Fall 2018

GNE 331: Probability & Statistics

Assignment I

Exercise 1
An experiment consists of tossing a die and then flipping a coin once if the number on the die
is even. If the number on the die is odd, the coin is flipped twice.
a. Using the notation 4H, for example, to denote the outcome that the die comes up 4 and
then the coin comes up heads, and 3HT to denote the outcome that the die comes up 3
followed by a head and then a tail on the coin, construct a tree diagram to show the 18
elements of the sample space S.
b. List the elements corresponding to the event A that a number less than 3 occurs on the

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die.
c. List the elements corresponding to the event B that two tails occur.
̅.
d. List the elements corresponding to the event A
̅∩B.
e. List the elements corresponding to the event A
f. List the elements corresponding to the event A∪B.
Exercise 2
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In a medical study, patients are classified in 8 ways according to whether they have blood type
AB+, AB−, A+, A−, B+, B−, O+, or O−, and also according to whether their blood pressure is
low, normal, or high. Find the number of ways in which a patient can be classified.
Exercise 3
A witness to a hit-and-run accident told the police that the license number contained the letters
RLH followed by 3 digits, the first of which was a 5. If the witness cannot recall the last 2
digits, but is certain that all 3 digits are different, find the maximum number of automobile
registrations that the police may have to check.
Exercise 4
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If a multiple-choice test consists of 5 questions, each with 4 possible answers of which only 1
is correct,
a. in how many different ways can a student check off one answer to each question?
b. in how many ways can a student check off one answer to each question and get all the
answers wrong?
Exercise 5
How many distinct permutations can be made from the letters of the word INFINITY?
Exercise 6
How many ways are there to select 3 candidates from 8 equally qualified recent graduates for
openings in an accounting firm?

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Exercise 7
In a high school graduating class of 100 students, 54 studied mathematics, 69 studied history,
and 35 studied both mathematics and history. If one of these students is selected at random,
find the probability that
a. the student took mathematics or history;
b. the student did not take either of these subjects;
c. the student took history but not mathematics.
Exercise 8
It is common in many industrial areas to use a filling machine to fill boxes with products. These
machines are not perfect, and indeed they may: A, fill to specification, B, underfill, and C,
overfill. Generally, the practice of underfilling is that which one hopes to avoid. Let P(B)=0.001

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while P(A)=0.990.
a. Find P(C).
b. What is the probability that the machine does not underfill?
c. What is the probability that the machine either overfills or underfills?
Exercise 9
An electrical system consists of five components as illustrated in the following figure. The
system works if either the components A and B work or the components C, D and E work. The
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reliability (probability of working) of each component is also shown in the figure. Assume that
the components fail independently.
a. What is the probability that the entire system works?
b. Given that the system works, what is the probability that the component A is not
working?
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Exercise 10
A paint-store chain produces and sells latex and semigloss paint. Based on long-range sales,
the probability that a customer will purchase latex paint is 0.75. Of those that purchase latex
paint, 60% also purchase rollers but only 30% of semigloss paint buyers purchase rollers. A
randomly selected buyer purchases a roller and a can of paint. What is the probability that the
paint is latex?
Exercise 11
The total number of hours, measured in units of 100 hours, that a family runs a vacuum cleaner
over a period of one year is a continuous random variable X that has the density function

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 𝑥 0<𝑥<1
𝑓(𝑥) = {2 − 𝑥 1≤𝑥<2
0 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
Find the probability that over a period of one year, a family runs their vacuum cleaner
a. less than 120 hours;
b. between 50 and 100 hours.
Exercise 12
The probability distribution of X, the number of imperfections per 10 meters of a synthetic
fabric in continuous rolls of uniform width, is given by
x 0 1 2 3 4
f(x) 0.41 0.37 0.16 0.05 0.01

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Construct the cumulative distribution function of X.
Exercise 13
The time to failure in hours of an important piece of electronic equipment used in a
manufactured DVD player has the density function
1 −𝑥
S. 𝑓(𝑥) = {2000
0
exp (
2000
) 𝑥≥0
𝑥<0
a. Find F(x).
b. Determine the probability that the component (and thus the DVD player) lasts more
than 1000 hours before the component needs to be replaced.
c. Determine the probability that the component fails before 2000 hours.
Exercise 14
Determine the value of c so that the following function represent joint probability distribution
of the random variables X and Y: f(x,y)=cxy, for x =1, 2, 3; y =1, 2, 3.
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Exercise 15
From a box containing 3 10 Ω resistors, 2 100 Ω resistors, and 3 200 Ω resistors, a random
sample of 4 resistors is selected. If X is the number of 10 Ω resistors and Y is the number of
100 Ω resistors in the sample, find
a. the joint probability distribution of X and Y;
b. P[(X,Y) ∈ A], where A is the region that is given by {(x,y) | x + y ≤ 2};
c. the marginal distribution of X;
d. the marginal distribution of Y;
Exercise 16
A candy company distributes boxes of chocolates with a mixture of creams, toffees, and
cordials. Suppose that the weight of each box is 1 kilogram, but the individual weights of the
creams, toffees, and cordials vary from box to box. For a randomly selected box, let X and Y

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represent the weights of the creams and the toffees, respectively, and suppose that the joint
density function of these variables is
24𝑥𝑦 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1, 0 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 1, 𝑥 + 𝑦 ≤ 1
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = {
0 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
a. Find the probability that in a given box the cordials account for more than 1/2 of the
weight.
b. Find the marginal density for the weight of the creams.
c. Find the probability that the weight of the toffees in a box is less than 1/8 of a kilogram
if it is known that creams constitute 3/4 of the weight.
Exercise 17
The amount of kerosene, in thousands of liters, in a tank at the beginning of any day is a random
amount Y from which a random amount X is sold during that day. Suppose that the tank is not

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resupplied during the day so that x ≤ y, and assume that the joint density function of these
variables is
2 0<𝑥≤𝑦<1
𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦) = {
0 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
a. Determine if X and Y are independent.
b. Find P(1/4 <X<1/2 | Y =3 /4).
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