UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

STA2020: INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS

TUTORIAL SHEET 2

1. Define the following terms and provide an example:

(a) sample space; (b) mutually exclusive events; (c) independent events.

2. Suppose that an experiment consists of tossing a coin three times and observing the sequence of heads
(H ) and tails (T ).
(a) Determine the sample space of the experiment.
(b) Let E be the event that exactly two tails appear in the three tosses. Write down the outcomes in E.
(c) Find P(E ).

3. A university has 750 female students and 2250 male students. Thirty per cent of female students study
chemistry and 60% of male students study it. If one student studying chemistry is chosen at random,
what is the probability that the student is female?

4. Suppose that A and B are mutually exclusive events with P( A) = 0.5 and P( B) = 0.2.
(a) What is the probability that either A or B will occur?
(b) What is the probability that neither A nor B will occur?

5. On a given afternoon, the probability that a certain manager will be in her office is 0.48 and the
probability that she will be in her home is 0.27. Assuming that the manager’s office and home are in
two different locations, find the probability that she will be neither in her office nor in her home on a
given afternoon.

6. A software consultant receives requests for assistance with statistical software packages, with each
request relating to a single package. Let A be the event that the next request for assistance relates to
SAS, and let B be the event that the next request for assistance relates to SPSS. If P( A) = 0.36 and
P( B) = 0.28, find
(a) P(A) (b) P(B) (c) P( A  B) (d) P( A  B)

7. A local bank reports that 80% of its customers have current accounts, 60% have savings accounts, and
50% have both types of accounts. If a customer is chosen at random, what is the probability she has a
current account or a savings account?

8. A survey of subscribers to Investors Choice magazine showed that 45% rented cars during the past 12
months for business reasons, 54% rented cars during the past 12 months for personal reasons, and 30%
rented cars during the past 12 months for both business and personal reasons.
(a) What is the probability that a subscriber rented a car during the past 12 months for either business
or personal reasons?
(b) What is the probability that a subscriber did not rent a car during the past 12 months for either
business or personal reasons?

9. A building construction firm presently has bids out on two government projects. Let
Ai = {firm is awarded project i}, for i = 1, 2. It is given that P( A1 ) = 0.22, P( A2 ) = 0.25, and
P( A1  A2 ) = 0.11. Express in words and find the following.
(a) P[( A1  A2 )] (b) P( A1  A2 ) (c) P( A1  A2 )

1
10. The results of a survey of 200 persons who purchased cellular phones during the last month are shown
by age group and gender below.
Female Male
Under 20 years 60 80
Over 20 years 20 40

Find the probability that a randomly selected person is

(a) over 20 years; (e) neither under 20 years nor female;
(b) not female; (f) male given that s/he is over 20 years;
(c) under 20 years and male; (g) under 20 years given that she is female.
(d) over 20 years or female;

11. On any particular day, 20% of car drivers purchase the morning newspaper, 10% purchase the evening
newspaper, and 25% purchase the morning newspaper or the evening newspaper. If a car driver is
chosen at random, find the probability that she purchases
(a) the morning newspaper and the evening newspaper;
(b) the evening newspaper given that she has purchased the morning newspaper;
(c) the morning newspaper given that she has purchased the evening newspaper.

12. The probability that a data-communication system will have high selectivity is 0.72, and the
probability that a system will have high fidelity given that it has high selectivity is 0.46. Find the
probability that a system will have both high selectivity and high fidelity.

13. At a data processing centre, the probability that a computer will be functional is 0.90, and the
probability that a job will be processed immediately upon submission given that a computer is
functional is 0.75. Determine the probability that a computer will be functional and that a job will be
processed immediately upon submission.

14. The computers of six lecturers in a certain department are to be replaced. Four of the lecturers have
selected desktop machines and the other two have selected laptop machines. Suppose that only two of
the machines can be set up on a particular day, and the two machines to be set up are randomly
selected from the six machines (four desktops plus two laptops). What is the probability that:
(a) both machines selected for set up are desktops? (b) both machines selected for set up are laptops?
(c) one desktop and one laptop are selected for set up? (d) at least one desktop is selected for set up?

15. An information technology firm has submitted independent bids on two separate contracts. The
probability of the firm winning the first contract is 0.4, and the probability of the firm winning the
second contract is 0.3. Find the probability that the firm wins
(a) both contracts; (b) neither contract; (c) only one contract; (d) at least one contract.

16. Three girls, Amy, Beth, and Carla, each works independently on a very difficult probability problem.
1 1 1
Their probabilities of solving the problem are , , and , respectively. Find the probability that
3 4 6
(a) the problem is not solved; (b) one and only one girl solves the problem.

17. A company has just introduced three products—products A, B, and C—into the market. The
probability that product A is successful is 0.40, the probability that product B is successful is 0.25, and
the probability that product C is successful is 0.60. Assuming independence, find the probability that
(a) products A and B are successful; (d) only product B is successful;
(b) all three products are successful; (e) two products are successful.
(c) none of the products are successful;
2