Exercise on Probability

October 10, 2024

1 Multiple choices questions

1. A random variable X is said to be continuous if it takes

A. An infinite number of values

B. Finite number of values or a countably infinite number of values
C. A continuum of values
D. A finite number of values

2. Which one of the following is a continuous random variable?

A. The number of students who will be absent from the next lecture
B. The marks of the student in the next final statistics exam
C. The finishing time of a student in the next final exam
D. The number of pages in the answer sheet of a student in the next
final exam

3. The probability distribution of X is given in the following table:

X 0 1 2 3 4
P (X) 0 c 4c 9c 16c

What is the value of c?

1
 A. 0 C. 1/20
B. 1 D. 1/30

4. The probability ofa discrete random variable X is given by

n
1
P (X = n) = c , for n = 0, 1, 2, ... What is the value of c?
2
A. 1 C. 1/2
B. 2 D. 1/4

5. Let X be a random variable with cumulative probability distribution

function F (x) = P (X ≤ x). Suppose the cumulative probability dis-
tribution function of aX + b is G(x), where a, b are constant and a ̸= 0.
Then
 
A. G(x) = F (x + b) x+b
C. G(x) = F
a
 
x−b
B. G(x) = F (x − b) D. G(x) = F
a

6. Let X be a discrete random variable with the probability density func-

tion

X −4 0 1 2
P (X) 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.1

Calculate E(3X + 2) and VAR(3X + 2)?

A. 1.4 and 35.64 C. −0.6 and 35.64

B. 0 and 35.64 D. 0 and 39.6

7. Let X be a discrete random variable with the probability density func-

tion

X −4 0 1 2
P (X) 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.1

Find the mean and standard deviation of Y = −2X + 5?

2
 A. −0.2 and 13.56 C. 0 and −3.98
B. 5.4 and 3.98 D. −0.4 and 3.98

8. Let X be a random variable with the mean µ and standard deviation

σ ̸= 0. Consider a new random variable Z, obtained by Z = (X − µ)/σ
(Z is called a standardised random variable). What are the value of
E(Z) and STD(Z)?

A. µ and σ C. 0 and σ
B. 0 and 1 D. µ and 1

9. If a box contains 3 red balls and 4 blue balls. Randomly select 2 balls
from the box. Suppose the red ball is equivalent to 10 points and
the blue equivalent to 12 points. What are the mean and standard
deviation of the total point?
√ √
A. 156/7 and 4 5/7 C. 156/7 and 2 5/7
√ √
B. 150/7 and 2 5/7 D. 150/7 and 4 5/7

10. Toss a die ten times and let X is the times number 6 appears. What
is the expectation and standard deviation of X?
√ √
A. 1/6 and 6 C. 10/6 and 5 2/6
B. 5/6 and 5/6 D. 15/6 and 10/6

11. Which of the following is NOT an assumption of the binomial distri-

bution?

A. All trial must be identical

B. All trial must be independent
C. Each trial must be classified as success or failure
D. The probability of success is one half

12. In binomial distribution, the range of X is

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 A. 0 to n C. all the real value R
B. 0 to infinity D. all natural number N

13. In a binomial distribution consisting of 5 trials, probabilities of 1 and

2 successes are 0.4096 and 0.2048 respectively. What is the value of p?

A. 1/5 C. 1/3
B. 1/4 D. 1/2

14. Suppose the number of typographical errors is Poisson distributed with

a mean of 1.5 per 100 pages. What is the probability of events there
are two typos?

A. 0.251 C. 0.2231
B. 0.3 D. 0.2

15. The number of calls received by a switchboard operator between 9 a.m.

and 10 a.m. has a Poisson distribution with a mean of 12. Find the
probability that the operator received at least three calls between 9
a.m. and 9.30 a.m?

A. 0.738 C. 0.938
B. 0.838 D. 0.638

16. Cars arriving for petrol at a particular station follow a Poisson distri-
bution with a mean of 5 per hour. Determine the probability that over
the next hour only one car will arrive?

A. 0.0436 C. 0.0536
B. 0.0336 D. 0.0236

17. The scheduling manager for an electricity supply company knows that
there are an average of 12 emergency calls regarding power failures
per month. Assume that a month consists of 30 days. Suppose that
the company can handle a maximum of three emergency calls per day.
What is the probability that there will be more emergency calls than
the company can handle on a given day?

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 A. 7.76 × 10−4 C. 4.76 × 10−4
B. 5.76 × 10−4 D. 6.76 × 10−4

18. Let X be a Poisson random variable with parameter λ. What is the

P (X = n + 1)
ratio of ?
P (X = n)
A. λ C. λ/n
B. λ/(n + 1) D. λ/2n

19. The bivariate distribution of X and Y is described as

HH X
H
1 2
Y HHH
1 0.28 0.42
2 0.12 0.18

Compute the covariance?

A. 0 C. 0.46
B. 0.49 D. 1

20. The joint probability distribution of X and Y is shown in the table

below.
HH
X
H 0 1 2
Y HH
H
0 0.08 0.14 0.12
1 0.09 0.17 0.13
2 0.05 0.18 0.04

Compute the coefficient of correlation between X and Y ?

A. 0.1 C. −0.08
B. −0.01 D. 0.01

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2 Excel question
1. Using Excel to create the binomial table with n = 7 and p = 0.1, 0.2, ..., 0.9.
Plot a bar chart of distribution function of B(7, 0.2), B(7, 0.5), B(7, 0.0.8).

2. Using Excel to create the Poisson table with µ = 1, 2, ..., 10. Plot a bar
chart of distribution function of P (1), P (5), P (9).