Work Sheet II- random variables

Group Assignment: 3, 5,6,9,14,16,20,22

1. A binary source generates digits 1 and 0 randomly with probabilities 0.7
and 0.3, respectively.
(a) What is the probability that two 1s and three 0s will occur in a seven-
digit sequence?
(b) What is the probability that at least three 1s will occur in a seven-digit
sequence?
2. A noisy transmission channel has a per-digit error probability p = 0.03.
(a) Calculate the probability of more than one error in 10 received digits.
(b) Repeat (a), using the Poisson approximation
3. The radial miss distance [in meters (m)] of the landing point of a
parachuting sky diver from the center of the target area is known to be a
Rayleigh r.v. X with parameter
(a) Find the probability that the sky diver will land within a radius of 10
m from the center of the target area.
(b) Find the radius r such that the probability that X > r is 0.368.
4. It is known that the floppy disks produced by company A will be
defective with probability 0.01. The company sells the disks in packages
of 10 and offers a guarantee of replacement if more than 1 of the 10 disks
is defective. What proportion of packages is returned? If someone buys
three packages, what is the probability that exactly one of them will be
returned? Ans. 0.005, 0.015
5. Binary data are transmitted over a noisy communication channel in block
of 8 binary digits. The probability that a received digit is in error as a
result of channel noise is 0.03. Assume that the errors occurring in
various digit positions within a block are independent.
(a) Find the mean and the variance of the number of errors per block.
(b) Find the probability that the number of errors per block is .
6. Suppose the probability that a bit transmitted through a digital
communication channel and received in error is 0.1. Assuming that the

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 transmissions are independent events, find the probability that the third
error occurs at the 10th bit.
Ans. 0.017
7. Ten-bit codewords are transmitted over a noisy channel. Bits are flipped
independently with probability p. If no more than two bits of a codeword
are flipped, the codeword can be correctly decoded. Find the probability
that a codeword cannot be correctly decoded.
8. A company produces independent voltage regulators whose outputs are
exp(λ ) random variables. In a batch of 10 voltage regulators, find the
probability that exactly three of them produce outputs greater than v
volts.
9. A small airline makes five flights a day from Chicago to Denver. The
number of passengers on each flight is approximated by an exponential
random variable with mean 20. A flight makes money if it has more than
25 passengers. Find the probability that at least one flight a day makes
money. Assume that the numbers of passengers on different flights are
independent.
10. Let X be the number of defective parts produced on a certain
production line. It is Known that, for a given lot, X is binomial, with
mean equal to 240, and variance 48. Determine the pmf of X and the
probability that none of the parts is defective in this lot.
11. Assuming that each child has probability 0.51 of being a boy:
(a) Find the probability that a family of four children will have
(i) exactly one boy, (ii) exactly one girl,
(iii) at least one boy, and (iv) at least one girl.
(b) Find the number of children a couple should have in order that the
Probability of their having at least two boys will be greater than 0.75
12. Suppose there are five customers served by a telephone exchange and
that each customer may demand one line or none in any given minute.
The probability of demanding one line is 0.25 for each customer, and the
demands are independent.
(a) What is the probability distribution function of X, a random variable
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 Representing the number of lines required in any given minute?
(b) If the exchange has three lines, what is the probability that the
customers will all be satisfied?
13. A manufacturing firm receives a lot of 100 parts, of which 5 are
defective. Suppose that the firm accepts all 100 parts if and only if no
defective ones are found in a sample of 10 parts randomly selected for
inspection. Determine the probability that this lot will be accepted.
14. A shipment of 10 boxes of meat contains 2 boxes of contaminated
goods. An inspector randomly selects 4 boxes; let Z be the number of
boxes of contaminated meat among the selected 4 boxes.
(a) What is the pmf of Z?
(b) What is the probability that at least one of the four boxes is
contaminated?
(c) How many boxes must be selected so that the probability of having at
last one contaminated box is larger than 0.75?
15. Cars arrive independently at an intersection. Assuming that, on
average, 25% of the cars turn left and that the left-turn lane has a capacity
for 5 cars, what is the probability that capacity is reached in the left-turn
lane when 10 cars are delayed by a red signal?
16. An experiment is repeated in a electrical engineering laboratory. The
outcomes of these experiments are considered independent, and the
probability of an experiment being successful is 0.7.
(a) What is the probability that no more than 6 attempts are necessary to
produce 3 successful experiments?
(b) What is the average number of failures before 3 successful
experiments occur?
(c) Suppose one needs 3 consecutive successful experiments. What is the
probability that exactly 6 attempts are necessary?
17. At a certain plant, accidents have been occurring at an average rate of 1
every 2 months. Assume that the accidents occur independently.
(a) What is the average number of accidents per year?
(b) What is the probability of there being no accidents in a given month?
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18. The life of a power transmission tower is exponentially distributed,
with mean life 25 years. If three towers, operated independently, are
being erected at the same time, what is the probability that at least 2 will
still stand after 35 years?
19.Ten points are distributed uniformly and independently in interval (0, 1). Find:
(a) The probability that the point lying farthest to the right is to the left of 3/4.
(b) The probability that the point lying next farthest to the right is to the right of 1/2.
20. A satellite system consists of 4 components and can function
adequately if at least 2 of the 4 components are in working condition. If
each component is, independently, in working condition with probability
0.6, what is the probability that the system functions adequately?
21. The Scholastic Aptitude Test mathematics test scores across the
population of high school seniors follow a normal distribution with mean
500 and standard deviation 100. If five seniors are randomly chosen, find
the probability that
(a) all scored below 600 and (b) exactly three of them scored above 640.
22. A certain type of lightbulb has an output that is normally distributed
with mean 2,000 end foot candles and standard deviation 85 end foot
candles. Determine a lower specification limit L so that only 5 percent of
the lightbulbs produced will be defective. (That is, determine L so that
P{X ≥ L} = 0.95, where X is the output of a bulb.)
23. The time (in hours) required to repair a machine is an exponentially
distributed random variable with parameter λ = 1.
(a) What is the probability that a repair time exceeds 2 hours?
(b) What is the conditional probability that a repair takes at least 3 hours,
given that its duration exceeds 2 hours?
24. A certain photo-sensor fails to activate if it receives fewer than four
photons in a certain time interval. If the number of photons is modeled
by a Poisson(2) random
variable X, find the probability that the sensor activates. Answer: 0.143.

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