Sampling (Practice Questions) Student’s Copy Prepared by Mr H.D.

Chua

Sampling
A. Finding unbiased estimates of population mean and variance
AJC/Prelim/2018/P2/Q10(i)
1. The public relations officer of In-star-gram is investigating the number of hours a student
is on his/her social media platform a day. A survey is done to collect the usage time, x
hours, of 100 students in the age group 13 to 16 years old, and the data are summarised as
follows:

å x = 250.5 and å x 2
= 628.45 .

Find the unbiased estimates of the population mean and variance. [2]

JJC/Prelim/2018/P2/Q10(iii)
2. A staff in the polyclinic investigated the waiting times, x minutes, of 70 randomly chosen
patients. The data are summarised by

å ( x - 50) = 1071, å ( x - 50) = 73158.

2

Find the unbiased estimates of the population mean and variance. [2]

B. Distribution of the sample mean from a normal population (any n)

3. In a certain country, the heights of men are normally distributed with mean 170cm and
standard deviation 10cm and the heights of women are normally distributed with mean
165cm and standard deviation 6cm.

(i) What is the probability that the average height of three men chosen randomly is greater
than 178cm? [2]

(ii) Find the probability that all three will have heights greater than 178cm. Explain why
the probability in (ii) is smaller than that found in (i). [3]

(iii) Find the probability that the mean height of five women chosen at random is greater
than the mean height of three men chosen at random from the population. [3]

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4. A race is run between 2 men A and B. The time taken by A to complete the race has
normal distribution with mean 100 seconds and standard deviation 10 seconds. The
time taken by B has normal distribution with mean 120 seconds and standard deviation
20 seconds.
If A and B compete on 50 different occasions, find the probability that the average time
of B exceeds the average time of A by at least 21 seconds. [3]

C. Distribution of the sample mean (a NON-normal population, large sample size)

SAJC/Prelim/2018/P2/Q12(iv)
5. The volume of tap water, V, used by a guest in a bathroom at a small hotel may be
modelled by a random variable with mean 120 litres and standard deviation 65 litres.
Give a numerical justification as to why V is unlikely to be normally distributed. [1]

Explain why V , the mean of a random sample of 30 observations of V, may be assumed

to be approximately normally distributed and state its distribution. [2]

ACJC/Prelim/2017/P2/Q10(i)
6. An examination taken by a large number of students is marked out of a total score of
100. It is found that the mean is 73 marks and that the standard deviation is 15 marks.
(i) Give a reason why the normal distribution is not a good model for the distribution of
marks for the examination. [1]

(ii) The marks for a random sample of 50 students is recorded. Find the probability that
the mean mark of this sample lies between 70 and 75. [2]

7. The heights of a new variety of sunflower has a mean 2 m and standard deviation of 40 cm.

(a) A random sample containing 50 sunflowers is taken and the mean height calculated.
What is the probability that the sample mean lies between 195 cm and 205 cm? [2]

(b) A hundred such samples, each of 50 observations, are taken. In how many of these
would you expect the sample mean to be greater than 210 cm? Give your answer to
the nearest whole number. [2]

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8. Ten dice are thrown as an experiment and the number of sixes obtained is recorded. If
the ten dice are thrown 50 times, find the approximate probability that the average
number of sixes obtained is less than 2. [3]

IJC/Prelim/2018/P2/Q7
9. The discrete random variable X takes values 0, 1, 2 and 3 only. The probability
1
distribution of X is shown in the table, where p is a constant and 0 < p < .
10

x 0 1 2 3

P(X = x) 1- 6 p 3p 2p p

(i) Given that Var ( X ) = 0.75 , find the value of E ( X ) . [3]

(ii) The random variable S is the sum of n independent observations of X, where n is
large. Given that the probability that S exceeds 150 is at least 0.75, find the set of
possible values of n. [3]

D. Standardisation of sample mean

10. A machine produces cylindrical rods whose diameters are normally distributed with a
mean of 30 cm and a standard deviation of 5 cm.
(i) A sample of 10 rods are taken. Find the value of m such that there is 25 % chance
that the average diameter of the sample is more than m cm. [2]
(ii) A sample of n rods is chosen. Find the least value of n, required such that the
probability that the average diameters of the sample exceeds 30.5 cm is 1%. [4]

11. The weight in kg of a whole chicken sold in “Shop & Pay” is a random variable with a
distribution N(2.2, 0.52).

(i) The mean weight of n randomly chosen chickens is denoted by C kg. Given that
( )
P C > 2.35 = 0.0502 , find the value of n. [30]

The weight in kg of a whole turkey sold in “Shop & Pay” is a random variable with a
distribution N(11, 2.12). Chickens are sold at $3 per kg and turkeys at $5 per kg.

(ii) Calculate the probability that the total price of 17 randomly chosen chickens is more
than twice the price of a randomly chosen turkey. State clearly the mean and
variance of any normal distribution you use in your calculation.

(iii) State an assumption needed for your calculation in part (ii).

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E. Miscellaneous questions

12. The amount of liquid X gm, in a randomly selected jar has a mean of 1 and a

1
variance of . A sample of 80 jars of liquid is selected.
3
(i) Find the probability that the total weight of the liquid in the 80 jars is between 75 and
90 gm. State any approximations used.
(ii) Explain whether it is necessary for X to follow a normal distribution for your answer
to be valid.
(iii) *Find the value of k such that there is a 95% chance that the average amount of liquid
in the sample is more than k gm of liquid.

13. From a survey of the 50 graduates, x represents the number of hours the graduates
spent at the central library. The summarised data are as follows:

å ( x - 30) = 64 å ( x - 30)2 = 786

(i) Calculate the unbiased estimates of the population mean and variance. [2]

(ii) Another 50 graduates are surveyed. Estimate the probability that the 50 graduates
from this second sample spent an average of at least 32 hours at the central
library. [3]

14. The mass of chickens from a large poultry farm is normally distributed with mean
1.2 kg and standard deviation 0.4 kg.

(i) Calculate the probability that the mean mass of 12 chickens selected at random is
between 1.05 kg and 1.35 kg. [2]
(ii) If there is a probability of at least 0.95 that the mean mass of a sample of size n is
less than 1.3 kg, what is the least value of n? [3]
(iii) If 160 chickens are chosen at random, what is the probability that the total mass is
greater than 190 kg? [3]

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NYJC/Prelim/2018/P2/Q8
15. The masses of manufactured links of a chain are normally distributed with mean 800
grams and standard deviation 20 grams.
(i) Find the probability that the mass of a randomly chosen link is more than 805 grams.
[1]
To close the gate opening in a link, a locking sleeve is attached to it and it increases the mass
of a link by 10%.
(ii) By writing down the distribution of the masses of links with locking sleeves, find
the probability that the mass of a randomly chosen link with a locking sleeve is
between 865.35 and 895.5 grams. [3]

Hooks with mean masses 750 grams are manufactured to attach to the links. The masses of
hooks are normally distributed such that 15% of them have mass less than 735.6 grams.
(iii) Find the standard deviation of the masses of hooks. [2]

Five independent links with locking sleeves and a hook are packed in a wooden box with a
fixed mass of 1 kilogram. The probability that the mean mass of n such wooden boxes with its
contents more than 6190 grams exceeds 0.013.
(iv) Find the greatest value of n, stating the parameters of any distribution that you
use. [4]

YJC/Prelim/2018/P2/Q11
16. The lifespan of light bulbs manufactured by OceanDoor is normally distributed with a
mean of 800 hours and a standard deviation of 70 hours. The lifespan of light bulbs
manufactured by DaRice is also normally distributed with a standard deviation of 80
hours. It is known that there is a 50% chance that the lifespan of DaRice light bulbs is
less than 700 hours.
(i) A random sample of six DaRice light bulbs is chosen for quality check. Find the
probability that the mean lifespan of the six DaRice light bulbs differs from half the
lifespan of a OceanDoor light bulb by at least 200 hours. [4]
(ii) Find the least value of n such that the probability that the average lifespan of n
OceanDoor light bulbs is at most 825 hours is at least 0.99. [2]
(iii) Find the probability that the total lifespan of a randomly selected OceanDoor light
bulb and a randomly selected DaRice light bulb is more than 1450 hours. [2]
(iv) Find the probability that a randomly selected OceanDoor light bulb and a randomly
selected DaRice light bulb each has lifespan more than 725 hours. [2]
(v) Explain why the value in (iii) is larger than (iv). [1]
(vi) State an assumption needed for all your above calculations to be valid [1]

End of Practice Questions (Sampling)

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Sampling (Practice Questions) Student’s Copy Prepared by Mr H.D. Chua

Final answers (for checking):

Qn Answers
Unbiased estimate of population mean = 2505
1
Unbiased estimate of population variance = 0.00957
Unbiased estimate of population mean = 65.3
2 !"#$%#
Unbiased estimate of population variance =
$%&

3 (i)0.0829 (ii) 0.00951 (iii) 0.216

4 0.0984
5 -

6 (ii) 0.748

7 (a) 0.623 (b) 4

8 0.977

9 (i) E( X ) =
1
2
or 0.5 { }
(ii) n : n Î !+ , n ³ 321

10 (i) 30.5 (ii) Least n = 108

11 (i) 30 (ii) 0.540

12 (i) 0.8071 (iii) 0.894

13 (i) 31.28, 14.4 (ii) 0.0896

14 (i) 0.806 (ii) 44 (iii) 0.654

15 (i) 0.401 (ii) 0.507 (iii) 13.9 (iv) 8

16 (i) 0.982 (ii) Least n = 43 (iii) 0.681 (iv) 0.324

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