MEC214 Homework #1

Assigned: Thurs. 02/21/13. Due date: Thur. 03/07/13

Do all work by hand
Do NOT use a computer or a calculator that performs statistical calculations
You must show your work in great detail for full credit
Problem #1 (8 points)
The following measurements represent the number of holes that a drilling tool produces before it
fails. These tools are made in groups of 16 at a time.
(a) Compute the following for the population: mean, median, mode, mean deviation, population
standard deviation, population variance, and range.
(b) Compute the sample standard deviation using the following tools: (i) 1-4, (ii) 5-8, (iii) 9-12,
and (iv) 13-16.
(c) Compute the maximum, the minimum, and the mean of the four sample standard deviations
from (b). What is the relative error for each sample standard deviation [i.e., (i), (ii), (iii), and
(iv)] compared to the population standard deviation?
Tool Number

Tool Number

Number of
Holes Drilled
94

Number of
Holes Drilled
116

86

10

93

109

11

102

95

12

105

98

13

93

91

14

91

98

15

98

118

16

102

Problem #2 (5 points)
Two fair dice are rolled. The absolute value of the difference of the outcomes is denoted by X.
(For instance if one die gives 3 and the other gives 5, then X = |3 5| = 2)
(a) What are the possible values of X and the probabilities associated with them? Find the mean
and the mode.
(b) Sketch a probability mass diagram.
(c) Sketch a plot of the cumulative function F.
Problem #3 (4 points)
Say the probabilities of the events below are as follows:

Probability of getting A on your final exam: 29%

Probability of getting B on your final exam: 31%
Probability of it raining on the test day: 68%
Probability that there will be a fire drill during the exam: 4%

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The person sitting in front of you owns only four shirts of which one is green, one red, one blue
and one yellow, and that the

Probability that the person in front of you will have on a green shirt: 21%
Probability that the person in front of you will have on a red shirt: 19%
Probability that the person in front of you will have on a blue shirt: 20%

Calculate the following probabilities in percent:

(a) Probability of getting A or B on the exam.
(b) Probability of getting A on the exam and there being a fire drill and the person in front of you
wearing a blue shirt.
(c) Probability of getting C, D, or F on the exam and the person in front of you having either a
blue or green shirt on and there being a fire drill on the exam.
(d) Probability of it not raining on the test day and the person in front of you wearing a yellow
shirt and you getting B on the exam.
Problem #4 (3 points)
A card is drawn at random from an ordinary desk of 52 playing cards. What is the probability
that you obtain:
(a) A black ace or a red jack?
(b) A face card or a red card?
(c) Neither a spade nor a queen?

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