ES 303 STATISTICAL METHODS FOR ENGINEERS
Assignment 1
Due date: 12.04.2025 (You should upload your solutions as a single file to assignment link till 10:00)
Answers for the questions will be announced at 10:10, so late uploads or submissions will not be
accepted.
1) A firm is placing 3 orders for supplies among five different distributors. Each order is randomly assigned
to one of the distributors, and a distributor can recieve multiple orders. Find the probability that a) all
orders go to different distributors, b) all orders go to the same distributor, c) exactly 2 of the 3 orders go
to one particular distributor.
2) Samples of emissions from three suppliers are classified for conformance to air-quality specifications.
The results of 100 samples are summarized below:
conforms
yes no
A 22 8
supplier B 25 5
C 30 10
Find the probability that a randomly selected sample
a) Is not from supplier A and conforms to the specifications
b) Is not from supplier B given that it conforms to specifications
c) Does not conform to the specifications
3) Two methods A and B are available for teaching a certain industrial skill. The success rate is 80% for A
and 90 % for B. However, B is more expensive and hence, is used only 30% of the time (A is used for the
other 70%).
A) If a person is taught the skill by any of these two methods, what is the probability of success?
B) A worker is taught the skill by one of the methods but fails (not succeeds) to learn it correctly. What is the
probability that he was taught by method A?
4) An experiment has 4 possible mutually exclusive outcomes; A, B, C, D. Check whether the following
assignments of probabilities are permissible.
a) P[A]=0.38, P[B]=0.16, P[C]=0.11, P[D]=0.35
b) P[A]=1/2, P[B]=1/4, P[C]=1/8, P[D]=1/16
5) The probability that a new airport will get an award for its design is 0.16, the probability that it will get an
award for efficient use of materials is 0.24 and probability that it will get both awards is 0.11. a) What is the
probability that it will get at least one of the two awards b) what is the probability that it will get only one of
the two awards.
6) Given P[A]=0.35, P[B]=0.65, P[A∩B]=0.12, Find a) P[AUB], b) P[A’∩B], c) P[A∩B’],
d) P[A’UB’], e) Are A and B independent? f) P[A │B’] (Conditional Probability)
7) A system consists of 4 components connected as shown in the following diagram:
Assume A, B, C, D functions independently, if the probabililities that A, B, C and D, fail are 0.10, 0.05, 0.10
and 0.20, respectively, what is the probability that system functions?
A B
8) The Discrete Random variable X has the following probability function.
f(x)= k(10-x) for x= 2, 4, 6, 8 Let k be a constant. Find
a) the value of k b) E[X] c) Var(X) d) Standard Deviation of X e) P [X<5] f) E[2X-4] g) Var(2X-4)
9) After manufacture, computer disks are tested for errors. Let X be the number of errors detected on a
randomly chosen disk. The following table presents values of the cumulative distribution function F(x) of X.
x F(x)
a) What is the probability that two or fewer errors are detected?
0 0.41
b) What is the probability that more than 3 errors are detected?
1 0.72
c) What is the probability that exactly one error is detected?
2 0.83
3 0.95
4 1.00
10) A lot consists of transistors with a proportion of 3/10 defectives. Transistors are randomly selected and tested
randomly. Assume that the lot contains very large number so that the probability of defective does not
change in each selection and selections are independent from each other.
a) What is the probability that the 1st defective transistor will be found on the 8th test? (Geometric
Distribution)
b) What is the probability that the 5th defective transistor will be found on the 10th test? (Negative Binomial
Distribution)
11) During one stage in the manufacture of integrated circuit chips, a coating must be applied. If 70% of
chips receive a thick enough coating during this stage and coating success of chips are independent of each
other find the probability that among 15 randomly selected chips
a) at least 12 will have thick enough coatings,
b) at most 6 will have thick enough coatings,
c) between 10 and 14 will have thick enough coatings
(Use Binomial table for solution)
12) A food processor claims that 10% of the jars of instant coffee contains less coffee than claimed on the
label. To test this claim, 16 jars of instant coffee are randomly selected and the contents are weighed; her
claim is accepted if fewer than 3 of the jars contain less coffee than claimed on the label. Find the probability
that food processor’s claim will be accepted when the actual percentage of the jars containing less coffee
than claimed on the label is a) 5%, b) 10%, c) 15%, d) 20%
13) Among the 12 solar collectors on display at a trade show, 9 are flat-platecollectors and the others are
concentrating collectors. If a person visiting the show randomly selects 4 of te solar collectors to check out,
what is the probability that 3 of them will be flat plate collectors?
14) The number of flaws in a fiber optic cable follows a Poisson distribution with an average of 0.6 per 100
feet.
a) Find the probability of exactly 2 flaws in a 200 foot cable.
b) Find the probability of exactly one flaw in the first 100 feet and exactly one flaw in the second 100
feet.
15) A basketball player makes 90 % of his free throws. What is the probability that he will miss for the first
time on the sixth shot? (Assume all throws are independent and probability of missing is same in each
trial)
