BFC 34303 Civil Engineering Statistics

Sem I 2017/2018

Our industry is built on utmost respect for agreements, deadlines, delivery on-time, and quality of
product, ability to work under pressure, and time management. Time management is an essential
skillset. NO late assignments or projects will be accepted. Carry marks will NOT be given, with only
exception in the rare event of a verified emergency. Please note that travel, conflicts with work-
schedules, family events etc. are not considered in this course as emergency for missing deadlines.

Assignment (40%)

Please read the instructions carefully and answer the questions correctly.

Instructions:

1. This is an individual assignment

2. Submission is on week 6 (26 October 2017)
3. Submission must be in hardcopy

Question 1

A traffic inspector has counted the number of automobiles passing a certain point in 100 successive
20-minute time periods. The observations are listed below

Class Frequency
59 2
10 14 7
15 19 12
20 24 16
25 29 18
30 34 24
35 - 39 11
40 - 44 8
45 - 49 2

a) Draw a frequency histogram for the frequency distribution. Describe any patterns and find
mode value.
b) Plot a cumulative frequency distribution and using the cumulative frequency distribution find
mean, median, first quartile, third quartile, P30, P80.

(14 marks)
Question 2

a) What are some benefits of representing data sets using frequency distributions?
b) What are some benefits of representing data sets using graphs of frequency distributions?
c) What is the difference between class limits and class boundaries?
d) What is the difference between frequency and relative frequency?

True or False? In Exercises e - h, determine whether the statement is true or false. If it is false, rewrite
it as a true statement.

e) The midpoint of a class is the sum of its lower and upper limits.
f) The relative frequency of a class is the sample size divided by the frequency of the class.
g) An ogive is a graph that displays cumulative frequency.
h) Class limits are used to ensure that consecutive bars of a histogram do not touch.
(8 marks)

Question 3

The curve in Figure 1 represents the marks of a large number of students on an English exam.
Estimate the quartiles and calculate the interquartile range.

(2 marks)

Figure 1 Graph showing marks on English exam.

Question 4

There are 15 numbers on a list, and the mean is 25. The smallest number on the list is changed from
12.9 to 1.29.

(4 marks)

a. Is it possible to determine by how much the mean changes? If so, by how much does
it change?
b. Is it possible to determine the value of the mean after the change? If so, what is the
value?
c. Is it possible to determine by how much the median changes? If so, by how much does
it change?
d. Is it possible to determine by how much the standard deviation changes? If so, by how
much does it change?
Question 5

For each of the following say whether it can be the graph of a cdf. If it can be, say whether the variable
is discrete or continuous.

(4 marks)

Question 6

A flood forecaster issues a flood warning under two conditions only:

i) Winter snowfall exceeds 20 cm regardless of fall rainfall; or
ii) Fall rainfall exceeds 10 cm and winter snowfall is between 15 and 20 cm.

The probability of winter snowfall exceeding 20 cm is 0.05. The probability of winter snowfall between
15 and 20 cm is 0.10. The probability of fall rainfall exceeding 10 cm is 0.10.

a) What is the probability that the forecaster will issue a warning any given spring?

b) Given that he issues a warning, what is the probability that winter snow fall was greater than 20
cm?

c) If the probability of flooding is 0.75 for condition (i) above, 0.60 for condition (ii) above, and 0.05
for conditions where no warning is anticipated. Construct a tree diagram to represent the given
information.
(8 marks)

-END OF QUESTION-