PGP Boot Camp – Statistics

(Problems)

Examples will be solved in class during boot camp sessions and problems will be tried by
students themselves.

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 Probability

Examples:
1. Toss a coin three times, what is the probability of at least two heads?

HHH, HHT, HTT, TTT

THH, TTH, THT, HTH

3/8 (2/2^3)

2. The manager of a factory claims that among his 400 employees:

 312 got a pay rise last year
 248 got increased pension benefits last year
 173 got both pension benefits and pay rise last year
 13 got neither
Using last year’s figures as your guide to this year’s prospects, calculate the probability of:

a) Getting a pay rise

b) Not getting a pay rise
c) Getting both a pay rise and pension benefits

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 3. Of all flashlights in a large shipment, 15% have a defective bulb, 10% have a defective
battery, and 5% have both defects. If you purchase a flashlight from the shipment what
are the probabilities of the following:
10+5=15% a) A defective light bulb or a defective battery, 15 10
b) A good bulb or a good battery,
100-5=95 c) A good bulb and a good battery. 10 5
5
100-15=85
Problems:
1. A box is filled with candies in different colors. We have 40 white candies, 24 green ones,
12 red ones, 24 yellow ones and 20 blue ones. If we have selected one candy from the
box without peeking into it, find the probability of getting a green or red candy

W-40
G-24 (24+20)/128
R-20 i.e. 44/128 or 11/32
Y-24
B-20
T=128

2. Let us suppose we are flipping three fair coins together. Find the sample space and
favorable outcomes for at least two heads.

HHH, HHT, HTT, TTT

THH, TTH, THT, HTH

3/8 (2/2^3)

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 3. When two dice are rolled, find the probability that the sum of the numbers on the two
dice is 8 and the number on the first die is greater than the number on the second die.

4. Two students appeared in an examination. The probability that the first will qualify the
examination is 0.05 and that the second will qualify the examination is 0.10. The
probability that both will qualify the examination is 0.02.

5. Find the probability that both will not qualify the examination.

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 6. Find the probability that at least one of them will not qualify the examination and

7. Find the probability that only one of them will qualify the examination.

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 Random Variables

Examples:
1. The number of patients seen in the ER in any given hour is a random variable
represented by x. The probability distribution for x is:

x 10 11 12 13 14

P(x) .4 .2 .2 .1 .1

Find the probability that in a given hour:

a) Exactly 14 patients arrive
b) At least 12 patients arrive
c) At most 11 patients arrive

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Problems:
1. Which of the following random variables is discrete?

a) the length of time a battery lasts

b) the weight of an adult
c) the percentage of children in a population who have been vaccinated against
measles
d) the number of books purchased by a student in a year
e) the distance between a pair of cities

2. Which of the following random variables isn’t discrete?

a) the number of children in a family

b) the annual rainfall in a city
c) the attendance at a football game
d) the number of patients treated at an emergency room in a day
e) the number of classes taken in one semester by a student

3. Which of the following random variables is discrete?

a) the proportion of a population that voted in the last election

b) the height of a college student
c) the number of cars registered in a state
d) the weight of flour in a sack advertised as containing ten pounds
e) the length of a phone call

4. Which of the following random variables is continuous?

a. the number of heads resulting from flipping a coin 30 times

b. the number of deaths from plane crashes in a year
c. the proportion of the American population that believes in ghosts

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 d. the number of films produced in Canada in a year
e. the number of people arrested for auto theft in a year

5. Which of the following random variables is continuous?

a. the number of seniors in a college

b. the number of gold medals won at the 2012 Summer Olympics by athletes
from Germany
c. the number of schools in a city
d. the number of registered physicians in the United States
e. the amount of gasoline used in the Unites States in 2012

6. Which of the following random variables isn’t continuous?

a. the proportion of adults on probation in a state

b. the population growth rate for a city

c. the amount of money spent by a household for food over a year
d. the number of bird species observed in an area
e. the length of time it takes to walk ten miles

(7-9).The following table represents the probability distribution for X, the employment status of adults in
a city.

X P(X)
Employed Full- 0.65
Time
Employed Part- 0.10
Time
Unemployed 0.07
Retired 0.18

7. If you select one adult at random from this community, what is the probability that the
individual is employed part-time?

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 8. If you select one adult at random from this community, what is the probability that the
individual isn’t retired?

9. If you select one adult at random from this community, what is the probability that the
individual is working either part-time or full-time?

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 Expected Value and Variance of Discrete Random Variable

Examples:
1. Below is the number of brands launched by an FMCG company in a given year.
Find the mean and standard deviation of brand launched in a given year.

Number
of Brands
Launched P(X=xi)
(xi)
0.06
6
0.04
13
0.07
12
0.08
18
0.09
14
0.02
16
0.01
10
0.08
9
0.03
17
0.03
11
0.05
19
0.09
20
0.2
15

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 0.01
21
0.14
8

2. Decide on which of the project would you like to go ahead with. Explain with
reasons:

Project A Project B

X P(X=x) X P(X=x)

Loss - $26,000 0.3 - $71,000 0.2

Break Even $0 0.5 $0 0.65

Profit $ 68,000.00 0.2 $ 143,000 0.15

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 3. Linda is a sales associate at a large auto dealership. At her commission rate of 25%
of gross profit on each vehicle she sells, Linda expects to earn $350 for each car sold
and $400 for each truck or SUV sold. Linda motivates herself by using probability
estimates of her sales. For a sunny Saturday in April, she estimates her car sales as
follows:

What is Linda’s expected income?

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Problems:
(1 – 4).In the following table, X represents the number of automobiles owned by families in a
neighborhood.

X P(X)
0 0.25
1 0.60
2
3 0.05

1. What is the missing value in this table (representing- the number of automobiles
owned by two families in a neighborhood)?

2. What is the mean number of automobiles owned?

3. If every family currently not owning a car bought one car, what would be the mean
number of automobiles owned?

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 4. If all the families currently owning three cars bought a fourth car, what would be the
mean number of automobiles owned?

(5 – 8) In the following table, X represents the number of books required for classes at a university.

X P(X)
0 0.30
1 0.25
2 0.25
3 0.10
4 0.10

5. What is the mean number of books required?

6. What is the variance of the number of books required? Round your answer to two
decimal places.

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 7. What is the standard deviation of the number of books required? Round your answer
to two decimal places.

8. How would the standard deviation and variance- change if only 20% of the students
required two books, but now 5% of the students- require five books (with all other
categories unchanged)?

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