231 Sample Questions - Continuous RV

Name___________________________________

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Solve the problem.

1) Use the standard normal distribution to find P(-2.25 < z < 1.25). 1)
A) .0122 B) .8821 C) .4878 D) .8944

2) Use the standard normal distribution to find P(-2.50 < z < 1.50). 2)
A) .6167 B) .8822 C) .5496 D) .9270

3) Find a value of the standard normal random variable z, called z0 , such that P(-z0 z z0 ) = 3)
0.98.
A) 2.33 B) .99 C) 1.96 D) 1.645

4) Find a value of the standard normal random variable z, called z0 , such that P(z z0 ) = 0.70. 4)
A) -.81 B) -.53 C) -.47 D) -.98

5) A physical fitness association is including the mile run in its secondary-school fitness test. The 5)
time for this event for boys in secondary school is known to possess a normal distribution with
a mean of 450 seconds and a standard deviation of 50 seconds. Find the probability that a
randomly selected boy in secondary school can run the mile in less than 335 seconds.
A) .5107 B) .0107 C) .9893 D) .4893

6) A physical fitness association is including the mile run in its secondary-school fitness test. The 6)
time for this event for boys in secondary school is known to possess a normal distribution with
a mean of 450 seconds and a standard deviation of 40 seconds. Between what times do we
expect approximately 95% of the boys to run the mile?
A) between 355 and 545 seconds B) between 371.6 and 528.4 seconds
C) between 384.2 and 515.824 seconds D) between 0 and 515.824 seconds

7) The weight of corn chips dispensed into a 24-ounce bag by the dispensing machine has been 7)
identified as possessing a normal distribution with a mean of 24.5 ounces and a standard
deviation of 0.2 ounce. What proportion of the 24-ounce bags contain more than the
advertised 24 ounces of chips?
A) .9938 B) .0062 C) .5062 D) .4938

8) A physical fitness association is including the mile run in its secondary-school fitness test. The 8)
time for this event for boys in secondary school is known to possess a normal distribution with
a mean of 470 seconds and a standard deviation of 60 seconds. The fitness association wants to
recognize the fastest 10% of the boys with certificates of recognition. What time would the
boys need to beat in order to earn a certificate of recognition from the fitness association?
A) 393.2 seconds B) 546.8 seconds C) 371.3 seconds D) 568.7 seconds

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SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

9) The tread life of a particular brand of tire is a random variable best described by a 9)
normal distribution with a mean of 60,000 miles and a standard deviation of 6100
miles. If the manufacturer guarantees the tread life of the tires for the first 52,680
miles, what proportion of the tires will need to be replaced under warranty?

10) The board of examiners that administers the real estate broker's examination in a 10)
certain state found that the mean score on the test was 553 and the standard deviation
was 72. If the board wants to set the passing score so that only the best 10% of all
applicants pass, what is the passing score? Assume that the scores are normally
distributed.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

11) The tread life of a particular brand of tire is a random variable best described by a normal 11)
distribution with a mean of 60,000 miles and a standard deviation of 2800 miles. What
warranty should the company use if they want 96% of the tires to outlast the warranty?
A) 62,800 miles B) 55,100 miles C) 64,900 miles D) 57,200 miles

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

12) Determine if it is appropriate to use the normal distribution to approximate a binomial 12)
distribution when n = 28 and p = 0.7.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

13) Transportation officials tell us that 70% of drivers wear seat belts while driving. Find the 13)
probability that more than 579 drivers in a sample of 800 drivers wear seat belts.
A) 0.0668 B) 0.3 C) 0.7 D) 0.9332

14) A certain baseball player hits a home run in 6% of his at-bats. Consider his at-bats as 14)
independent events. Find the probability that this baseball player hits more than 32 home runs
in 750 at-bats.
A) 0.94 B) 0.9727 C) 0.06 D) 0.0273

15) High temperatures in a certain city for the month of August follow a uniform distribution over 15)
the interval 69F to 99F. Find the temperature which is exceeded by the high temperatures on
90% of the days in August.
A) 72F B) 99F C) 79F D) 96F

16) The diameters of ball bearings produced in a manufacturing process can be described using a 16)
uniform distribution over the interval 2.5 to 4.5 millimeters. What is the probability that a
randomly selected ball bearing has a diameter greater than 3.2 millimeters?
A) 1.5 B) 0.65 C) 0.4571 D) 0.7111

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17) A machine is set to pump cleanser into a process at the rate of 6 gallons per minute. Upon 17)
inspection, it is learned that the machine actually pumps cleanser at a rate described by the
uniform distribution over the interval 5.5 to 8.5 gallons per minute. Find the variance of the
distribution.
A) 0.33 B) 0.75 C) 16.33 D) 3.00

18) The time between customer arrivals at a furniture store has an approximate exponential 18)
distribution with mean = 8.5 minutes. If a customer just arrived, find the probability that the
next customer will arrive in the next 5 minutes.
A) .182684 B) .444694 C) .817316 D) .555306

19) The time (in years) until the first critical-part failure for a certain car is exponentially 19)
distributed with a mean of 3.4 years. Find the probability that the time until the first
critical-part failure is 5 years or more.
A) .229790 B) .770210 C) .493383 D) .506617

20) The waiting time (in minutes) between ordering and receiving your meal at a certain 20)
restaurant is exponentially distributed with a mean of 10 minutes. The restaurant has a policy
that your meal is free if you have to wait more than 25 minutes after ordering. What is the
probability of receiving a free meal?
A) .082085 B) .917915 C) .670320 D) .329680

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Answer Key
Testname: 231-02 CONTINUOUS

1) B
2) D
3) A
4) B
5) B
6) B
7) A
8) A
9) Let x be the tread life of this brand of tire. Then x is a normal random variable with = 60,000 and = 6100. To
determine what proportion of tires fail before reaching 52,680 miles, we need to find the z-value for x = 52,680.

x - 52,680 - 60,000
z= = = -1.20
6100

P(x 52,680) = P(z -1.20) = .5 - P(-1.20 z 0) = .5 - .3849 = .1151

10) Let x be a score on this exam. Then x is a normally distributed random variable with = 553 and = 72. We want
to find the value of x 0 , such that P(x > x 0 ) = .10. The z-score for the value x = x 0 is

x - x 0 - 553
z= 0 = .
72

x - 553
P(x > x 0 ) = P z > 0 = .10
72

x - 553
We find 0 1.28.
72

x 0 - 553 = 1.28(72) x 0 = 553 + 1.28(72) = 645.16

11) B
12) can use normal distribution
13) A
14) B
15) A
16) B
17) B
18) B
19) A
20) A