CHAPTER 7

Section 7.1

1.
a. implies that , so and the confidence
level is .

b. for , and .

c. 99.7% implies that , , and . (Look for cumulative

area .9985 in the main body of table A.3, the Z table.)

d. 75% implies , , and .

2.
a. The sample mean is the center of the interval, so .

b. The interval (114.4, 115.6) has the 90% confidence level. The higher confidence level
will produce a wider interval.

3.
a. A 90% confidence interval will be narrower. The z critical value for a 90% confidence
level is 1.645, smaller than the z of 1.96 for the 95% confidence level, thus producing a
narrower interval.

b. Not a correct statement. Once and interval has been created from a sample, the mean μ is
either enclosed by it, or not. We have 95% confidence in the general procedure, under
repeated and independent sampling.

c. Not a correct statement. The interval is an estimate for the population mean, not a
boundary for population values.

d. Not a correct statement. In theory, if the process were repeated an infinite number of
times, 95% of the intervals would contain the population mean μ. We expect 95 out of
100 intervals will contain μ, but we don’t know this to be true.

237
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

4.

a.

b.

c.

d. 82% confidence , so and the

interval is .

e. so n = 240.

5.

a. (4.52, 5.18).

b. , so the interval is (4.12, 5.00).

c. , so n = 55.

d. w = 2(.2) = .4, so , so n = 94.

6.

a. (8406.1, 8471.9).

b. so

238
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

7. If and we increase the sample size by a factor of 4, the new length is

. Thus halving the length requires n to be increased

fourfold. If , then , so the length is decreased by a factor of 5.

8.

a. With probability , . These inequalities can be

manipulated exactly as was done in the text to isolate ; the result is

, so a interval is

b. The usual 95% interval has length , while this interval will have length

. With and , the length is

which is longer.

9.

a. . From 5a, , , n = 20;

, so the interval is .

b.

c. ; From 4a, , , n = 25;

10.
a. When n = 15, has a chi-squared distribution with 30 d.f. From the 30 d.f. row
of Table A.6, the critical values that capture lower and upper tail areas of .025 (and thus a
central area of .95) are 16.791 and 46.979. An argument parallel to that given in
239
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

Example 7.5 gives as a 95% C. I. for Since

the interval is (2.69, 7.53).

b. A 99% confidence level requires using critical values that capture area .005 in each tail of
the chi-squared curve with 30 d.f.; these are 13.787 and 53.672, which replace 16.791 and
46.979 in a.

c. when X has an exponential distribution, so the standard deviation is , the

same as the mean. Thus the interval of a is also a 95% C.I. for the standard deviation of
the lifetime distribution.

11. Y is a binomial r.v. with n = 1000 and p = .95, so E(Y) = np = 950, the expected number of
intervals that capture , and . Using the normal approximation to the
binomial distribution, P(940  Y  960) = P(939.5  Ynormal  960.5) = P(-1.52  Z  1.52)
= .9357 - .0643 = .8714.

Section 7.2

12.

13.

a. = (608.58, 699.74). We are 95% confident

that the true average CO2 level in this population of homes with gas cooking appliances
is between 608.58ppm and 699.74ppm

b.  n = (13.72)2 = 188.24 ↑

189

240
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

14.

a. . Yes, this is a very narrow

interval. It appears quite precise.

b. .

15.
a. , and , so the confidence level is 80%.

b. , and , so the confidence level is 98%.

c. , and , so the confidence level is 75%.

16. n = 46, , s = 31.5; The 95% upper confidence bound =

17. . We are 99%

confident that the true average ultimate tensile strength is greater than 134.53.

18. 90% lower bound:

19. ; We calculate a 95% confidence interval for the proportion of all dies that
pass the probe:

241
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

20. Because the sample size is so large, the simpler formula (7.11) for the confidence interval for
p is sufficient.

21. ; the 95% lower confidence bound is:

22. ; the 99% upper confidence bound is:

23.
a. ; The 99% confidence interval for p is

b.

24. n = 56, , s = 1.42; For a 95% C.I., . The interval is

. We make no assumptions about the distribution

if percentage elongation.
25.

242
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

a.

b.

26. Using the quadratic equation to solve the limits gives the solutions

. For the data provided, n = 50 and =203/50 = 4.06.

Substituting these and Z = 1.96, we are 95% confident that the true value of λ is in the interval

= (3.54, 4.66). Note that for large n, this

is approximately equivalent to (since μ = σ2 = λ for the Poisson

distribution).

27. Note that the midpoint of the new interval is , which is roughly with a

confidence level of 95% and approximating . The variance of this quantity is

, or roughly . Now replacing p with , we have

; For clarity, let and , then

and the formula reduces to , the desired conclusion. For further discussion,

see the Agresti article.

243
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

Section 7.3

28.
a. 1.341
d. 1.684
b. 1.753
e. 2.704
c. 1.708

29.
a. d.

b. e.

c. f.

30.
a. d.

b. e.

c. f.

31.
a. d.

b. e.

c. f.

32. d.f. = n – 1 = 7, so the critical value for a 95% C.I. is . The interval is

244
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

33.
a. The boxplot indicates a very slight positive skew, with no outliers. The data appears to
center near 438.

b. Based on a normal probability plot, it is reasonable to assume the sample observations

came from a normal distribution.

c. With d.f. = n – 1 = 16, the critical value for a 95% C.I. is , and the

interval is .

Since 440 is within the interval, 440 is a plausible value for the true mean. 450, however,
is not, since it lies outside the interval.

34. n = 14, , s = .79;

a. A 95% lower confidence bound: . With

95% confidence, the value of the true mean proportional limit stress of all such joints is
greater than 8.11 MPa. We must assume that the sample observations were taken from a
normally distributed population.

b. A 95% lower prediction bound: .

If this bound is calculated for sample after sample, in the long run 95% of these bounds
will provide a lower bound for the corresponding future values of the proportional limit
stress of a single joint of this type.

245
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

35. n = 15, = 25.0, s = 3.5;

a. A 95% C.I. for the mean: = (23.1, 26.9)

b. A 95% Prediction Interval: = (17.3, 32.7). The

prediction interval is about 4 times wider than the confidence interval.

36. n = 26, , s = 24.36;

a. A 95% upper confidence bound:

b. A 95% upper prediction bound:

c. Following a similar argument as that on p. 300 of the text, we need to find the variance of
:

. We eventually arrive at t

distribution with n – 1 d.f., so the new prediction interval is . For

this situation, we have

37.
a. A 95% C.I. :

b. A 95% P.I. :

c. A tolerance interval is requested, with k = 99, confidence level 95%, and n = 20. The
tolerance critical value, from Table A.6, is 3.615. The interval is
.

246
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

38. n = 25, , s = .0065

a. 95% P.I. : .

b. 99% Tolerance Interval, with k = 95, critical value 2.972 (table A.6):
.

39.
a.

Based on the above plot, generated by Minitab, it is plausible that the population
distribution is normal.

b. We require a tolerance interval. (from table A6, with 95% confidence, k = 95, and n=13,
the tcv = 3.081.

c. A prediction interval, with :

247
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

40.
a. We need to assume the samples came from a normally distributed population.

b. A Normal Probability plot, generated by Minitab:

The very small p-value indicates that the population distribution from which this data was
taken is most likely not normal.

c. Despite the apparent lack of normality, we will proceed with a 95% lower prediction
bound: with df = 153-1 = 152, we estimate t = -1.98:

41. The 20 d.f. row of Table A.5 shows that 1.725 captures upper tail area .05 and 1.325 captures
upper tail area .10 The confidence level for each interval is 100(central area)%. For the first
interval, central area = 1 – sum of tail areas = 1 – (.25 + .05) = .70, and for the second and
third intervals the central areas are 1 – (.20 + .10) = .70 and 1 – (.15 + .15) = 70. Thus each
interval has confidence level 70%. The width of the first interval is

, whereas the widths of the second and third intervals are 2.185

and 2.128 standard errors respectively. The third interval, with symmetrically placed critical
values, is the shortest, so it should be used. This will always be true for a t interval.

248
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

Section 7.4

42.
a. (.1 column, 15 d.
d.f. row)
e. (from .99
b. column, 25 d.f. row)

c. f.

43.
a. b.

c. Since and , .

d. Since and , P(χ2 < 14.611 or χ2 > 37.652) =

1 – P(χ2 > 14.611) + P(χ2 > 37.652) = (1 – .95) + .05 = .10.

44. n – 1 = 8, , , so the 95% interval for is

. The 95% interval for is

45. n = 22 implies that d.f. = n – 1 = 21, so the .995 and .005 columns of Table A.7 give the
necessary chi-squared critical values as 8.033 and 41.399. and
, so . The interval for is

and that for is

Validity of this interval requires that fracture toughness be (at least approximately) normally
distributed.

46.
a. Using a normal probability plot, we ascertain that it is plausible that this sample was
taken from a normal population distribution.

b. With s = 1.579 , n = 15, and the 95% upper confidence bound for is

249
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

Supplementary Exercises

47.
a. n = 48, , s2 = 23.7017, and s = 4.868.
A 95% C.I. for = the true average strength is

b. . A 95% C.I. is

48. A 98% t C.I. requires . The interval is

49.
a. There appears to be a slight positive skew in the middle half of the sample, but the lower
whisker is much longer than the upper whisker. The extent of variability is rather
substantial, although there are no outliers.

b. The pattern of points in a normal probability plot is reasonably linear, so, yes, normality
is plausible.

c. n = 18, , s = 8.473, and . The 98% confidence interval is

250
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

50. the middle of the interval = To find s we use

, and solve for s. Here, n = 5, , and width = upper

limit – lower limit = 3.74. . So for a 99%

C.I., , and the interval is

51.
a. a 90% C.I. is

b.

use n = 1080

c. No, it gives a 95% upper bound.

52. n = 5, = 24.3, s = 4.1

a. t.025,4 = 2.776: = (19.21, 29.39). We are 95%

confident that the true average arsenic concentration in all such water specimens is
between 19.21 μg/L and 29.39 μg/L.

b. A 90% upper bound for σ, with , is = 7.95 μg/L

c. A 95% prediction interval is = (11.83, 36.77).

53. With , =

; is obtained by replacing each by and taking the square

251
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

root. The large-sample interval for is then

. For the given data, ,

, so the interval is .

54. a 90% C.I. is

55. The specified condition is that the interval be length .2, so ,

so n = 246 should be used.

56.
a. A normal probability plot lends support to the assumption that pulmonary compliance is
normally distributed. Note also that the lower and upper fourths are 192.3 and 228,1, so
the fourth spread is 35.8, and the sample contains no outliers.

b. , so the C.I. is

c. K = 95, n = 16, and the tolerance critical value is 2.903, so the 95% tolerance interval is
.

57. Proceeding as in Example 7.5 with Tr replacing , the C.I. for is

where In Example 6.7, n = 20, r = 10, and tr = 1115. With d.f.

= 20, the necessary critical values are 9.591 and 34.170, giving the interval (65.3, 232.5).
This is obviously an extremely wide interval. The censored experiment provides less
information about than would an uncensored experiment with n = 20.

252
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

58.
a.

, from which the confidence interval follows.

b. Since and the C.I. is (1.44, 3.54).

c.
= 1 – P( at most one XI is below ) – P(at most one XI exceeds )

Thus the confidence coefficient is , or in another way, a

confidence interval.

59.

a. . From the probability

statement, with probability , so taking the reciprocal

of each endpoint and interchanging gives the C.I. for .

b. with probability , so with probability

, which yields the interval .

c. It is easily verified that the interval of b is shorter – draw a graph of and verify
that the shortest interval which captures area under the curve is the rightmost such
interval, which leads to the C.I. of b. With n = 5, max(xI)=4.2; this yields (4.2,
7.65).

253
 Chapter 7: Statistical Intervals Based on a Single Sample

60. The length of the interval is , which is minimized when is

minimized, i.e. when is minimized. Taking and equating

to 0 yields where is the standard normal p.d.f., whence

61. the lower and upper fourths are 73.5 and 79.7, respectively, and The

robust interval is .

, s = 5.037, and , so the t interval is

. The t interval is centered

at , which is pulled out to the right of by the single mild outlier 93.7; the interval widths
are comparable.

62.
a. Since has a chi-squared distribution with 2n d.f. and the area under this chi-
squared curve to the right of is .95, . This implies

that is a lower confidence bound for with confidence coefficient 95%. Table

A.7 gives the chi-squared critical value for 20 d.f. as 10.851, so the bound is

. We can be 95% confident that exceeds .0098.

b. Arguing as in a, . The following inequalities are equivalent

to the one in parentheses:

Replacing the by in the expression on the right hand side of the last inequality
gives a 95% lower confidence bound for . Substituting t = 100,
and gives .058 as the lower bound for the probability that time until
breakdown exceeds 100 minutes.

254