Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

Multiple-choice questions
1 Which of the following graphs could not represent a probability density function? A B

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

2 If the function f(x) = 4x represents a probability density function, then which of the following could be the domain of f? A 0<x< B 0<x<
2 2
2

C 0.5 < x < 0.5 D 0 < x < 0.25 E 1 < x < 1 3 If a random variable X has probability density function

kx e f ( x) = 0
A (1 e1)1 B e1 C 1 + e1 D 1 e1 E 1

1 k otherwise 0<x<

then k is equal to:

4 If a random variable X has probability density function

3 2 x 4x + 5 f ( x) = 50 0
then the mode of X is: A 0 B 1 C 2.5 D 3.125 E 5

0 x5 x < 0 or x > 5

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

5 If a random variable X has probability density function

3 2 x 4x + 5 f ( x) = 50 0
then the mean of X is: A 0 B 1 C 2.5 D 3.125 E 5

0 x5 x < 0 or x > 5

6 The continuous random variable X has probability density function f given by where a is a constant. The value of a is: A 0 B C
1 3 1 9

D 1 E 1 7 If a random variable X has a probability density function

3 2 x +4 f ( x ) = 13 0
A 0.290 B 0.084 C 0.354 D 0.519 E 0.290

0 x 1 x < 0 or x > 1

then the variance of X is closest to:

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

8 If a random variable X has a probability density function

5e 5 x f ( x) = 0 x 0 otherwise

then the median of X is closest to A 0.5 B 0.2 C loge 2 D loge 0.4 E

log e 2 5

9 If a random variable X has a probability density function

3 3 ( x 5 x 2 + 6 x) 0 x 2 f ( x) = 8 0 otherwise
then the mode of X is closest to: A 0 B C 1 D 0.785 E 2.549

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

10 Which of the following graphs represents Pr(1 x 2), where the random variable X has a probability distribution function:

log x f ( x) = e 0
A

1< x <e otherwise

B

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

11 The continuous random variable X has probability density function f given by: E(X2) is equal to: A B
4 3 64 3

C 24 D 4 E 0.25 12 If random variable X has a mean X = 5 and a standard deviation X = 4, and Y = 2 X then: A Y = 5 and Y = 4 B Y = 3 and Y = 2 C Y = 3 and Y = 4 D Y = 3 and Y = 2 E Y = 3 and Y = 2 13 If the time between customer arrivals at a bank is a random variable X with mean of 75 seconds and a variance of 9 minutes then 95% of the times between arrivals are between: A 66 seconds and 84 seconds B 57 seconds and 93 seconds C 69 seconds and 81 seconds D 72 seconds and 78 seconds E 48 seconds and 102 seconds

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

14 The time (in minutes) between arrivals of trains at a station is a random variable X which has probability density function: The probability that Laura will have to wait less than 7 minutes for a train, given that she waits at least 5 minutes is closest to: A 0.339 B 0.493 C 0.688 D 0.948 E 0.016 15 A teacher has determined that the top 20% of students will be given an A on the mathematics examination. If the distribution of scores on the examination is a random variable X with probability density function then the minimum score required to be awarded an A is closest to: A 60 B 70 C 80 D 90 E 95

Short-answer questions (technology-free)

1 The probability density function of X is given by: f(x) =
kx 0 1 x 2 x < 1 or x > 2

a Find k. b Find Pr(1 < X < 1.5).

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

2 Check whether or not the following are probability density functions over the given range:

1 2 x +4 a f(x) = 2 0
b f(x) = 2

0 < x <1 x 0 or x 1

2x4 x < 2 or x > 4

3 The probability density function of the age of babies, X years, brought into a clinic is given by:

3 x( 2 x ) 0 < x < 2 f(x) = 4 0 otherwise

If 60 babies are brought in on a particular day, how many are expected to be less than 8 months old? 4 The probability density function of X is given by:

sin( 2 x ) 0 x f(x) = 2 0 otherwise

Find the mean, median and mode of X. 5 A random variable X has a probability density function given by:

x f(x) = 4 0

1 x 3 otherwise

a Find E(X) and Var(X). b Find the median value of X. c Find the mode of X. 6 A random variable with a uniform distribution has a probability density function given by:

1 f(x) = b a 0
a Find E(X).

a xb otherwise

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

b Find Var(X).

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

7 The probability density function for the surface area in cm 2 of a virus placed on a culture plate after 8 hours is approximately:

e x f(x) = 19 0

0< x<3 otherwise

Use this to find the probability that a culture plate has a surface area more than 2 cm 2. 8 The time taken to complete a crossword puzzle is found to be a continuous random variable with mean 35 minutes and standard deviation 10 minutes. Find an (approximate) interval for the time it takes for 95% of people to complete the puzzle.

Extended-response questions
The time it takes to complete a task (in hours) is a random variable X with probability density function where c is a constant. 1 Find the value of c. 2 Sketch the graph of this distribution. 3 Write down the most likely time taken to complete the task. 4 Find the probability that the time taken to complete the task will be: a more than 0.8 hours b between 0.4 and 0.8 hours

10

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

Answers to Chapter 16 Test A

Answers to multiple-choice questions
1 C 2 A 3 D 4 E 5 D 6 C 7 B 8 E 9 D 10 A 11 C 12 C 13 C 14 B 15 B

Answers to short-answer questions (technology-free)

1 a 2/3 b 5/12 2 a no b yes 3 15 4 5 9

, , 4 4 4
13 11 , 6 36
5

5 a b

c 3 6 a
b +a 2

11

Essential Mathematical Methods 3 & 4 CASChapter 17 Continuous random variables and their probability distributions

(b a ) 2 12

7 0.6682 to four decimal places 8 15 minutes to 55 minutes

Answers to extended-response questions

1 2
(0.6, 2.5)

25 36

3 0.6 hours 4 a b
1 8 157 216

12