Tutorial 3

1. The frequency distribution of the number of days to maturity of 40 short-term investments is

given below.

Days Frequency
29.5 − 39.5 3
39.5 − 49.5 1
49.5 − 59.5 8
59.5 − 69.5 10
69.5 − 79.5 7
79.5 − 89.5 7
89.5 − 99.5 4

a) If one of the investments is randomly chosen, what is the probability that it’s number of
days to maturity is less than 69.5 but at least 39.5?
b) What is the probability that a randomly chosen investment has at least 79.5 days to
maturity?

2. Construct the sample space for the experiment in which a coin is tossed 3 times.
a) 𝑃(𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 2 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠)
b) 𝑃(𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙)
c) 𝑃(𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 2 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠)
d) 𝑃(𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑)
3. Suppose you are given the sample space:

𝑆 = { 30, 40, 60, 80, 90, 110, 120, 130, 140, 160 }

Define the 3 following events:

𝐴 = {40, 60, 80, 110}

𝐵 = {30, 60, 80, 130, 140}

𝐶 = {40, 60, 80, 120, 140,160}

a) Calculate 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 ∩ 𝐶)
b) Calculate the probability of 𝑃([𝐶̅ ∪ 𝐵] ∩ 𝐴)

4. Let A and B be events defined on the same sample space. Identify which of the statements
below are true and which are false.

a) Empirical probability tends towards true probability as the number of trials increases.
b) If 𝑃(𝐴) = 0.2 and 𝑃(𝐵) = 0.5, then event B is more likely to occur than event A.
c) If A and B are mutually exclusive, then the sum of their probabilities is 1.
d) The probability of an impossible event is 0.
 e) 0 ≤ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 ≤ 1
f) If A and B are complementary events, then the sum of their probabilities is 1.

5. The bar chart below shows the number of students that passed STAT130 in 2013, 2014 and
2015.

a) If a student is randomly chosen, what is the probability that they were doing a BSc
degree?
b) If a student is randomly chosen, what is the probability that they did not pass in 2014
or 2015?
c) If a student is randomly chosen, what is the probability that they were studying a
commerce degree and passed in 2014?

6. In a batch of 15 jars of instant coffee, 5 have been under filled. Suppose 6 of these jars are
selected without replacement. If more than 1 of these selected jars are under filled, the whole
batch is sent back for refill. What is the probability of the batch being sent back for refill?

7. An anonymous caller told the police that he saw a hit and run incident and had briefly seen
the number plate of the car. He knew that the number plate started with two letters – a B and
an E – but could not remember the order. After the letters were four digits – 3, 4, 8 and 9 –
but again he could not remember the order. The four numbers were followed by the letter V.
How many number plates will the police have to check to be sure of including the car
involved in the hit and run incident?

8. A company has 5 products in it’s Basics range, 5 products in it’s Standard range and 4
products in it’s Premium range. The company wishes to advertise in a local newspaper, but
due to space constraints, it can only advertise 6 products.

a) How many possible 6-prouct groupings/selections are possible?

b) What is the probability that an advert of 6 randomly selected products contains an
equal number of products from each of the ranges?
c) What is the probability that an advert of 6 randomly selected products contains the
whole Basics range and one item from the Standard range?
 d) What is the probability that an advert of 6 randomly selected products contains the
whole Basics range?

9. Let K denote the event that a person knows how to knit and let N denote the event that a
person does not know how to do needle-work.
a) Suppose an adult complains to his/her doctor that his/her loud snoring is waking
him/her up often. What is the probability that this person has sleep apnoea?

b) Describe in words the event that is represented by the shaded area on the
diagram below.

c) Describe in words the event that is represented by the shaded area on the
diagram below.

10. Let A and B be events defined on the same sample space. Identify which of the statements
below are true and which are false.
a) If A and B are mutually exclusive then they are independent.
b) If A and B are independent then they are not mutually exclusive.
c) If A and B are independent, then the following is definitely true:

11. Suppose A and B are mutually exclusive events defined on the same sample space such that
𝑃(𝐴)=0.37 and 𝑃(𝐵)=𝑐.
a) What is the maximum value of 𝑐?
b) What is 𝑃(𝐴|𝐵)?
12. Suppose A and B are two events defined on the same sample space such that
𝑃(𝐴) = 0.4, 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 0.8, 𝑃(𝐵) = 𝑝
where 0 < 𝑝(. ) < 1.

a) What is the value of p if A and B are mutually exclusive?

b) What is the value of p if A and B are independent?

13. Ms Pitts and Mr Oduse are statistics lecturers. Ms Pitts spends 62% of her day in the stats
department. Mr Oduse spends 57% of his day in the stats department. Forty-two (42) percent
of the time Ms Pitts and Mr Oduse can both be found in the stats department.
a) What is the probability that only one of these lecturers will be in the stats department
when you go to have a consultation? Hint: Use the Theorem of total probability
b) What is the probability that neither of the two lecturers will be in the stats
department? Hint: De Morgan’s Law
c) What is the probability that only Mr Oduse will be in the stats department?
14. A businessman has two secretaries. The probability that the one hired most recently will be
absent on any given day is 0.08 and the probability that the other secretary will be absent on
any given day is 0.07. The probability that both secretaries will be absent on any given day is
0.01.
a) What is the probability that at least one of the secretaries is absent on any given day?
b) What is the probability that at least one of the secretaries comes to work on any given
day?
c) What is the probability that only one of the secretaries comes to work on any given
day?

15. In a study about eating habits, 150 people were randomly selected and asked their annual
household income and the number of times that they ate take-away food each month. The
information is summarized in the table below.
0 to 4 5 to 10 More than 10
Under R120000 27 7 2
R120000 to R240000 14 17 46
Over R240000 15 12 10
a) Suppose you randomly select a person and their annual household income is from
R120000 to R240000. What is the probability that they eat take-away food at least 5
times a month?
b) If a person who eats take-away twice a month is chosen, what is the probability that
their annual household income is at most R240000?

16. It has been found that 82% of land developers are currently experiencing financial
difficulties. Of those experiencing financial difficulties, 28% say that tax issues are a major
concern. If a land developer is randomly selected, what is the probability that he/she is
currently experiencing financial difficulties and says that tax issues are a major concern?

17. An urn contains 5 red balls, 3 white balls and 8 blue balls. You randomly select 3 balls to give
to a friend. What is the probability that the first ball you draw is blue, the second is red and
the third is white?
18. Sleep apnoea is a disorder that interrupts breathing and can awaken sufferers as often as five
times an hour. Sleep apnoea is not easily diagnosed because it usually causes loud snoring. It
is known that 13% of adults have sleep apnoea. Eighty-five (85) percent of adults that suffer
from sleep apnoea snore loudly, whereas only 42% of adults without sleep apnoea snore
loudly.
a) What is the probability that an adult does not have sleep apnoea?
b) What is the probability that an adult doesn’t snore loudly if it is known that he/she has
sleep apnoea?
c) What is the probability that an adult doesn’t snore loudly if it is known that he/she
doesn’t have sleep apnoea.
d) Suppose an adult complains to his/her doctor that his/her loud snoring is waking
him/her up often. What is the probability that this person has sleep apnoea?