Statistics 235 – Homework #1 Solutions – Fall 2017

SOLUTIONS TO HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT 1

6.2.4 Starting at 15 with bin widths of 5, the histogram for the data obtained with Excel is below:

(a) The histogram shows three observations separated from the main body of data. A glance at
the data set allows for identifying them; 51 and 59 are potential outliers and 71 is certainly an
outlier.

Note: If students use different bin widths, the value of 51 may be missed. If the other two are
identified and no errors are made, than full marks can be awarded.

(b) The histogram appears to be right-skewed due to the outliers mentioned above.

(c) There are 5students with completion times above 40 (42, 45, 51, 59, 71).

6.3.3 The requested summaries statistics can be either obtained by hand or with Excel. The summaries
obtained by hand are shown below:

The sample mean: 36.680

The sample median: 34
The sample standard deviation: 10.950. Indeed, the sample variance can be calculated from the
formula below.

1  ( xi ) 2  1  (917) 2  2877.440
s2   i       119.893
2
x  36513
n  1  n  25  1  25  24

Taking the square root of the above value, we obtain the sample standard deviation of 10.950.
Students are allowed to use a calculator to obtain the value directly (no need to show detailed
calculations).

Lower Quartile (the average of the 6th and 7th observations in the ordered list): (32 + 32)/2 = 32.
Upper Quartile (the average of the 19th and 20th observations in the ordered list): (39 + 39)/2 = 39.

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 Statistics 235 – Homework #1 Solutions – Fall 2017

In order to obtain the requested summaries in Excel, we use Descriptive Statistics tool in Data
Analysis:

Times

Mean 36.68
Standard Error 2.189916
Median 34
Mode 34
Standard Deviation 10.94958
Sample Variance 119.8933
Kurtosis 3.394877
Skewness 1.531388
Range 50
Minimum 21
Maximum 71
Sum 917
Count 25

Quartiles can be obtained with the Insert Function tool in Excel 2010. For the QUARTILE.INC
procedure: First Quartile = 32, second quartile (median) = 34, and third quartile = 39. For the
QUARTILE.EXC, the three quartiles are respectively, 32, 34, and 39. The earlier versions of
Excel provide the values only for the former procedure. Students can report the values for at least
one of the above procedures or obtain the quartiles by hand as shown on page 1.

In some datasets, there may be a discrepancy between the values of the quartiles obtained with
Excel (QUARTILE function) and hand calculations. This is due to the fact that Excel uses slightly
different procedures to obtain the quartiles.

In order to draw a boxplot for the data, let us determine whether there are any outliers. The
interquartile range is 39 – 32 = 7. The outliers in the data set (if any) are any observations that are
smaller than 32 – 1.5*7 = 21.5 or larger than 39 + 1.5*7 = 49.5. Thus, there is one lower outlier
(21) and three upper outliers (51, 59, and 71).

The boxplot should look like the one displayed below:

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 Statistics 235 – Homework #1 Solutions – Fall 2017

1.2.4 P(costs will decrease) = 1 – (0.03 + 0.18) = 1 – 0.21 = 0.79

P(costs will not increase) = 1 – 0.03 = 0.97

1.2.12 The sample space S consists of 16 equally likely outcomes:

S = {(H,H,H,H), (T,H,H,H), (H,T,H,H), (H,H,T,H), (H,H,H,T), (T,T,H,H), (T,H,T,H), (T,H,H,T),

(H,H,T,T), (H,T,H,T), (H,T,T,H), (T,T,T,H), (T,T,H,T), (T,H,T,T), (H,T,T,T), (T,T,T,T)}

The event A = “three heads obtained in succession” consists of the three outcomes.

A = {(H,H,H,H), (T,H,H,H), (H,H,H,T)}

Thus, the probability of A is P(A) = 3/16.

Note: If students obtain the probability of “exactly three heads obtained in succession”, the
2 1
probability is  . However, this answer is not exactly the answer to the question and 1 point
16 8
(out of 2) should be awarded for such an answer.

1.3.4 (a) A B = people that are female and have black hair

(b) A C  = people that are female or do not have brown eyes

(c) A B C = people that are not females and have black hair and brown eyes

(d) A B C  = people that are females with either black hair or brown eyes or both

1.4.8 (a) Over a four-year period, including one leap year, the total number of days is

(3 × 365) + 366 = 1461

Of these, 4 × 12 = 48 days occur on the first day of a month, so the probability that a birthday falls
48
on the first day of a month is  0.0329 .
1461

(b) Since 4 × 31 = 124 days occur in March, of which 4 days are March 1st, the probability that a
4 1
birthday falls on March 1st, conditional that it is in March is   0.0323 .
124 31

(c) Since (3 × 28) + 29 = 113 days occur in February, of which 4 days are Feb. 1 st, the probability
4
that a birthday falls on Feb. 1st, conditional that it is in February is  0.0354 .
113

1.4.12 Let A be the event that the gene is of type A and let D be the event that the gene is dominant.
P( D | A)  0.31 P( A D)  0.22
P( A D) 0.22
P( A)  1  P( A)  1   1  0.290
P( D | A) 0.31

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 Statistics 235 – Homework #1 Solutions – Fall 2017

Note: For the following two questions 1.5.9 and 1.5.10, students should also have appropriate
representations of a probability tree. Using the same tree for both questions is acceptable. Partial tree
diagram (when the first bulb is broken) is shown below:

1st Draw 2nd Draw 3rd Draw Outcome

Broken (Broken, Broken, Broken)

Broken
Broken Not Broken (Broken, Broken, Not Broken)
Not Broken …
Not Broken …

88 87 86 2494
1.5.9 P(no broken bulbs)      0.679
100 99 98 3675

P(one broken bulb)  P(broken, not broken, not broken) 

P(not broken, broken, not broken)  P(not broken, not broken, broken)
 12 88 87   88 12 87   88 87 12 
           0.284
 100 99 98   100 99 98   100 99 98 

P(no more than one broken bulb in the sample)

 P(no broken bulbs)  P(one broken bulb)
 0.679  0.284  0.963

88 88 88
1.5.10 P(no broken bulbs)     0.681
100 100 100

P(one broken bulb)  P(broken, not broken, not broken) 

P(not broken, broken, not broken)  P(not broken, not broken, broken)
 12 88 88   88 12 88   88 88 12 
           0.277
 100 100 100   100 100 100   100 100 100 

P(no more than one broken bulb in the sample)

 P(no broken bulbs)  P(one broken bulb)
 0.681  0.277  0.960

The probability of finding no broken bulbs increases with replacement, but the probability of
finding no more than one broken bulb decreases with replacement.

1.5.16 The question provides the following inequality for which n should be solved.

1  (1  0.90)n  0.995
0.005  (0.10)n
ln(0.005)  ln(0.10)n
ln(0.005)  n ln(0.10)
ln(0.005)
 n (sign reverses since ln(0.10) is a negative number)
ln(0.10)
n≥3

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 Statistics 235 – Homework #1 Solutions – Fall 2017

100! 100  99  98
1.7.8 (a) C3100    161,700
97!  3! 6

88! 88  87  86
(b) C388    109,736
85!  3! 6

109,736
(c) P(no broken lightbulbs) =  0.679
161,700

88  87
(d) 12  C288  12   45,936
2

109,736  45,936 155,672

(e) P(no more than one broken lightbulb) =   0.963
161,700 161,700

1.7.10 (a) The total number of possible 5-card hands is C552  2,598,960 .

(b) The total number of possible 5-card hands with all hearts is C513  1287 .

(c) Using (b) and the fact that there are 4 suits, the total number of possible 5-card hands with all
cards from the same suit is C14  C513  4 1287  5148 .

5148
(d) Using (a) and (c), P(flush)   0.00198 .
2,598,960

(e) Since the first four cards are each an ace, the total number of possible 5-card hands with all
four aces is C44  C148  1 48  48 .

(f) Similar to (c), the total number of possible 5-card hands with four cards of the same number or
picture is C113  C44  C148  13 1 48  624 .

624
(g) Using (a) and (f), P(four of a kind)   0.000240 .
2,598,960

Marking Schema:

6.2.4 (a) 2
(b) 1
(c) 1
6.3.3 10 sample mean: 1, sample median: 1, sample standard dev.: 2, upper quartile: 1, lower
quartile: 1, boxplot: 4
1.2.4 2
1.2.12 3
1.3.4 (a) 1
(b) 1
(c) 1
(d) 1
1.4.8 (a) 3
(b) 2
(c) 2

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 Statistics 235 – Homework #1 Solutions – Fall 2017

1.4.12 3
1.5.9 6 (2 for tree, 2 for each question)
1.5.10 8 (2 for tree, 2 for each question, 2 for comparison)
1.5.16 3
1.7.8 (a) 1
(b) 1
(c) 1
(d) 1
(e) 1
1.7.10 (a) 1
(b) 1
(c) 1
(d) 1
(e) 1
(f) 1
(g) 1

TOTAL = 62