ASSIGNMENT 7

SPRING SEMESTER 2018

ES 202 - ENGINEERING STATISTICS

1. The standard deviation of test scores on a certain achievement test is 11.3. If a

random sample of 81 students had a sample mean score of 74.6, find a 90 percent
confidence interval estimate for the average score of all students.

Answer: 74.6 ± 1.645(11.3)/9 = (72.535, 76.665)

2. The capacities (in ampere-hours) of 10 batteries were recorded as follows: 140, 136,
150, 144, 148, 152, 138, 141, 143, 151.

(a) Estimate the population variance σ 2 .

(b) Compute a 99 percent two-sided confidence interval for σ 2 .
(c) Compute a value v that enables us to state, with 90 percent confidence, that
σ 2 is less than v.

Answer: (a) 32.23, (b) (12.3, 153.83, 167.2) (c) 69.6

3. A civil engineer wishes to measure the compressive strength of two different types
of concrete. A random sample of 10 specimens of the first type yielded the following
data (in psi)

Type 1: 3,250, 3,268, 4,302, 3,184, 3,266, 3,297, 3,332, 3,502, 3,064, 3,116,

whereas a sample of 10 specimens of the second yielded the data

Type 2: 3,094, 3,106, 3,004, 3,066, 2,984, 3,124, 3,316, 3,212, 3,380, 3,018.

If we assume that the samples are normal with a common variance, determine

(a) a 95 percent two-sided confidence interval for µ1 − µ2 , the difference in means;

(b) a 95 percent one-sided upper confidence interval for µ1 − µ2 ;
(c) a 95 percent one-sided lower confidence interval for µ1 − µ2 .

Answer: (a) (−22.84, 478.24) (b) (20.91, ∞) (c) (−∞, 434.49)

4. A random sample of 1,200 engineers included 48 from NUST, 80 from GIKI, and
204 females. Determine 90 percent confidence intervals for the proportion of all
engineers who are

(a) female;
(b) from NUST or GIKI.

Answer: (a) .17 ± .018 (b) .107 ± .015

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 5. An airline is interested in determining the proportion of its customers who are flying
for reasons of business. If they want to be 90 percent certain that their estimate
will be correct to within 2 percent, how large a random sample should they select?

Answer: 1692

6. The following are independent samples from two normal populations, both of which
have the same standard deviation σ.

16, 17, 19, 20, 18 and 3, 4, 8

Use them to estimate σ.

2 2 1 2
Answer: S + S =4
3 1 3 2
7. Suppose a sample of size n is to be drawn from a normal distribution where σ is
known to be 14.3. How large does n have to be to guarantee that the length of the
95% confidence interval for µ will be less than 3.06?

Answer: n = 336

8. An electric scale gives a reading equal to the true weight plus a random error that
is normally distributed with mean 0 and standard deviation σ = .1 mg. Suppose
that the results of five successive weighings of the same object are as follows: 3.142,
3.163, 3.155, 3.150, 3.141.

(a) Determine a 95 percent confidence interval estimate of the true weight.

(b) Determine a 99 percent confidence interval estimate of the true weight.

Answer: (a) (3.0625, 3.2379) (b) (3.0348, 3.2656)

9. Each of 20 science students independently measured the melting point of lead. The
sample mean and sample standard deviation of these measurements were (in de-
grees centigrade) 330.2 and 15.4, respectively. Construct (a) a 95 percent and (b)
a 99 percent confidence interval estimate of the true melting point of lead.
√ √
Answer: (a) 330.2 ± 2.094(15.4)/ 20 (b) 330.2 ± 2.861(15.4)/ 20

10. The amount of beryllium in a substance is often determined by the use of a photo-
metric filtration method. If the weight of the beryllium is µ, then the value given by
the photometric filtration method is normally distributed with mean µ and standard
deviation σ. A total of eight independent measurements of 3.180 mg of beryllium
gave the following results. 3.166, 3.192, 3.175, 3.180, 3.182, 3.171, 3.184, 3.177. Use
this data to

(a) estimate σ;
(b) find a 90 percent confidence interval estimate of σ.

Answer: (a) .008 (b)

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11. Independent random samples are taken from the output of two machines on a pro-
duction line. The weight of each item is of interest. From the first machine, a
sample of size 36 is taken, with sample mean weight of 120 grams and a sample
variance of 4. From the second machine, a sample of size 64 is taken, with a sample
mean weight of 130 grams and a sample variance of 5. It is assumed that the weights
of items from the first machine are normally distributed with mean µ1 and variance
σ 2 and that the weights of items from the second machine are normally distributed
with mean µ2 and variance σ 2 (that is, the variances are assumed to be equal). Find
a 99 percent confidence interval for µ1 − µ2 , the difference in population means.

Answer: (−11.18, −8.82)

12. Do Problem 11 above when it is known in advance that the population variances
are 4 and 5.

Answer: (−11.12, −8.88)

13. A random sample of 100 items from a production line revealed 17 of them to be
defective.

(a) Compute a 95 percent two-sided confidence interval for the probability that
an item produced is defective.
(b) Determine also a 99 percent upper confidence interval for the probability that
an item produced is defective.
(c) Calculate the least sample size for the estimated probability of defective item
to be within 2 percent of correct value.

Answer: (a) (.096, .244) (b) (.073, .267) (c)

14. A certain manufacturer produces computer chips; each chip is independently ac-
ceptable with some unknown probability p. An initial sample of 30 chips has been
taken and 26 of these chips are of acceptable quality. Use this estimate of p to
calculate the sample size that would provide a 99 percent confidence interval for p
of length approximately .05.

Answer: n = 1231, so sample an additional 1201 chips.

15. A public health survey is being planned in a large metropolitan area for the pur-
pose of estimating the proportion of children, ages zero to fourteen, who are lacking
adequate polio immunization. Organizers of the project would like the sample pro-
portion of inadequately immunized children, Xn , to have at least a 98% probability
of being within 0.05 of the true proportion, p. How large should the sample be?

Answer: n = 543

16. The shopping times of n = 64 randomly selected customers at a local supermarket

were recorded. The average and variance of the 64 shopping times were 33 minutes
and 256 minutes2 , respectively. Estimate µ, the true average shopping time per
customer, with a confidence coefficient of 1 − α = .90.

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 Answer: 33 ± 3.29 = (29.71, 36.29).

17. In a Gallup Poll of n = 800 randomly chosen adults, 45% indicated that movies
were getting better whereas 43% indicated that movies were getting worse. Find a
98% confidence interval for p, the overall proportion of adults who say that movies
are getting better.

Answer:

18. One suggested method for solving the electric-power shortage in a region involves
constructing floating nuclear power plants a few miles offshore in the ocean. Con-
cern about the possibility of a ship collision with the floating (but anchored) plant
has raised the need for an estimate of the density of ship traffic in the area. The
number of ships passing within 10 miles of the proposed power-plant location per
day, recorded for n = 60 days during July and August, possessed a sample mean
and variance of y = 7.2 and s2 = 8.8. Find a 95% confidence interval for the mean
number of ships passing within 10 miles of the proposed power-plant location dur-
ing a 1-day time period.

Answer: 7.2 ± .751 = (6.449, 7.951)

19. The EPA has set a maximum noise level for heavy trucks at 83 decibels (dB). A
random sample of six heavy trucks produced the following noise levels (in decibels):

85.4 86.8 86.1 85.3 84.8 86.0.

Use these data to construct a 90% confidence interval for σ 2 , the variance of the
truck noise-emission readings.

Answer: (0.227, 2.196)

20. A precision instrument is guaranteed to read accurately to within 2 units. A sample

of four instrument readings on the same object yielded the measurements 353, 351,
351, and 355. Find a 90% confidence interval for the population variance. Does the
guarantee seem reasonable?

Answer: (1.407, 31.264); no

21. A chemist who has prepared a product designed to kill 60% of a particular type of
insect wants to evaluate the kill rate of her preparation. What sample size should
she use if she wishes to be 95% confident that her experimental results fall within
0.02 of the true fraction of insects killed?

Answer:

22. Past experience shows that the standard deviation of the yearly income of textile
workers in a certain state is $400. How many textile workers would you need to
sample if you wished to estimate the population mean to within $50, with proba-
bility 0.95?

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 Answer:

23. A chemical process has produced, on the average, 800 tons of chemical per day.
The daily yields for the past week are 785, 805, 790, 793, and 802 tons.

(a) Estimate the mean daily yield, with confidence coefficient 0.90, from the data.
(b) Find a 90% confidence interval for σ 2 , the variance of the daily yields.

Answer: (a) (b) (29.30, 391.15)

24. A mathematics test is given to a class of 50 students randomly selected from high
school 1 and also to a class of 45 students randomly selected from high school 2. For
the class at high school 1, the sample mean is 75 points, and the sample standard
deviation is 10 points. For the class at high school 2, the sample mean is 72 points,
and the sample standard deviation is 8 points. Construct a 95% confidence interval
for the difference in the mean scores.

Answer: 3 ± 3.63 = (−0.63, 6.63)

25. An experimenter wanted to check the variability of measurements obtained by using

equipment designed to measure the volume of an audio source. Three independent
measurements recorded by this equipment for the same sound were 4.1, 5.2, and
10.2. Estimate σ 2 with confidence coefficient 0.90.

Answer: (3.53, 205.24)

26. The ages of a random sample of five university professors are 39, 54, 61, 72, and 59.
Using this information, find a 99% confidence interval for the population standard
deviation of the ages of all professors at the university, assuming that the ages of
university professors are normally distributed.

Answer:

27. A random sample of size 25 was taken from a normal population with σ 2 = 6. A
confidence interval for the mean was given as (5.37, 7.37). What is the confidence
coefficient associated with this interval?

Answer: 1 − 2 × (0.0207) = 0.9586

28. To estimate the proportion of unemployed workers in Panama, an economist se-

lected at random 400 persons from the working class. Of these, 25 were unem-
ployed.

(a) Estimate the true proportion of unemployed workers and place bounds on the
error of estimation.
(b) How many persons must be sampled to reduce the bound on the error of
estimation to 0.02?

Answer: (a) 0.0625 ± 0.0237 (b) 563

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29. How many voters must be included in a sample collected to estimate the fraction of
the popular vote favorable to a presidential candidate in a national election if the
estimate must be correct to within 0.005? Assume that the true fraction lies some-
where in the neighborhood of 0.5. Use a confidence coefficient of approximately 0.95.

Answer: n = 38, 416

30. The annual main stem growth, measured for a sample of 17 4-year-old red pine
trees, produced a mean of 11.3 inches and a standard deviation of 3.4 inches. Find
a 90% confidence interval for the mean annual main stem growth of a population
of 4-year-old red pine trees subjected to similar environmental conditions. Assume
that the growth amounts are normally distributed.

Answer: 11.3 ± 1.44 = (9.86, 12.74)

31. A pharmaceutical manufacturer purchases raw material from two different suppli-
ers. The mean level of impurities is approximately the same for both suppliers, but
the manufacturer is concerned about the variability in the amount of impurities
from shipment to shipment. If the level of impurities tends to vary excessively for
one source of supply, this could affect the quality of the final product. To compare
the variation in percentage impurities for the two suppliers, the manufacturer se-
lects ten shipments from each supplier and measures the percentage of impurities
in each shipment. The sample variances were s21 = 0.273 and s22 = 0.094, respec-
tively. Form a 95% confidence interval for the ratio of the true population variances.

Answer: