STA408: Statistics for Science and Engineering

Tutorial 2

Sampling Distribution
1. A sample of size 6 is taken from a normal distribution say, 𝑋 ~ 𝑁(10, 4).
4
(a) Write down the distribution of the sample mean. (answer: 𝑋̅ ~ 𝑁 (10, 6))
(b) Find the probability that the sample mean exceeds 12. (answer: 0.00714)

2. The lengths of bolts produced by a machine have an unknown distribution with mean 3.03 cm and
standard deviation 0.20 cm. A sample 100 bolts is taken.
(a) State the distribution of the mean length of this sample and find its standard error.
0.202
(answer: 𝑋̅ ~ 𝑁 (3.03, ), standard error is 0.02)
100
(b) Estimate the probability that the mean length of this sample is less than 3 cm.
(answer: 0.0668)

3. The print of the package of 100-watt General Electric soft-white lightbulbs claims that these bulbs
have an average life of 750 hours. Assume that the lives of all such bulbs have a normal distribution
with a mean of 750 hours and a standard deviation of 55 hours.
(a) In a random sample of 25 such bulbs, state the distribution of the mean life of the light bulbs.
552
(answer: 𝑋̅ ~ 𝑁 (750, ))
25
(b) Based on the distribution in part (a), find the probability that the mean life of the light bulb
will be
(i) longer than 735 hours, (ii) between 725 and 740 hours.
(answer: (i) 0.9131, (ii) 0.1698)

4. An employer finds that among employees categorised as Engineers, the time in years of formal
education received by these employees is normally distributed with a mean of 14 years and a
standard deviation of 2.75 years.
(a) For a person randomly selected from this group, find the probability that he or she has at
least 16 years if education.
(b) A sample of 65 engineers is randomly selected. What is the probability that the sample
average time of formal education spent by these employees is between 13.5 and 14.45 years?
(answer: (a) 0.2327, (b) 0.8358)

5. A recent study of the lifetimes of cell phones found the average is 24.3 months. The standard
deviation is 2.6 months. If a company provides its 33 employees with a cell phone, find the
probability that the mean lifetime of these phones will be less than 25 months. (answer: 0.9394)

6. The heights, H of Malaysian female are known to be normally distributed with a mean of 165.1cm
and a standard deviation of 38.1cm.
(a) Find the value of h if 𝑃(𝐻 > ℎ) = 0.75. (answer: 139.40)
(b) A random sample of 30 Malaysian females was selected. Find the probability that the mean
height of these females is between 162.5cm and 172.5cm. (answer: 0.4997)

7. According to a survey, college students carried an average of RM 3173 credit card debts last year.
Suppose the probability distribution of the all college students in Malaysia is unknown but its mean
is RM 3173 and the standard deviation is RM 750. Let 𝑥̅ be the mean credit card debts of a random
sample of 400 Malaysian college students. What is the probability that the mean of the current
credit card debts for this sample is
(a) within RM70 of the population mean,
(b) lower than the population mean by RM 50 or more?
(Answer: (a) 0.9386, (b) 0.0918)
STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

Confidence Interval for Single Population Mean

8. The breaking strains of reels of string produced at a certain factory have a standard deviation of
1.5 kg. A sample of 100 reels from a certain batch were tested and their mean breaking strain was
5.30 kg.
(a) Find a 95% confidence interval for the mean breaking strain of string in this batch.
(answer: (5.006, 5.594))
(b) The manufacturer becomes concerned that if the lower 95% limit falls below 5 kg. A sample
of 80 reels from another batch gave a mean breaking strain of 5.31 kg. Will the manufacturer
be concerned? (answer: Yes)

9. A random sample of size 25 is taken from a normal population with standard deviation of 2.5. The
mean of the sample was 17.8
(a) Find a 90% confidence interval for the population mean, 𝜇. (answer: (16.978, 18.622))
(b) Find a 99% confidence interval for the population mean, 𝜇. (answer: (16.512, 19.088))
What can you conclude from both the confidence intervals above?

10. A normal distribution has mean 𝜇 and variance 0.0525. The statistics from a random sample are
summarised in the Minitab output below. Find the 98% confidence limits for the mean, 𝜇 using the
information given in the output. (answer: (15.732, 16.168))
Descriptive Statistics: X

Total
Variable Count Mean StDev
X 6 15.950 0.251

11. A random sample of 31 mid-sized cars tested for fuel consumption gave a mean of 13.2 km per liter
with a standard deviation of 1.1 km per liter. Find a 99% confidence interval for the population 𝜇.
(answer: (12.657, 13.743))

12. A random sample of 16 airline passengers at the Subang airport showed that the mean time spent
waiting in line to check in at the ticket counters was 31 minutes with a standard deviation of 7
minutes. Construct a 98% confidence interval for the mean time spent waiting in line by all
passengers at this airport. Assume that such waiting times for all passengers are normally
distributed. (answer: (26.4565, 35.5535))

13. A report noted that the average age of first time mothers in Malaysia is slightly higher than 25 years.
Suppose a random sample of 61 first time mothers taken recently produced an average of 25.9 and
a standard deviation of 3.2 years. Calculate a 90% confidence interval for the average age for all
current first time mothers. (answer: (25.216 and 26.584))

14. Determine if each statement is TRUE or FALSE.

(a) Interval estimates are preferred over point estimates since a confidence level can be specified.
(b) For a specific confidence interval, the larger the sample size, the larger the margin of error is.
(c) An estimator is consistent if as the sample size decreases, the value of the estimator
approaches the value of the parameter estimated.
(d) The central limit theorem applies to means of samples selected from different populations.
(Answer: (a) TRUE, (b) FALSE, (c) FALSE, (d) FALSE)

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

Confidence Interval for Two Population Means (Independent Samples)

15. In parts of the eastern United States, whitetail deer are a major nuisance to farmers and home-
owners, frequently damaging crops, gardens, and landscaping. A consumer organization arranges
a test of two of the leading deer repellents A and B on the market. Fifty-six unfenced gardens in
areas having high concentrations of deer are used for the test. Twenty-nine gardens are chosen at
random to receive repellent A, and the other 27 receive repellent B. For each of the 56 gardens, the
time elapsed between application of the repellent and the appearance in the garden of the first deer
is recorded. for repellent A, the mean time is 101 hours. For repellent B, the mean time is 92 hours.
Assume that the two populations of elapsed times have normal distributions with population
standard deviations of 15 and 10 hours, respectively.
(a) Let 𝜇1 and 𝜇2 be the population means of elapsed times for the two repellents, respectively.
find the point estimate of 𝜇1 − 𝜇2 . (answer: 9)
(b) Find a 97% confidence interval for 𝜇1 − 𝜇2 and interpret the interval.
(answer: (1.6529, 16.3471))

16. The management of New Century Bank claims that the mean waiting time for all customers at its
branches is less than that at the Public Bank, which is its main competitor. A business consulting
firm took a sample of 200 customers from the New Century Bank and found that they waited an
average of 4.5 minutes before being served. Another sample of 300 customers taken from the Public
Bank showed that these customers waited an average of 4.75 minutes before being served. Assume
that the standard deviations for the two populations are 1.2 and 1.5 minutes, respectively.
Construct a 98% confidence interval for the difference between the two population means.
(answer: (0.532, 0.032))

17. The following information was obtained from two independent samples selected from two
normally distributed populations with unknown but equal deviations.
Sample 1: 47.7 46.9 51.9 34.1 65.8 61.5 50.2 40.8 53.1 46.1 47.9 45.7 49.0
Sample 2: 50.7 47.4 32.7 48.8 54.0 46.3 42.5 40.8 39.0 68.2 48.5 41.8
(a) Let 𝜇1 be the mean of population 1 and 𝜇2 be the mean of population 2. What is the point
estimate of 𝜇1 − 𝜇2 ? (answer: 2.56)
(b) Construct a 98% confidence interval for 𝜇1 − 𝜇2 . (answer: (5.9205, 11.0405))

18. A company claims that its medicine, Brand A, provides faster relief from pain than another
company’s medicine, Brand B. A researcher tested both brands of medicine on two groups of
randomly selected patients. The results of the test are given in the following table. The mean and
standard deviation of relief times are in minutes.
Brand Sample Size Mean of Relief Times Standard deviation of Relief Times
A 25 44 11
B 22 49 9

Assume that the two populations are normally distributed with unknown but equal standard
deviations. Construct a 99% confidence interval for the difference between the mean relief times
for the two brands of medicine. (answer: (12.998, 2.998))

19. A sample of 35 customers who drive luxury cars showed that their average distance between oil
changes was 5099 kilometres with a sample deviation of 67.80 kilometres. Another sample of 30
customers who drive compact lower-price cars resulted in an average distance of 5142 kilometres
with a standard deviation of 72.10 kilometres. Suppose that the standard deviation for the two
populations are not equal.
(a) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference in the mean distance between oil
changes for all luxury cars and all compact lower-price cars? (answer: ((77.907, 8.093))

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

(b) Can you conclude from (a) if there is a difference in the mean distance between oil changes
for all luxury cars and all compact lower-price cars? Give a reason to support your answer.
(answer: Yes)

20. Quadro Corporation has two supermarkets in a city. The company’s quality control department
wanted to check if the customers are equally satisfied with the service provided at these two stores.
A sample of 380 customers selected from Supermarket I produced a mean satisfaction index of 7.6
(on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest) with a standard deviation of 0.75.
Another sample of 370 customers selected from Supermarket II produced a mean satisfaction index
8.1 with a standard deviation of 0.59. Assume that the customer satisfaction index for each
supermarket has an unknown and different population standard deviation. Construct a 98%
confidence interval for the difference in the mean satisfaction indexes for the customers for the two
supermarkets. (answer: (0.614, 0.386))

Confidence Interval for Pair Difference (Dependent Samples)

21. A company sent seven of its employees to attend a course in building self-confidence. These
employees were evaluated for their self-confidence before and after attending this course. The
following table gives the scores (on a scale of 1 to 15, 1 being the lowest and 15 being the highest
score) of these employees before and after they attended the course.
Before 8 5 4 9 6 9 5
After 10 8 5 11 6 7 9
Assume that the population of paired differences has a normal distribution. Construct a 95%
confidence interval for the mean µd of the population paired differences, where a paired difference
is equal to the score of an employee before attending the course minus the score of the same
employee after attending the course. (answer: (3.267, 0.409))

22. The manufacturer of a gasoline additive claims that the use of this additive increases gasoline
mileage. A random sample of six cars was selected, and these cars were driven for 1 week without
the gasoline additive and then for 1 week with the gasoline additive. The following table gives the
miles per gallon for these cars without and with the gasoline additive.
Without 24.6 28.3 18.9 23.7 15.4 29.5
With 26.3 31.7 18.2 25.3 18.3 30.9
Assume that the population of paired differences is (approximately) normally distribution.
Construct a 99% confidence interval for the mean µd of the population paired differences, where a
paired difference is equal to the miles per gallon without the gasoline additive minus the miles per
gallon with the gasoline additive. (answer: (4.068, 0.634))

Confidence Interval for Single Population Variance

23. Find the 90% confidence interval for the variance and standard deviation for the lifetimes of
inexpensive wristwatches if a sample of 24 watches has a standard deviation of 4.8 months. Assume
the variable is normally distributed. (answer: 15.0665 < 𝜎 2 < 40.4797, 3.882 < 𝜎 < 6.362)

24. The number of carbohydrates (in grams) per 8-ounce (226-gram) serving of yogurt for each of a
random selection of brands is listed below. Estimate the true population variance and standard
deviation for the number of carbohydrates per 8-ounce serving of yogurt with 95% confidence.
17 42 41 20 39 41 35 15 43
25 38 33 42 34 17 25 34
(answer: 54.3065 < 𝜎 2 < 226.7618, 7.369 < 𝜎 < 15.057)

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

Confidence Interval for Two Population Variances

25. The following data represent the running times of films produced by two motion-picture
companies.
Company Time (minutes)
I 103 94 110 87 98
II 97 82 123 92 175 88 118
Assume that the population of running times for the two companies to be approximately normally
distributed, construct a 90% confidence interval for the true ratio of the two population variances
and standard deviations.
𝜎2 𝜎
(answer: 0.016 < 𝜎12 < 0.454, 0.126 < 𝜎1 < 0.674)
2 1

26. Two levels (low and high) of insulin doses are given to two groups of diabetic rats to check the
insulin-binding capacity, yielding the following data:
Low dose: 𝑛1 = 8 𝑠1 = 0.51
High dose: 𝑛2 = 13 𝑠2 = 0.35
Assume the insulin levels are approximately normally distributed, find the 95% confidence interval
for the true ratio of the variances and standard deviations for the insulin-binding capacity.
𝜎2 𝜎
(answer: 0.588 < 𝜎12 < 9.916, 0.767 < 𝜎1 < 3.149)
2 1

Miscellaneous Questions
27. The number of students who belong to the dance company at each of several randomly selected
small universities is given below.
21 25 26 35 40 28 30 28 35
47 32 27 32 22 26 26 29 28
Assume the population to be normally distributed.
(a) Find the mean and standard deviation for the data above.
(answer: 𝑥̅ = 29.83, 𝑠 = 6.3547)
(b) Construct the 98% confidence interval for the true population mean size of a university dance
company. Interpret the interval. (answer: (25.9851, 33.6748))
(c) Does the interval contain the national average of 32 students? Justify your answer.
(answer: Yes because 25.9851 < 𝜇 = 32 < 33.6748)

28. A company receives a large shipment of bolts to be used in an application from two suppliers, A
and B. The application requires the bolts to have a torque of 100J in order to break each of them.
Before accepting a shipment, a quality engineer will sample 13 bolts and measure the torque
needed to break each of them.
(a) If the 13 torque values from supplier A are
107 109 111 111 113 113 113 114 114 114 115 117 119
Compute the sample mean and sample standard deviation.
(answer: 𝑥̅ = 113.08, 𝑠 = 3.148)
(b) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the mean torque value for the bolts from supplier A.
Interpret this interval. Do the bolts from supplier A meet the requirement needed for the
application? (answer: (111.178, 114.982), No)
(c) A sample of 13 bolts from supplier B had a mean breaking torque of 109.6J and standard
deviation 2.8241J.
(i) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the ratio of variances for the breaking torque
supplied by the two suppliers? What can you conclude from this interval?
𝜎2
(answer: 0.3788 < 𝜎12 < 4.0755 , variances are assumed equal because the value of 1
2
is in the interval)

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

(ii) Based on your results in (i), construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference in
the mean breaking torque between supplier A and supplier B. Based on this interval,
can we conclude that the mean breaking torque of the bolts from supplier A is higher
than that of supplier B? Explain your answer.
(answer: 𝑠𝑝 = 2.9904, 𝑡 = 2.064, (1.056, 5.898), Yes because the values in the
interval are all positive, i.e., 𝜇𝐴 − 𝜇𝐵 > 0, implying that 𝜇𝐴 > 𝜇𝐵 )

29. Determine if each of the following statement is TRUE or FALSE.

(a) When constructing a confidence interval, a wider interval is expected when the sample size
increases.
(b) The 𝑧 distribution should be used to find a confidence interval for the mean when the
population standard deviation is known.
(c) F distribution is used when computing the confidence intervals for variances and standard
deviations.
(Answer: (a) FALSE, (b) TRUE, (c) FALSE)

30. A petrol station needs an attraction in order to get a lot of customers coming to the place. Most of
the petrol station owners claim that by opening McDonalds near the station, it will help to increase
the number of customers. Five petrol stations were chosen at random where McDonalds had been
newly opened in the stations. The numbers of customers coming to the petrol stations during a
month period before and after McDonalds had been opened were recorded in the table as follows

Number of customers
Before 23 26 26 27 24
After 30 28 35 24 32
Construct a 98% confidence interval for the difference in the mean number of customers before
and after McDonalds were opened. Can we conclude whether by opening McDonalds increases the
number of customers coming to the petrol station? (answer: (−13.0287, 3.8287))

31. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate answer.

(a) The central limit theorem applies to means of samples selected from unknown population
distributions with large sample size of n _____________.
(b) The mean of the sampling distribution of 𝑥̅ is always equal to ____________.
(Answer: (a) ≥ 30, (b) 𝜇 )

32. Mass-produced pipes have internal diameters that are normally distributed with mean 10 cm and
standard deviation 0.4 cm.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen pipe will have an internal diameter of less than
10.3 cm. (answer: 0.7734)
(b) It is known that 75% of the pipes have internal diameters of more than d cm. Find the value
of d. (answer: 9.7302)
(c) A random sample of 20 pipes was selected.
(i) State the distribution of the mean internal diameters of this sample.
0.42
(answer: 𝑋̅ ~ 𝑁 (𝜇𝑋̅ = 10, 𝜎𝑋2̅ = 20
= 0.008))
(ii) Find the probability that the mean internal diameters of this sample is between 9.8 cm
and 10.1 cm. (answer: 0.85605)

33. The electrical resistors made by a machine has a mean resistance of 40 ohms and a standard
deviation of 2 ohms. Assume the resistance follows a normal distribution. A box contains 20
resistors. If a box is randomly chosen, what is the probability that the mean resistance of this
sample is less than 40.5 ohms. (answer: 0.8686)

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

34. A random sample of 20 bottles of medicine that comes in liquid form gives a mean weight (in grams)
of 99.43 with a standard deviation of 0.685. Assume that the weights are normally distributed.
Construct a 98% confidence interval for the population variance. (answer: 0.2463 < 𝜎 2 < 1.1680)

35. XYZ pharmaceutical manufacturer intends to compare product A and product B for impurity levels.
The summary statistics of the impurity levels are shown below.
Sample size Sample mean Sample variance
Product A 11 23 7.3
Product B 9 20.5 6.7
Assume the impurity levels are normally distributed.
(a) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the ratio of variances of the impurity levels of
Product A and Product B. Based on the interval obtained, are the variances equal?
𝜎2
(answer: 0.2534 < 𝜎12 < 4.1948. Yes)
2
(b) Using the result obtained in part (a), construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference
in the mean impurity levels of Product A and Product B. Can you conclude that the mean
impurity level for Product A is higher than the mean impurity level of Product B. Justify your
answer. (answer: (−0.004392, 5.004392). No)

36. An explorer finds a new species of beetle. He captures and weighs 41 of them. The mass, 𝑚 grams
of each beetle in this sample is recorded giving ∑ 𝑚 = 84.05 and a standard deviation of 1.412
grams. Find the 99% confidence interval for the mean mass of all the beetles and interpret the
interval. (answer: (1.454, 2.646))

37. Determine if each statement is TRUE or FALSE.

(a) The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of sample mean decreases as the sample
size increases.
(b) A sampling distribution is the probability distribution of a sample statistic.
(c) The mean of the sampling distribution of sample mean changes as the sample size increases.
(d) A good estimator is unbiased, inconsistent and relatively efficient.
(e) The width of a confidence interval depends on the value of its point estimate.
(f) When constructing confidence interval for paired difference, t-distribution is used as the
population standard deviation of paired difference is usually unknown.
(g) The width of the confidence interval of a population mean increases when the sample size
increases.
(h) Central limit theorem states that the distribution of the sample mean of an unknown
distribution is approximately normally distributed when the sample size is at least 30.
(Answer: (a) TRUE, (b) TRUE, (c) FALSE, (d) FALSE, (e) FALSE, (f) TRUE, (g) FALSE,
(h) TRUE)

38. A vending machine dispenses tea into cups. A sign on the machine indicates that each cup contains
45 ml of tea. The machine actually dispenses a mean amount of 48 ml per cup and 10% of the cups
contain less than the amount stated on the sign. Assume that the amount of tea dispensed into each
cup is normally distributed.
(a) Find the standard deviation of the amount of tea dispensed per cup in ml. (answer: 2.3408)
(b) A random sample 20 cups were chosen, find the probability of the mean amount of tea
dispensed into the cups is more than 47ml. (answer: 0.9719)

39. A new type of sleeping pill is tested against an older, standard pill. Twenty four insomniacs are
randomly divided into two groups. The first group receives the old pill, and the second group
receives the new pill. The time required to fall asleep after the pill is administered is recorded for
each person. The results of the experiment are given in the following table.

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Sample size Sample mean Sample standard deviation

Group 1 (old pill) 13 15.4 minutes 3.5 minutes
Group 2 (new pill) 11 15.0 minutes 3.0 minutes
Assume that the distributions for time taken to fall asleep is approximately normal.
(a) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the ratio of variances of the time taken for all
potential users to fall asleep. Based on the interval, what can you conclude about the two
𝜎12
population variances? Explain your answer. (Answer: 0.3760 < < 4.5869)
𝜎22
(b) Using the result obtained in (a), construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference in the
mean time required for all potential users to fall asleep. Can you conclude that the mean time
taken to fall asleep for all potential users using the old pill is longer than the mean time taken
to fall asleep for those using the new pill? Justify your answer. (Answer: (−2.3888, 3.1888))

40. Determine if each of the following statement is TRUE or FALSE.

(a) The mean of the sampling distribution of sample means varies according to the sample size.
(b) The confidence interval is wider when the confidence level increases.
(c) Two population variances are assumed to be equal when the values in the confidence interval
for the ratio of the variances are positive.
(d) When constructing confidence interval for paired difference, 𝜇𝑑 , 𝑛 denotes the sample size.
(e) A good estimator is biased, consistent and relatively efficient.
(f) The width of the confidence interval of a population mean increases when the sample size
increases.
(g) The mean of the sampling distribution of sample same is equal to the mean of the population.
(h) The width of confidence interval depends on the size of the margin of error.
(i) Two population means are said to be equal when the value of zero is in the confidence interval
constructed.
(j) The confidence interval for ratio of two variances can be negative.
(k) When constructing confidence interval for single population mean, standard normal
distribution is used when the population variance is unknown.
(Answer: (a) FALSE, (b) TRUE, (c) FALSE, (d) FALSE, (e) FALSE, (f) FALSE,
(g) TRUE, (h) TRUE, (i) TRUE, (j) FALSE, (k) FALSE)

41. The owner of a mosquito-infested fishing camp in Pulau Indah wants to test the effectiveness of
two rival brands of mosquito repellents, A and B. The Minitab output below shows the summarized
statistics of the mosquito bites for eight people who were chosen at random from those guests who
agreed to take part in the experiment. For each of these guests, Brand A was randomly applied to
one arm and Brand B was applied to the other arm.
Paired T-Test and CI: Brand A, Brand B

Paired T for Brand A - Brand B

N Mean StDev SE Mean

Brand A 8 22.25 9.51 3.36
Brand B 8 17.63 7.33 2.59
Difference 8 4.63 4.14 1.46

Assume that the distributions of the mosquito bites are normal.

(a) Construct a 99% confidence interval for the standard deviation of all the mosquito bites for
Brand B and interpret the interval. (Answer: 4.307 < 𝜎 < 19.501)
(b) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the mean of the population paired differences for
the two brands. Based on the interval, which brand is better? Explain your answer.
(Answer: (1.1771, 8.0829); Since 𝜇𝑑 = 𝜇𝐴 − 𝜇𝐵 > 0, Brand B is better as there are fewer
mosquito bites)

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42. Climbing rope produced by a manufacturer is known to be such that one-metre lengths have
breaking strengths that are normally distributed with mean 170.2 kg and standard deviation
10.5 kg.
(a) Find the probability that a one-metre length of rope chosen at random from those produced
by the manufacturer will have a breaking strength of between 165.5 and 170.0 kg.
(b) It is known that 35% of the one-metre length of rope have breaking strength less than M kg.
Find the value of M.
(c) A random sample of 30 one-metre length of rope was selected. Find the probability that the
mean breaking strength of the rope is at least 169.5 kg.
(answers: (a) 0.1656; (b) 166.15435; (c) 0.6443)

43. The time, in minutes, taken by men to run a marathon is modelled by a normal distribution with
mean 240 minutes and standard deviation 40 minutes.
(a) Find the proportion of men that take longer than 180 minutes to run a marathon.
(b) Ali is preparing to run a marathon. He aims to finish in the first 20% of male runners. Using
the above model, estimate the longest time, 𝐿 minutes that Ali can take to run the marathon
and achieve his aim.
(c) A random sample 40 men were chosen, find the proportion that the mean time taken for them
to finish running the marathon is between 225 and 255 minutes.
(answer: (a) 0.9332; (b) 206.336; (c) 0.98222)

44. The Minitab output below shows the summary statistics of a diagnostic test given to a sample of 20
students before studying a particular module and then again after completing the module.
Paired T-Test and CI: Pre-Module Score, Post-Module Score
Paired T for Pre-Module Score - Post-Module Score

N Mean StDev SE Mean

Pre-Module Score 20 18.400 3.152 0.705
Post-Module Score 20 20.450 4.058 0.907
Difference 20 -2.050 2.837 0.634

Assume the population distributions of the scores are normal.

(a) Show that the standard error mean for the paired difference is 0.634.
(b) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the mean paired difference in scores of the
diagnostic test. Based on the interval, is the mean of post-module score better than the pre-
module score? Explain your answer.
(answer: (b) (3.3770, 0.7230); Based on the interval, 𝝁𝒅 < 𝟎 implying that 𝝁𝐩𝐫𝐞 < 𝝁𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 ,
i.e., the score for post-module IS HIGHER than pre-module. Hence, it can be concluded that
the mean of post-module score IS BETTER than the pre-module score.)

45. The Minitab output below summarises the statistics of 2 judges’ scores of 8 competitors on the
vault in a gymnastic competition.
Descriptive Statistics: Judge 1, Judge 2
Variable N Mean SE Mean StDev
Judge 1 9 8.500 0.429 1.212
Judge 2 12 8.838 0.175 0.553

Assume the population distributions of the judges’ scores are approximately normally distributed.
(a) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the variance of judge 1’s scores for all the
competitors. (answer: 0.6702 < 𝜎 2 < 5.3906)
(b) Find the 98% confidence interval for the ratio of variances of the judges’ scores for all the
competitors. Are the two population variances equal based on the interval? Explain your
answer. (answer: (1.0134, 27.9082); No because the value of 1 is NOT in the interval)

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

(c) From the result obtained in (b), construct a 98% confidence interval for the difference in the
mean scores of all competitors on the vault in the gymnastic competition. Based on this
interval, can you conclude that judge 1’s scores are lower than judge 2’s scores on average?
Justify your answer.
(answer: (1.5387, 0.8626); No because the value of 0 is IN the interval)

46. The lengths of certain snakes can be modelled by a normal distribution with mean 20 cm and
variance 25 cm2.
(a) Find the probability of a randomly chosen snake with length less than 13 cm.
(b) It is known that 60% of the snakes have lengths more than L cm. Find the value of L.
(c) A random sample of 20 snakes were selected. Find the probability that the mean lengths of
snakes for this sample is between 17.5 cm and 21.2 cm.
(answer: (a) 0.0808, (b) 18.7335, (c) 0.84515)

47. Past records show that the times, in seconds, taken to run 100 m by children at a school can be
modelled by a normal distribution with a mean of 16.12 and a standard deviation of 1.60.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen child from the school runs 100 m in less than 17
seconds?
(b) On sports day, the school awards certificate to the fastest 30% of children in the 100 m race.
Estimate the slowest time taken to run 100 m for which a child will be awarded a certificate.
(c) A random sample of 25 school children was selected. Find the probability that the mean time
taken for this group of children to run 100 m is between 15.5 and 16.5 seconds.
(answer: (a) 0.7088, (b) 15.28096, (c) 0.8568)

48. The distances travelled to work, D km, by the employees at a large company is normally distribution
with a mean of 30 km and a variance of 64.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly selected employee has a journey to work of more than
21 km.
(b) A random sample 20 employees were chosen, find the proportion (probability) that the mean
distance taken to travel to work is between 24.5 and 28.0 km.
(answer: (a) 0.8708, (b) 0.13033)

49. To assess the accuracy of a laboratory scale, a standard weight that is known to weigh one gram is
repeatedly weighed four times. Assume that the weighings by the scale when the true weight is
one gram are normally distributed with mean . The resulting measurements (in grams) are:
0.95, 1.02, 1.01, 0.98
Compute a 98% confidence interval for the true weight by the scale and interpret the interval.
Answer: (0.9182, 1.0618)

50. The Minitab output below summarises the statistics of the deflection temperature under load
(in C) for two different types of plastic pipe.

Descriptive Statistics: Pipe 1, Pipe 2

Variable N Mean Variance

Pipe 1 15 91.33 33.90
Pipe 2 12 88.56 31.23
Assume the population distributions of the deflection temperature under load to be approximately
normally distributed.
(a) Construct a 98% confidence interval for the standard deviation of pipe 2’s deflection
temperature under load and interpret the interval.
(b) Find the 95% confidence interval for the ratio of variances of the deflection temperature
under load for all the two types of pipe. Explain what can be concluded from this interval?

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STA408 Tutorial 2 Chapter 2: Estimation

(c) From the result obtained in (b), construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference in the
mean deflection temperature under load for all the two types of pipe. Based on this interval,
is the deflection temperature under load for pipe 1 higher than pipe 2 on average? Justify
your answer.
𝜎2
(Answer: (a) 3.72747 < 𝜎2 < 10.60764, (b) 0.31647 < 𝜎12 < 3.4193,
2
(c) (−1.79409, 7.33409). No because 0 is in the interval)

51. A new four-lane road is going through the west end of a major metropolitan area. About 150
residential properties will be affected by the road. A random sample of 15 properties was selected.
These properties were evaluated by two different property assessors. We are interested in
determining whether there is any difference in their assessment. The assessments are recorded in
thousands of dollars and values are represented by Value1 and Value2 for the two property
assessors. The Minitab output below shows the summary statistics of the assessments for the
paired t-test and CI.
Paired T-Test and CI: Value1, Value2

Paired T for Value1 - Value2

N Mean StDev SE Mean

Value1 15 128.05 24.69 6.37
Value2 15 129.74 28.30 7.31
Difference 15 -1.69 6.14 1.59

Assume that the population distributions of the assessment values are normal.
(a) Show that the standard error mean for the paired difference is 1.59.
(b) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the mean paired difference in assessment values by
the two property assessors. Based on the interval, is there a difference in the assessment
values given by the two assessors? Explain your answer.
(Answer: (−5.090556, 1.710556). No because 0 is in the interval.)

52. Determine if each of the following statement is TRUE of FALSE.

(a) The width of the confidence interval of a population mean increases when the number of
samples reduces.
(b) The standard error of sample mean is the standard deviation of the population.
(c) A consistent estimator approaches the value of the population parameter when the sample
size increases.
(d) The sampling distribution of sample mean from an unknown population distribution is
approximately normally distributed if the sample size is at least 50.
(e) The width of confidence interval depends on the significance level.
(f) Two population means are said to be equal when the value of one is in the confidence interval
constructed.
(g) The confidence interval for one population standard deviation can have negative values.
(h) When constructing confidence interval for pair difference, the t-distribution with 𝑛 − 1
degrees of freedom where 𝑛 is the number of samples.
(Answer: (a) FALSE, (b) FALSE, (c) TRUE, (d) FALSE, (e) TRUE, (f) FALSE, (g) FALSE,
(h) FALSE)

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