Probability and Statistics

Extra Problems – Chapter 7

Point and Interval Estimation and Hypothesis testing
Point and Interval Estimation

1. In a study of automobile collision insurance costs, a random sample of 80 body repair costs
for a particular kind of damage had a mean of $472.36 and a standard deviation of $62.35. If
x = $472.36 is used as a point estimate of the true average repair cost of this kind of damage,
with what confidence can we assert that the error does not exceed $10?

2. Ten bearings made by a certain process have a mean diameter of 0.5060 cm and a standard
deviation of 0.0040 cm. Assuming that the data may be looked upon as a random sample from
a normal population, construct a 95% confidence interval for the actual average diameter of
bearings made by this process.

3. Inspecting LCD screens prior to their connection to the keyboard and electronic components
of a laptop computer, a quality control engineer detects 22, 23, 26, 20, 24, and 29 defectives
in six production runs each of size 200. What can he assert with 99% confidence about the
maximum error, if he uses the mean of the sample as a point estimate of the true average
number of defectives in a production run of size 200?

4. With reference to the previous problem, construct a 98% confidence interval for the true
average number of defectives per production run.

5. While performing a certain task under simulated weightlessness, the pulse rate of 32
astronaut trainees increased on the average by 26.4 beats per minute with a standard
deviation of 4.28 beats per minute. What can one assert with 95% confidence about the
maximum error if x = 26.4 is used as a point estimate of the true average increase in the
pulse rate of astronaut trainees performing the given task?

6. With reference to the previous problem, construct a 95% confidence interval for the true
average increase in the pulse rate of astronaut trainees performing the given task.

7. It is desired to estimate the mean number of hours of continuous use until a certain kind of
computer will first require repairs. If it can be assumed that  = 48 hours, how large a sample
is needed so that one will be assert with 90% confidence that the sample mean is only off by
at most 10 hours?
 Probability and Statistics
Extra Problems – Chapter 7
Point and Interval Estimation and Hypothesis testing
8. The heights of 50 college students showed a mean of 174.5 cm and a s.d. of 6.9 cm.
(a) Construct a 98% confidence interval for the mean height of all college students.
(b) What can we assert with 98% confidence about the possible error if we estimate the
mean height of all college students to be 174.5 cm ?

9. A random sample of 12 graduates of a certain secretarial school typed an average of 79.3

words per minute with a s.d. of 7.8 words per minute. Assuming a normal distribution for the
number of words typed per minute, find a 95% confidence interval for the average number of
words typed per minute by all graduates of this school.

10. The following measurements were recorded for the drying time, in hours, of a certain brand
of latex paint:
3.4 2.5 4.8 2.9 3.6 2.8 3.3 5.6
3.7 2.8 4.4 4.0 5.2 3.0 4.8
Assuming that the measurements represent a random sample from a normal population, find
a 98% confidence interval for the average drying time of the paint.

Answers

1. 84.72% 2. (0.5031, 0.5089) 3. 5.21

4. (19.66, 28.34) 5. 1.543105 6. (24.8569,27.9431) 7. 63

8. (a) (172.1533, 176.8467) (b) 2.346711

9. (74.344, 84.256) with normal approximation

Without approximation using t-distribution you will get (74.34412,84.25588)

10. with normal approximation

Without approximation using t-distribution you will get (3.128738,4.444596)

 Probability and Statistics
Extra Problems – Chapter 7
Point and Interval Estimation and Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis Testing
1. A consumer protection agency wants to test a paint manufacturer’s claim that the
average drying time of his new “fast-drying” paint is 20 minutes. It instructs a member
of his research staff to paint each of 50 boards using a different 1-gallon can of the
paint with the intention of rejecting the claim if the mean if the drying times exceeds
20.75 minutes; otherwise it will accept the claim. (Assume  = 2.4 mts.) Find
a. the probability of Type I error;
b. the probability of Type II error when  = 21 minutes.
(Hint: H0 :  = 20; H1 :  > 20.)

2. Suppose that for a given population with  = 8.4 square inches, we want to test the
null hypothesis  = 80.0 square inches against the alternative hypothesis  < 80.0
square inches on the basis of a random sample of size n = 100. If the null hypothesis
is rejected for X < 78.0 square inches and otherwise it is accepted, what is the
probability of type I error?

3. In a labor-management discussion, it was brought up that workers at a certain large

plant take on average 32.6 minutes to get to work. If a random sample of 60 workers
took on the average 33.8 minutes with a standard deviation of 6.1 minutes, can we
reject the null hypothesis  = 32.6 in favor of the alternative hypothesis  > 32.6 at
0.05 level of significance?

4. A random sample from a company’s very extensive files shows that orders for a
certain piece of machinery were filled, respectively, in 10, 12, 19, 14, 15, 18, 11, and
13 days. Use the level of significance  = 0.05, to test the claim that on the average
such orders are filled in 10.5 days. Choose the alternative hypothesis so that the
rejection of the null hypothesis  = 10.5 implies that it takes longer than indicated.
Assume normality.

5. Test the hypothesis that the average content of containers of particular lubricant is
10 liters if the contents of a random sample of 10 containers are 10.2, 9.7, 10.1, 10.3,
10.1, 9.8, 9.9, 10.4, 10.3 and 9.8 liters. Use a 0.01 level of significance and assume the
distribution of the contents is normal.
Answers
1. a) 0.013563 (b) 0.230692075
2. 0.008634
3. H0:  = 32.6; H1:  > 32.6. t  1.523797 < t59,0.05 = 1.671093. Hence cannot reject H0.
4. H0:  = 10.5; H1:  > 10.5. x = 14, s = 3.207135; t = 3.08671 > t7,0.05 =1.894579.
Hence reject H0.
5. H0:  = 10.0; H1:   10.0. x = 10.06, s = 0.246; |t |= 0.771744 < t9,0.005 = 3.249836.
Hence cannot reject H0.