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1. Let X be a random variable with E(X) = 100 and Var(X) = 15. What are
a. E ( X2 ) (Not 10000)
Var(X) = E(X2) E(X)2, so 15 = E(X2) 10000, so E(X2) = 10015.
b. E ( 3X + 10 )
=3 E(X) + 10 = 310
c. E (-X)
= 100
d. Standard deviation of X ?
= 15 3.9, NOT 3.9
2. Let X be the random variable with pdf
fX ( x ) = 2x
0
if 0 x 1
otherwise.
0
2
f ( x) dx = a
1
if a 0
if 0 a 1
if a 1
(or: 1 if b 1, 0 if b 0)
fY(b) = 1 if 0 b 1
0
if b 1
d. Compute E(Y) directly from FY. (Use the secret formula.) (See website if
necessary)
E(Y) =
=
1
y 0
y 0 1 F ( y) dy y F ( y)dy
(1 y ) dy 0
= 1/2.
e. Compute E(Y) from fY.
E(Y) =
yf ( y ) dy
y 0
y 1 dy
= 1/2
f. Compute E(Y) = E(X2) directly from fX. (If your answers to d-e-f dont
agree, panic.)
2
2
2
E(Y) = E (Y ) E ( X ) x x f x ( x)dx x 0 x (2 x) dx =1/2
for Z is
pZ(z)
1/6
2/6
2/6
1/6
1
4. Now let X and Y be independent Poisson random variables, with means X and Y
respectively. Let Z = X + Y. Using the formula from problem 3, derive the pmf
for Z.
n
n!
a mb n m . )
m
!(
n
m
)!
m 0
n
(Hint: The binomial formula is (a b)
X x X
e
x!
x 0
Y z x Y
e
x
!
x ! z x !
e ( X Y )
x 0
z !
e ( X Y )
x
X
Y z x
z!
x ! z x !
x 0
x
X
Y z x
z
1
X Y
z !
e ( X Y )
Observed number of
corps-years in which
k fatalities occurred
0
1
2
3
4
5
109
65
22
3
1
0
200
[This is a frequency table describing 200 annual reports from pre-WWI Prussian
cavalry corps, each giving a number of soldiers killed by being kicked by horses.]
It is suggested that these values represent 200 independent draws from a Poisson
distribution.
a. What is a reasonable estimate for the mean of the distribution?
One reasonable estimate is the mean of the 200 observed values,
which is
= [ 109(0)+65(1)+22(2)+3(3)+1(4) ] / 200 = 0.61.
(As well see soon, this is the method-of-moments estimator for the
mean, which happens to agree in this situation with the maximum
likelihood estimator.)
b. What would the entries in the right-hand column be if the 200 draws were
exactly distributed according to this Poisson distribution? (The entries would not
be integers.)
Using = 0.61:
k
0
1
2
3
4
5
observed
109
65
22
3
1
0
theoretical
108.67 = (200) ( 0.610 / 0! ) ( e0.61 )
66.29
20.22
4.11
0.63
0.09
200
200
(In November well address this question: Comparing the original data to the
theoretical values in part b, is it plausible that these really are draws from a
Poisson distribution? Or should we discard that theory?)
This looks to me like a very good fit --- even suspiciously good --- but
we may try a Chi-Square test later.
6. (Editing a Poisson distribution) At a certain boardwalk attraction, customers appear
according to a Poisson process at a rate of = 15 customers/hour. So, if X is
the number of customers appearing between noon and 1pm, X has a Poisson
distribution with mean 15.
Assume that each customer wins a prize with (independent) probability 1/5.
Let Y be the number of customers winning prizes between noon and 1pm.
One way to understand Y is that if the value of X is given, then Y is binomial,
with parameters n = [value of X] and p = 1/5. This reasoning gives us:
P(Y=k)=
n
k
n k
1/ 5 (4 / 5)
k
P ( X n)
n k
(The second part of the summand is the probability that Y=k given that X=n.)
k
nk
k 1/ 5 (4 / 5)
P ( X n)
nk
15n 15
e
n!
nk
n
k
n k
1/ 5 (4 / 5)
k
1 15 n
1 1 n k
15n
e 15
4
...and
now
since
(3k )(3n k )...
n
n
k!
5
n k
(n k )! 5
1 15 k 3n k 4n k
e (3 )
k!
n k ( n k )!
12m
,
m 0 m !
which is the Taylor series for e+12; so
3k 3
e
P(Y=k)=
k!
as desired.
(Or, if after getting off to a good start you find this problem too annoying, do
part b instead.)
b. Find a much simpler explanation of why Y should be Poisson with mean 3.
If the probability of a customer arriving in a small interval is 15
times the length of the interval in hours, independently of what
happens in other intervals, then the probability of a winner appearing
during that small interval is 3 times the length of the interval, and is
still independent of what happens in other intervals.
That means that the winners process is a Poisson process with
mean 3, and the result follows.
7. (Waiting times) Buses arrive according to a Poisson process with mean (1/10) min-1.
Let W be the waiting time from time t = 0 till the arrival of the second bus.
a. What is E(W) ?
If X is the time we have to wait for the first bus, then X is
exponentially distributed with mean 10. After the first bus arrives,
we can start waiting for the second bus, and if Y is the time that
takes, then Y also has mean 10. Now W = X + Y. It doesnt matter
whether X and Y are independent (they are) --- in any case,
E(W) = E(X) + E(Y) = 20 minutes.
Part a is of no use in solving part b.
b. Can you construct a pdf or cdf for W ?
( Good start: P(W t) = 1 P(exactly 0 buses or exactly 1 bus between
times 0 and t). Another approach: W is the sum of two independent one-bus
waiting times.)
P ( W t ) = 1 exp(-(1/10) t) (1/10) t exp(-(1/10) t).
Thats the same as FW(t).
If you want the density function fW(t), just differentiate FW(t);
things cancel and you get
fW(t) = (1/100) t exp(-(1/10)t ).
This happens to be the density for (a special case of) the gamma
distribution.
8. (The first boring normal tables problem) If Z is a standard normal variable, what
are
a. P ( -1.0 Z +1.0 ) = 0.68
b. P ( -2.0 Z +2.0 ) = 0.95
c. P ( -3.0 Z +3.0 ) = 0.997
9. (The second boring normal tables problem) Let Z be a standard normal variable.
a. If P ( -a Z +a ) = 0.95, what is a ?
Find z for which Phi(z) = 0.975 --- namely, z = 1.96.
(Or: =NORMSINV(0.975) = 1.9600 )
b. If P ( -b Z +b ) = 0.99, what is b ?
Find z for which Phi(z) = 0.995 --- namely, z = 2.58
(Or: =NORMSINV(0.995) = 2.575829 )
10. (The third boring normal tables problem)
a. If X is normal with mean 500 and standard deviation 110,
what is P ( X 800 ) ?
If Z = (X-500)/110 then Z is standard normal.
P ( X 800 ) = P ( Z (800-500)/110 ) = P ( Z 2.7272 ) =
1 (2.72) = 0.0032
b. If X is normal with mean 500 and standard deviation 120,
what is P ( X 800 ) ?
If Z = (X-500)/120 then Z is standard normal.
P ( X 800 ) = P ( Z (800-500)/120 ) = P ( Z 2.5 ) =
1(2.5) = 0.0062
(end)