A small ferry runs every half hour from one side of a large river to the other. The number of cars Xon a randomly chosen ferry trip has the probability distribution shown here with mean μX=3.87and standard deviation σX=1.29. The cost for the ferry trip is $5. Define M=money collected on a randomly selected ferry trip.

a. What shape does the probability distribution of Mhave?

b. Find the mean of M.

c. Calculate the standard deviation of M.

Short Answer

Expert verified

a. The form of M'sdistribution is then the same as that of X's, skewed to the left.

b. Average is $19.35in cash.

c. The amount of money gained on a randomly selected boat voyage varies by $6.45on average from the mean value of $19.35.

Step by step solution

01

Part(b) Step 1 : Given Information 

Probability distribution shown :

Mean : μX=3.87

Standard deviation : σX=1.29

The cost for the ferry trip is :$5

02

Part(a) Step 2 : Simplification 

Xis the number of automobiles chosen at random, while Mdenotes the amount of money collected on a randomly chosen ferry journey.

The cost of a ferry journey per car is $5, hence the amount of money gained from the boat trip is the product of the number of automobiles and the cost of the ferry trip per car.

5×X=M

The form of the distribution remains unaffected if every value is multiplied by the same constant.

Because the lowest bar in the given histogram is to the left and the highest bar is to the right, the distribution is skewed to the left.

03

Part(b) Step 1 : Given Information 

Probability distribution shown :

Mean : μX=3.87

Standard deviation :σX=1.29

The cost for the ferry trip is :$5

04

Part(b) Step 2 : Simplification 

M=5×μx=5×3.87=19.35,

where Xrepresents the number of cars chosen at random, and Mrepresents the money collected on a random ferry trip.

The cost of a ferry journey per car is $5, hence the amount of money gained from the boat trip is the product of the number of automobiles and the cost of the ferry trip per car.

M=5×X

If every value is multiplied by the same constant, the distribution's center is also multiplied by the same constant, resulting in M'smean being multiplied by 5.An arbitrary decision will yield an average of $19.35in cash.

05

Part(c) Step 1 : Given Information 

Probability distribution shown :

Mean : μX=3.87

Standard deviation : σX=1.29

The cost for the ferry trip is : $5

06

Part(c) Step 2 : Simplification 

σM=5×σx=5×1.29=6.45

where Xrepresents the number of cars chosen at random and Mrepresents the money received on a random ferry journey.

The cost of a ferry journey per car is $5, hence the money saved on the trip is the product of the number of cars and the cost of a ferry trip per car M=5×X.

When every value is multiplied by the same constant, the spread of the distribution is modified in the same way, resulting in a standard deviation of 5.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Exercises 21 and 22 examine how Benford’s law (Exercise 9) can be used to detect fraud.

Benford’s law and fraud A not-so-clever employee decided to fake his monthly expense report. He believed that the first digits of his expense amounts should be equally likely to be any of the numbers from 1 to 9. In that case, the first digit Yof a randomly selected expense amount would have the probability distribution shown in the histogram.

(a) What’s P(Y<6)? According to Benford’s law (see Exercise 9), what proportion of first digits in the employee’s expense amounts should be greater than 6? How could this information be used to detect a fake expense report?

(b) Explain why the mean of the random variable Yis located at the solid red line in the figure.

(c) According to Benford’s law, the expected value of the first digit is μX=3.441. Explain how this information could be used to detect a fake expense report.

Long or short? Put the names of all the students in your statistics class in a hat. Mix up the names, and draw 4 without looking. Let X = the number whose last names have more than six letters.

If Jeff keeps playing until he wins a prize, what is the probability that he has to play the game exactly 5 times?

a. (0.25)5

b. (0.75)4

c. (0.75)5

d. (0.75)4(0.25)

e.(51)(0.75)4(0.25)51(0.75)4(0.25)

Red light! Pedro drives the same route to work on Monday through Friday. His route includes one traffic light. According to the local traffic department, there is a 55%chance that the light will be red on a randomly selected work day. Suppose we choose 10 of Pedro's work days at random and let Y=the number of times that the light is red.

a. Explain why Yis a binomial random variable.

b. Find the probability that the light is red on exactly 7 days.

Benford’s law Faked numbers in tax returns, invoices, or expense account claims often display patterns that aren’t present in legitimate records. Some patterns, like too many round numbers, are obvious and easily avoided by a clever crook. Others are more subtle. It is a striking fact that the first digits of numbers in legitimate records often follow a model known as Benford’s law. 4 Call the first digit of a randomly chosen legitimate record X for short. The probability distribution for X is shown here (note that a first digit cannot be 0).

Part (a.) A histogram of the probability distribution is shown. Describe its shape.

Part (b). Calculate and interpret the expected value of X.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Math Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free