3) denote the
event that the system has a defect of type i. Suppose that the following probabilities are true.
P(A1) = 0.11 P(A2) = 0.08 P(A3) = 0.05
P(A1 ∪ A2) = 0.13 P(A1 ∪ A3) = 0.13
P(A2 ∪ A3) = 0.11 P(A1 ∩ A2 ∩ A3) = 0.01
(a) Given that the system has a type 1 defect, what is the probability that it has a type 2 defect?
(Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.5455

(b) Given that the system has a type 1 defect, what is the probability that it has all three types of
defects? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.0909

(c) Given that the system has at least one type of defect, what is the probability that it has exactly
one type of defect? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.3571

(d) Given that the system has both of the first two types of defects, what is the probability that it
does not have the third type of defect? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.8333

A department store sells sport shirts in three sizes (small, medium, and large), three patterns
(plaid, print, and stripe), and two sleeve lengths (long and short). The accompanying tables give
the proportions of shirts sold in the various category combinations.
Short-sleeved
Pattern
Size Pl Pr St
S 0.04 0.02 0.05
M 0.07 0.05 0.12
 ENGR 210

L 0.03 0.07 0.08

Long-sleeved
Pattern
Size Pl Pr St
S 0.03 0.02 0.03
M 0.07 0.11 0.07
L 0.04 0.02 0.08
(a) What is the probability that the next shirt sold is a medium, long-sleeved, print shirt?
0.11

(b) What is the probability that the next shirt sold is a medium print shirt?
0.16

(c) What is the probability that the next shirt sold is a short-sleeved shirt? A long-sleeved shirt?
short-sleeved shirt 0.53
long-sleeved shirt 0.47

(d) What is the probability that the size of the next shirt sold is medium?
0.49

What is the probability that the pattern of the next shirt sold is a print?
0.29

(e) Given that the shirt just sold was a short-sleeved plaid, what is the probability that its size
was medium? (Round your answer to three decimal places.)
0.500

(f) Given that the shirt just sold was a medium plaid, what is the probability that it was short-
sleeved? Long-sleeved? (Round your answer to three decimal places.)
short-sleeved 0.500
0.500
long-sleeved

A system consists of two identical pumps, #1 and #2. If one pump fails, the system will still
operate. However, because of the added strain, the remaining pump is now more likely to fail
than was originally the case. That is, r = P(#2 fails | #1 fails) > P(#2 fails) = q. If at least one
 ENGR 210

pump fails by the end of the pump design life in 10% of all systems and both pumps fail during
that period in only 4%, what is the probability that pump #1 will fail during the pump design
life?
0.07

Seventy-three percent of the light aircraft that disappear while in flight in a certain country are
subsequently discovered. Of the aircraft that are discovered, 69% have an emergency locator,
whereas 87% of the aircraft not discovered do not have such a locator. Suppose a light aircraft
has disappeared. (Round your answers to three decimal places.)
(a) If it has an emergency locator, what is the probability that it will not be discovered?
0.065

(b) If it does not have an emergency locator, what is the probability that it will be discovered?
0.491

Components of a certain type are shipped to a supplier in batches of ten. Suppose that 51% of all
such batches contain no defective components, 28% contain one defective component, and 21%
contain two defective components. Two components from a batch are randomly selected and
tested. What are the probabilities associated with 0, 1, and 2 defective components being in the
batch under each of the following conditions? (Round your answers to four decimal places.)
(a) Neither tested component is defective.
no defective components 0.5898
one defective component 0.2591
two defective components 0.1511

(b) One of the two tested components is defective. [Hint: Draw a tree diagram with three first-
generation branches for the three different types of batches.]
no defective components 0.000
one defective component 0.4286
two defective components 0.5714

For customers purchasing a refrigerator at a certain appliance store, let A be the event that the
refrigerator was manufactured in the U.S., B be the event that the refrigerator had an icemaker,
and C be the event that the customer purchased an extended warranty. Relevant probabilities are
below.
P(A) = 0.74 P(B | A) = 0.85 P(B | A') = 0.81
P(C | A ∩ B) = 0.81 P(C | A ∩ B') = 0.58
P(C | A' ∩ B) = 0.74 P(C | A' ∩ B') = 0.28
(a) Construct a tree diagram consisting of first-, second-, and third-generation branches and place
an event label and appropriate probability next to each branch.
 ENGR 210

0.85
0.81
0.26
0.81
0.58
0.74
0.28
0.72
(b) Compute P(A ∩ B ∩ C). (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.5095

(c) Compute P(B ∩ C). (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
 ENGR 210

0.6653
(d) ComPute P(C). (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.7435

(e) Compute P(A | B ∩ C), the probability of a U.S. purchase given that an icemaker and
extended warranty are also purchased. (Round your answer to four decimal places.)
0.7658

HW: Measures of Variability Assignment

(Homework)
The first four deviations from the mean in a sample of n = 5 reaction times were 0.5, 0.6, 1.2, and
1.5. What is the fifth deviation from the mean?
-3.8

Give a sample for which these are the five deviations from the mean.
4.3, 4.4, 5, 5.3, 0

A company utilizes two different machines to manufacture parts of a certain type. During a
single shift, a sample of n = 20 parts produced by each machine is obtained, and the value of a
particular critical dimension for each part is determined. The comparative boxplot below is
constructed from the resulting data.

Compare and contrast the two samples. (Select all that apply.)
A typical value seems to be about the same for the two machines.
The only outlier that exists is from machine 1.
Machine 2's sample values have considerably more variation than machine 1's sample
values.

A woman sued a computer keyboard manufacturer, charging that her repetitive stress injuries
were caused by the keyboard. The injury awarded about $3.5 million for pain and suffering, but
the court then set aside that award as being unreasonable compensation. In making this
 ENGR 210

determination, the court identified a "normative" group of 27 similar cases and specified a
reasonable award as one within two standard deviations of the mean of the awards in the 27
cases. The 27 awards were (in $1000s) 37, 63, 73, 112, 136, 142, 146, 152, 238, 290, 340, 410,
600, 750, 750, 751, 1050, 1100, 1139, 1150, 1200, 1200, 1250, 1577, 1700, 1825, and 2000,
from which Σxi = 20,181, Σxi2 = 24,662,111. What is the maximum possible amount that could
be awarded under the two-standard-deviation rule? (Round your answer to the nearest whole
number.)

1961

Suppose the value of Young's modulus (GPa) was determined for cast plates consisting of certain
intermetallic substrates, resulting in the following sample observations.
116.8 115.5 114.5 115.2 115.7
(a)
Calculate x (in GPa).
115.54 GPa
Calculate the deviations from the mean.
x 116.8 115.5 114.5 115.2 115.7
deviation 1.26 -0.04 -1.04 -0.34 0.16
(b)
Use the deviations calculated in part (a) to obtain the sample variance (in GPa 2).
s2 = 0.703 GPa2
Use the deviations calculated in part (a) to obtain the sample standard deviation (in GPa). (Round
your answer to three decimal places.)
s = 0.838 GPa
(c)
Calculate s2 (in GPa2) by using the computational formula for the numerator Sxx.
0.703 GPa2
(d)
Subtract 100 from each observation to obtain a sample of transformed values. Now calculate the
sample variance (in GPa2) of these transformed values.
0.703 GPa2
Compare it to s2 for the original data.
The variance in part (d) is equal to the variance in part (b).