Quantitative Techniques (QUA100S) Chapter 6 Practice Tutorial

Chapter 6 Tutorial

1. The waking times (in minutes past 5:00 a.m.) of 40 people who start work at 8:00 a.m. are
shown in the table at the left. Assume the population standard deviation is 45 minutes. Find
(a) the point estimate of the population mean µ

(b) the margin of error for a 90% confidence interval.

(c) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population mean. Interpret the results.

(d) Determine the minimum sample size required to be 95% confident that the sample
mean waking time is within 10 minutes of the population mean waking time

Waking times (in minutes past 5:00 a.m.)

135 145 95 140 135 95 110
50 90 165 110 125 80 125
130 110 25 75 65 100 60
125 115 135 95 90 140 40
75 50 130 85 100 160 135
45 135 115 75 130
Ans: (a) 103.5 (b) 11.7

c) 91.8 < µ < 115.2; With 90% confidence, you can say that the population mean waking time is
between 91.8 and 115.2 minutes past 5:00 a.m.

(d) 78 people

2. The data set represents the amounts of time (in minutes) spent watching online videos each
day for a random sample of 30 college students. Assume the population standard deviation is
2.4 minutes.

5.0 6.25 8.0 5.5 4.75 4.5 7.2 6.6 5.8 5.5

4.2 5.4 6.75 9.8 8.2 6.4 7.8 6.5 5.5 6.0

3.8 6.75 9.25 10.0 9.6 7.2 6.4 6.8 9.8 10.2

(a) Find the point estimate of the population mean.

(b) Find the margin of error for a 95% confidence level.

(c) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the population mean. Interpret the results.

Ans: (a) 6.848 (b) 0.859

(c) 5.989 < µ < 7.707, With 95% confidence, you can say that the population mean amount of
time is between 5.989 and 7.707 minutes.
3. Use the confidence interval to find the margin of error and the sample mean.

20.75 < µ < 24.10

Ans: E = 1.675, x = 22.425

4. The data set represents the amounts of time (in minutes) spent checking email for a random
sample of employees at a company.

7.5 2.0 12.1 8.8 9.4 7.3 1.9 2.8 7.0 7.3

(a) Find the sample mean and the sample standard deviation.

(b) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population mean. Interpret the results. Assume
the times are normally distributed.

(c) Repeat part (b), assuming σ = 3.5 minutes. Interpret and compare the results.

(d) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the population variance.

(e) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the population standard deviation. Interpret the
results.

Ans: (a) x = 6.61, s = 3.38

(b) 4.65 < µ < 8.57; With 90% confidence, you can say that the population mean amount of time
is between 4.65 and 8.57 minutes.

(c) 4.79 < µ < 8.43; With 90% confidence, you can say that the population mean amount of time
is between 4.79 and 8.43 minutes. This confidence interval is narrower than the one in part (b).

(d) 5.41 <σ 2 < 38.08

(e) 2.32 < σ < 6.17; With 95% confidence, you can say that the population standard deviation is
between 2.32 and 6.17 minutes.

5. In a random sample of 28 sports cars, the average monthly fuel cost was R2929 and the
standard deviation was R786. Construct a 90% confidence interval for µ. Interpret the results.
Assume the annual fuel costs are normally distributed

Ans: 2676 < µ < 3182)

With 90% confidence, you can say that the population mean annual fuel cost is between R2676
and R3182.

6. You wish to estimate, with 95% confidence, the population proportion of Cape Town adults who
think they should be saving more money. Your estimate must be accurate within 5% of the
population proportion.
 (a) No preliminary estimate is available. Find the minimum sample size needed.
(b) Find the minimum sample size needed, using a prior study that found that 63% of Cape
Town adults think that they should be saving more money.
(c) Compare the results from parts (a) and (b).
Ans: (a) 385 adults (b) 359 adults
(c) Having an estimate of the population proportion reduces the minimum sample size needed.

7. The weights (in grams) of 17 randomly selected superzoom digital cameras are listed below.
Assume the sample is from a normally distributed population and construct the indicated
confidence intervals for (a) the population variance σ 2 and (b) the population standard
deviation σ. Interpret the results. Use a 95% level of confidence.
14 13 8 15 19 15 35 8 17
10 9 17 21 7 15 11 24

Ans: (a) 27.2 < σ 2 < 113.5 (b) 5.2 < σ < 10.7
With 95% confidence, you can say that the population variance is between 27.2 and 113.5, and
the population standard deviation is between 5.2 and 10.7 grams.

8. In a survey of 1022 S.A. adults, 779 think that South Africa should put more emphasis on
producing domestic energy from solar power.

(a) Find the point estimate for the population proportion p of S.A. adults who think that the
South Africa should put more emphasis on producing domestic energy from solar power.

(b) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population proportion. Interpret the results.

(c) Find the minimum sample size needed to estimate the population proportion at the 99%
confidence level in order to ensure that the estimate is accurate within 4% of the population
proportion.

Ans: (a) 0.762

(b) 0.740 < p < 0.784; With 90% confidence, you can say that the population proportion of S.A.
adults who think that the United States should put more emphasis on producing domestic
energy from solar power is between 74.0% and 78.4%.

(c) 752 adults