ELEC 2811 – Assignment 1

First 2006 Due: 10 October 2006 by 13:00

1. (10 points) Counting sample points.

(a) How many three-digit numbers can be formed from the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6, if each digit can be used only once?
(b) How many of these are odd numbers?
(c) How many are greater than 330?

2. (15 points) A producer of a certain type of electronic component ships to suppliers

in lots of twenty. Suppose that 60% of all such lots contain no defective components,
30% contain one defective component, and 10% contain two defective components.
A lot is selected and two components from the lot are randomly selected and tested
and neither is defective.

(a) What is the probability that zero defective components exist in the lot?
(b) What is the probability that one defective exists in the lot?
(c) What is the probability that two defectives exist in the lot?

3. (10 points) A shipment of 7 television sets contains 2 defective sets. A hotel makes
a random purchase of 3 of the sets. If x is the number of defective sets purchased
by the hotel, find the probability distribution of X. Express the results graphically
as a probability histogram.

4. (10 points) A continuous random variable X that can assume values between x = 1
and x = 3 has a density function given by f (x) = 21 .

(a) Show that the area under the curve is equal to 1.

(b) Find P (2 < X < 2.5).
(c) Find P (X ≤ 1.6).

5. (15 points) Suppose a special type of small data processing firm is so specialized
that some have difficulty making a profit in their first year of operation. The pdf
that characterizes the proportion Y that makes a profit is given by:
(
ky 4(1 − y)3, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1,
f (x) = (1)
0, elsewhere.

(a) What is the value of k that renders the above a valid density function?
(b) Find the probability that at most 50% of the firms make a profit in the first
year.
(c) Find the probability that at least 80% of the firms make a profit in the first
year.

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6. (10 points) The acceptance scheme for purchasing lots containing a large number of
batteries is to test no more than 75 randomly selected batteries and to reject a lot
if a single battery fails. Suppose the probability of a failure is 0.001.

(a) What is the probability that a lot is accepted?

(b) What is the probability that a lot is rejected on the 20th test?
(c) What is the probability that it is rejected in 10 or less trials?

7. (10 points) A couple decides that they will continue to have children until they have
two males. Assuming that P (male) = 0.5, what is the probability that their second
male is their fourth child?

8. (10 points) According to a study published by a group of sociologists at the Uni-

versity of Massachusetts, approximately 49% of the Valium users in the state of
Massachusetts are white-collar workers. What is the probability that between 482
and 510, inclusive, of the next 1000 randomly selected Valium users from this state
would be white-collar workers?

9. (10 points) Derive the cdf for the Weibull distribution. [Hint: In the definition of a
cdf, make the transformation z = y β .]