Answered Problems in Probability Theory

JENICA B. MIRABUENO
MAMATHED

BINOMIAL DISTRIBUTION
Problem 1 Find the probability that in tossing a fair coin three times, there will appear

(a) 3 heads

(b) 2 tails and 1 head

(c) at least 1 head

(d) not more than one tail.

Problem 2 Find the probability that in five tosses of a fair die, a three will appear

(a) twice
(b) at most once

(c) at least two times

Problem 3 Find the probability that in a family of 4 children there will be (a) at least 1 boy, (b) at least 1 boy and at
least 1 girl. Assume that the probability of a male birth is 1/2.

(a) at least 1 boy

(b) at least 1 boy and at least 1 girl

Problem 4 Out of 2000 families with 4 children each, how many would you expect to have

(a) at least 1 boy,

(b) 2 boys,

(c) 1 or 2 girls,
(d) no girls?

Problem 5 If 20% of the bolts produced by a machine are defective, determine the probability that out of 4 bolts
chosen at random,

(a) 1,

(b) 0,

(c) less than 2, bolts will be defective

Problem 6 Find the probability of getting a total of 7 at least once in three tosses of a pair of fair dice.
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
1. A survey found that women spend on average ₱6,472.70 on beauty products during the summer months. Assume
the standard deviation is ₱1,303.30. Find the percentage of women who spend less than ₱7,083.20. Assume the
variable is normally distributed. Ans: about 68%

2. Each month, a Filipino household generates a monthly average of 12.7 kg of newspaper for garbage or recycling.
Assume the standard deviation is 0.907 kg. If a household is selected at random, find the probability of its generating

a. Between 12.2 and 14.1 kg per month

b. More than 13.7 kg per month Assume the variable is approximately normally distributed.
3. Filipinos consume an average of 1.64 cups of coffee per day. Assume the variable is approximately normally
distributed with a standard deviation of 0.24 cup. If 500 individuals are selected, approximately how many will drink
less than 1 cup of coffee per day?

4. To qualify for the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), candidates must score in the top 10% on the
General Abilities Test (GAT). The test has a mean of 215 and a standard deviation of 17. Find the lowest possible
score to qualify. Assume the test scores are normally distributed.

5. For a medical study, a researcher wishes to select people in the middle 60% of the population based on blood
pressure. If the mean systolic blood pressure is 120 mmHg and the standard deviation is 8, mmHg find the upper and
lower readings that would qualify people to participate in the study.
POISSON DISTRIBUTION
1. If there are 200 typographical errors randomly distributed in a 500-page manuscript, find the probability that a
given page contains exactly 3 errors.

2. A sales firm receives, on average, 3 calls per hour on its toll-free number. For any given hour, find the probability
that it will receive the following. a. At most 3 calls b. At least 3 calls c. 5 or more calls

3. If approximately 2% of the people in a room of 200 people are left-handed, find the probability that exactly 5
people there are left-handed.
CENTRAL LIMIT THEOREM
1. PROBLEM 1 has been answered

2. The average age of a vehicle registered in the United States is 8 years, or 96 months. Assume the standard
deviation is 16 months. If a random sample of 36 vehicles is selected, find the probability that the mean of their age
is between 90 and 100 months.

3. The average number of pounds of meat that a person consumes per year is 218.4 pounds. Assume that the
standard deviation is 25 pounds and the distribution is approximately normal.

a. Find the probability that a person selected at random consumes less than 224 pounds per year.

b. If a sample of 40 individuals is selected, find the probability that the mean of the sample will be less than 224
pounds per year.
MULTINOMIAL DISTRIBUTION
1. In a large city, 50% of the people choose a movie, 30% choose dinner and a play, and 20% choose shopping as a
leisure activity. If a sample of 5 people is randomly selected, find the probability that 3 are planning to go to a movie,
1 to a play, and 1 to a shopping mall.

2. A small airport coffee shop manager found that the probabilities a customer buys 0, 1, 2, or 3 cups of coffee are
0.3, 0.5, 0.15, and 0.05, respectively. If 8 customers enter the shop, find the probability that 2 will purchase
something other than coffee, 4 will purchase 1 cup of coffee, 1 will purchase 2 cups, and 1 will purchase 3 cups.

3. A box contains 4 white balls, 3 red balls, and 3 blue balls. A ball is selected at random, and its color is written
down. It is replaced each time. Find the probability that if 5 balls are selected, 2 are white, 2 are red, and 1 is blue.
HYPERGEOMETRIC DISTRIBUTION
1. Ten people apply for a job as assistant manager of a restaurant. Five have completed college and five have not. If
the manager selects 3 applicants at random, find the probability that all 3 are college graduates.

2. A recent study found that 2 out of every 10 houses in a neighborhood have no insurance. If 5 houses are selected
from 10 houses, find the probability that exactly 1 will be uninsured.

3. A lot of 12 compressor tanks is checked to see whether there are any defective tanks. Three tanks are checked for
leaks. If 1 or more of the 3 is defective, the lot is rejected. Find the probability that the lot will be rejected if there are
actually 3 defective tanks in the lot.