National Institute of Technology Calicut

Department of Mathematics
MA2011E: Mathematics IV
Winter Semester 2024-2025: Tutorial sheet 1

c
1. For what value of c, f (x) = x , x = 0, 1, 2, . . ., can serve as a probability mass
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function of X? Hence find:
a) P (X < 2) b) P (X > 1) c) P (3 ≤ X < 5).

2. Let p(x) be the probability mass function of a discrete random variable X, which
assumes the values x1 , x2 , x3 and x4 such that p(x1 ) = 3p(x2 ) = 2p(x3 ) = 4p(x4 ).
Obtain probability mass function and cumulative distribution function of X.

3. Let A = {1 < X < 2} and B = {4 < X < 5}, and

(
1
x2
, for 1 < x < ∞
f (x) = .
0 otherwise

Find: a) P (A) b) P (B) c) P (A ∪ B) d) P (A ∩ B).

4. The probability density function (p.d.f.) of a continuous random variable X is given

by: (
x+1
k
2 ≤ x ≤ 4,
f (x) = .
0 otherwise
a) Find k. b) Obtain the distribution function F (x).
c) Find the mean and variance of X. d) Using F (x), find P (2.5 < X < 3).
5. If the p.d.f. of a random variable X is given by:

x,
 0 < x < 1,
f (x) = 2 − x, 1 ≤ x ≤ c,

0, otherwise.


Find: a) c. b) F (x), the distribution function. c) P (0.8 < X < 0.6c).

6. The p.d.f. of random variable X is given by f (x) = a+bx2 , 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 and f (x) = 0,

otherwise. If E(X) = 53 , find a and b.

7. The distribution function of a continuous random variable X is given by:


0,
 x < −1,
1 3 x3
F (x) = 2 + 4 (x − 3 ), −1 ≤ x ≤ 1,

1, x > 1.


Find: a) The p.d.f. f (x). b) P (−0.5 < X < 0.7).

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 8. The distribution function of a random variable X is given by:
(
1 − (1 + x)e−x , x ≥ 0,
F (x) =
0, otherwise.
Find the corresponding density function of X.
9. Obtain the moment generating function (m.g.f.) of a random variable X having
p.d.f. 
x,
 0 ≤ x ≤ 1,
f (x) = 2 − x, 1 ≤ x ≤ 2,

0, otherwise.


10. Let X be a discrete random variable with p.m.f. f (x) = abx where a and b are
positive such that a + b = 1, and X takes values 0, 1, 2, · · · . Find the m.g.f. of X.
11. The random variable X denotes the number obtained when a fair die is thrown.
Prove that the Chebyshev inequality gives P (|X − 3.5| ≥ 2.5) ≤ 0.47. Compare
this with the actual probability.
12. Let X be a continuous random variable having f (x) = 14 for −1 ≤ x ≤ 3 and 0
otherwise. Prove that Chebyshev inequality gives P (|X − 1| < 2) ≥ 23 . Compare
this with the actual probability.
13. If E(X) = 17 and E(X 2 ) = 298, use Chebyshev’s theorem to determine:
a) A lower bound for P (10 < X < 24) b) An upper bound for P (|X − 17| ≥ 16).
14. The mean and variance of a Binomial variate X with parameters n and p are 16
and 0.8 respectively. Find: a) P (X = 0) b) P (X ≥ 2).
15. Find p of the Binomial distribution if n = 6 and P (X = 4) = P (X = 2).
16. If the probability of success in one Bernoulli trial is 0.01, how many independent
trials are necessary in order that the probability of at least one success is greater
than 21 ?
17. A communication system consists of n components, each of which will, indepen-
dently, function with probability p. The total system will be able to operate ef-
fectively if at least one-half of its components function. For what values of p is a
5-components system more likely to operate effectively than a 3-component system?
18. In sampling a large number of parts manufactured by a machine, the mean number
of defectives in a sample of 20 is 2. Out of 2000 such samples, how many would be
expected to contain at least 3 defectives?
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19. If X has a Poisson distribution such that P (X = 2) = P (X = 4), find the mean
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and variance of X. Also, find P (X ≤ 1).
20. A production process is known to produce 20% defectives. The manager decides
to stop the process for adjustment if a random sample of 5 units yields 2 or more
defectives. What is the probability that the process will be stopped even when the
rate of defectives remains the same?

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21. Records show that the probability is 0.004 that a car will breakdown while driving
through a certain tunnel. Find the probability that among 200 cars driving through
the tunnel:
a) Exactly 10 b) At most 3 c) At least 2 will break down.

22. A and B shoot independently untill each has hit own his target. The probability
of hitting their target at each shot is 35 and 75 respectively. Find the probability of
B required more shots than A.

23. An urn consists of 20 red balls and 30 green balls. We choose 10 balls at random
from the urn. The sampling is done without replacement (repetition not allowed).
What is the probability that there will be exactly 4 red balls among the chosen
balls? Given that there are at least 3 red balls among the chosen balls, what is the
probability that there are exactly 4 red balls?

24. A shipment of 80 burglar alarms contains 5 that are defective. If 4 of these are
randomly selected and shipped to a customer, find the probability that the customer
will get:

(a) Exactly two defectives,

(b) At least three defectives,
(c) At most one defective by using Hypergeometric distribution and Binomial
distribution (as an approximation to Hypergeometric distribution).

25. The probability that a driver must stop at any one traffic light coming to a city is
0.2. There are 15 sets of traffic lights on the journey. Find:

(a) The probability that a person must stop at exactly 2 of the 15 sets of traffic
lights.
(b) The probability that a person will be stopped at 1 or more of the 15 sets of
traffic lights.

26. A radioactive source emits 4 particles on average during a five-second period. Find:

(a) The probability that it emits 3 particles during a 5-second period,

(b) The probability that it emits at least one particle during a 5-second period.

27. The number of typing mistakes made by a secretary has a Poisson distribution.
The mistakes are made independently at an average rate of 1.65 per page. Find the
probability that a three-page letter contains no mistakes.

28. If the light bulbs in a house fail according to a Poisson law, and over the last 15
weeks there have been 5 failures, find approximately the probability that there will
not be more than one failure next week.

29. The monthly breakdowns of a computer system is a random variable X having

Poisson distribution with E(X 2 ) = 12. Find the probability that the computer will
function for a month: a) Without breakdown. b) With exactly one breakdown.

30. Obtain the m.g.f of the Geometric distribution with p.m.f. f (x) = pq x−1 , x =
1, 2, · · · , 0 < p < 1, p + q = 1. Hence find the mean and variance.

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31. Let X be Normal with mean 14 and variance 4. Determine c in each case such that:
a) P (X ≤ c) = 0.05. b) P (X ≥ c) = 0.02 c) P (−c ≤ X ≤ c) = 0.99.

32. The life time of a certain kind of electronic device has a mean of 300 hours and
a standard deviation of 25 hours. Assuming that the distribution of life time of
electronic device is normally distributed. Find the probability that any one of these
devices will have a life time of more than 350 hours and also find what percentage
will have life time from 220 to 260 hours?

33. Find the probability that 200 tosses of a fair coin will result in:

(a) Between 80 and 120 heads,

(b) Less than 90 heads,
(c) Exactly 100 heads. (Use Normal approximation to Binomial distribution).

34. The mean and variance of a Uniform distribution are 5 and 3. Obtain the Uniform
distribution. Hence find P (X > 6).

35. A point P is taken at random on a line segment AB of length 2a such that all
positions of the point being equally likely. Find the probability that the product
2
(AP × P B) > a2 .

36. If a random variable X has the Gamma distribution with α = 2, β = 3, find the
mean and standard deviation of this distribution.

37. In a certain city, the daily consumption of electric power (in millions of kilowatt-
hours) can be treated as a random variable having a gamma distribution with
parameters α = 3 and β = 2. If the power plant of this city has a daily capacity
of 12 million kilowatt-hours, what is the probability that this power supply will be
inadequate on any given day?

38. Derive formula for mean, variance and m.g.f for Beta distribution.

39. Suppose X is the life time (in years) of certain type of car which follows Weibull
distribution with parameter β = 2. Find the parameter α, given the probability of
life time of the car exceeds 5 years is e−0.25 , and hence find mean and variance of
X.

40. Each of the 6 tubes of the radio set has a life length (in years) is considered as a
random variable follows Weibull distribution with parameter α = 25 and β = 2. If
these tubes function are independent to one another, then what is the probability
that no tube will have to replaced during first 2 months of the service?