STA 1380: Ch.

2 Practice Solutions
1. (a) What value should a be in the table below for us to have a probability distribution?
X
0
1
2
3

f (x)
a
0.1
0.2
0.5

a + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.5 = 1 = a = 1 [0.1 + 0.2 + 0.5] = 0.2

(b) Is this a discrete or a continuous distribution? Explain briefly.
This is a discrete distribution, since our random variable, X, can only take on a
countable number of values.
(c) Find the CDF.
X
0
1
2
3

F (x)
0.2
0.3
0.5
1

(d) What is the mean of this distribution?

= E[X] =

n
X

xi f (xi )

i=1

= (0)(0.2) + (1)(0.1) + (2)(0.2) + (3)(0.5)

=2
(e) What is the standard deviation of this distribution?
2 = V ar[X] =

n
X

x2i f (xi ) 2

i=1
2

= (0) (0.2) + (1)2 (0.1) + (2)2 (0.2) + (3)2 (0.5) (2)2

= 1.4
p
= = V ar[X]

= 1.4
1.18

2. Jim has a die where one side has a six, two sides have a two, and three sides have a
one. He offers you the following game. He will throw the die and pay you in dollars
the number that comes up (i.e., if it comes up six, you get $6.00; if it comes up one,
you get $1.00; etc.). He charges you $2.00 to play. Is this a good game for you to play?
Explain by computing the expected net winnings for this game.
Let X represent Jims net winnings. Then we have the following PMF.
X
$1
$0
$4

E[X] =

n
X

f (x)
3/6
2/6
1/6

xi f (xi )

i=1

 
 
 
3
2
1
= (1)
+ (0)
+ (4)
6
6
6
= 1/6
$0.17
Since you are expected to win $0.17 each time you play the game, this is a good
game for you to play (since you are expected to actually win money).

3. Suppose a soda company has a promotion where one in three bottles wins a free
download of an iTunes song. You buy a bottle ten days in a row.
You should recognize that we have a binomial distribution (think about the four criteria
you need to check).


Let X = the number of winning bottles. Then X Bin n = 10, p = 13 .
You can find the PMF and/or CDF using JMP the output is on the next page.
(a) What is the probability that exactly three of the bottles you bought are winners?
P (X = 3) = 0.2601
(b) What is the probability that more than seven of the bottles you bought are winners?
P (X > 7) = f (8) + f (9) + f (10)
= 0.0030 + 0.0003 + 0.0000
= 0.0033 OR
P (X > 7) = 1 F (7)
= 1 0.9966
= 0.0034
(c) What is the probability that at most three of the bottles you bought are winners?
P (X 3) = f (0) + f (1) + f (2) + f (3)
= 0.0173 + 0.0867 + 0.1951 + 0.2601
= 0.5592 OR
P (X 3) = F (3) = 0.5593
(d) What is the probability that at least two of the bottles you bought are winners?
(Hint: do not go adding a bunch of values. Think of another way.)
P (X > 2) = f (3) + f (4) + f (5) + f (6) + f (7) + f (8) + f (9) + f (10)
Long way not recommended here
P (X > 2) = 1 [f (0) + f (1) + f (2)]
(Shorter way recommended)
= 1 [0.0173 + 0.0867 + 0.1951]
= 0.7009 OR
P (X > 2) = 1 F [2]
= 1 0.2991
= 0.7009

(Even shorter way recommended)

4. If in the last six months 60% of all stocks listed on the New York Stock exchange have
fallen in value, what is the probability that out of six stocks picked at random, exactly
five will have declined in price?
You should recognize that we have a binomial distribution (think about the four criteria
you need to check).
Let X = the number of stocks that have declined in price.
Then X Bin(n = 6, p = 0.60).
P (X = 5) = 0.1866

(use JMP)

5. Let X represent the number of hours spent watching Netflix per week by Baylor students.
X
f (x)

0
0.30

1
0.21

2
0.15

3
0.06

4
0.09

5
0.11

6
a

(a) Find a.
0.30 + 0.21 + 0.15 + 0.06 + 0.09 + 0.11 + a = 1
= a = 1 [0.30 + 0.21 + 0.15 + 0.06 + 0.09 + 0.11] = 0.08
(b) What is the probability that a randomly selected Baylor student watches four or
more hours of Netflix per week?
P (X 4) = 0.09 + 0.11 + 0.08 = 0.28
(c) What is the probability that a randomly selected Baylor student watches less than
two hours of Netflix per week?
P (X < 2) = 0.30 + 0.21 = 0.51
(d) How many hours of Netflix would you expect a randomly selected Baylor student
to watch per week?
E[X] =

n
X

xi f (xi )

i=1

= (0)(0.30) + (1)(0.21) + (2)(0.15) + (3)(0.06) + (4)(0.09) + (5)(0.11) + (6)(0.08)

= 2.08
We would expect a randomly selected Baylor student to watch 2.08 hours of
Netflix per week.

6. A multiple-choice test has 16 questions, with each question having four possible answers.
You should recognize that we have a binomial distribution (think about the four criteria
you need to check). The JMP output is on the next page.
(a) If a student guesses at random on every question, what is the probability that he
or she will get exactly 6 correct?
Let X = the number of questions answered correctly.
Then X Bin(n = 16, p = 0.25).
P (X = 6) = 0.1101
(b) If a student guesses at random on every question, what is the probability that he
or she will get at least 12 correct?
P (X 12) = f (12) + f (13) + f (14) + f (15) + f (16)
= 0.0000 + 0.0000 + 0.0000 + 0.0000 + 0.0000
= 0.0000 OR
P (X 12) = 1 F (11)
= 1 0.99996
= 0.00004
0.0000
(c) If a student guesses at random on every question, how many questions should he
or she expect to get correct? Give or take how many?
= E[X] = np
p = (16)(0.25) = 4

= npq = (16)(0.25)(0.75) 1.73

So, the student should expect to get 4 questions correct, give or take 1.73 questions.

7. Suppose you go to a casino and choose to play a card game where one card is drawn
from a standard deck of cards. If you draw a 10, you win $10.00. If you draw a Queen
or a King, you win $5.00. If you draw any other card, you lose. You must pay $4.00
to play this game. Suppose you only play the game once. Let X represent your net
winnings.
(a) Find the PMF.
X
$4
$1
$6

f (x)
40/52
8/52
4/52

(b) Find E[X].

= E[X] =

n
X

xi f (xi )

i=1

40
= (4)
52
$2.46


+ (1)

8
52


+ (6)

4
52

(c) Find the standard deviation of X.

V ar[X] =

n
X

x2i f (xi ) 2

i=1
2

= (4)

40
52


+ (1)

8
52


+ (6)

4
52

(2.46)2

9.179
p
= = V ar[X]

= 9.179
$3.03
(d) Interpret the expected value and standard deviation of X.
If you play the game many times, in the long run, you are expected to lose $2.46
per game played, give or take $3.03.

8. For each scenario below, determine if the random variable, X, is a binomial random
variable. If it isnt, explain why not.
(a) Our class has 28 students, 24 of whom are female. I select 6 students at random
for an in-class activity. Let X represent the number of females in the randomly
selected group.
No, because the probability of success changes for each trial (sampling w/o replacement).
(b) Approximately 60% of Baylor students live off campus. You select 25 students at
random. Let X represent the number of randomly selected students who live off
campus.
Yes, because all four criteria to be a binomial random variable are met.
(c) According to U.S. News, roughly 57.5% of students who applied to Baylor were
accepted (for undergrad, and I believe this number is for this school year). You
randomly select applicants until you find one who was accepted. Let X represent
how many students you have to randomly select until you find the first accepted
applicant.
No, because there isnt a fixed number of trials.

10