Study Material (from GATE)

1. For a discrete random variable X , ran ( X )  {0, 1, 2, 3} and the cumulative probability
F ( X ) is shown below:

X 0 1 2 3
F(X) 0.5 0.6 0.8 1
The mean value of X is ______________.
Answer: 1.1
The pmf table of X is

X 0 1 2 3 Total
f(X) 0.5 0.6-0.5 0.8-0.6 1-0.8 1
= 0.1 = 0.2 =0.2
Mean of X = 0 × 0.5 + 1 × 0.1 +2 × 0.2 + 3 × 0.2 = 1.1

2. Assume that in a traffic junction, the cycle of the traffic signal lights is 2 minutes of green
(vehicle does not stop) and 3 minutes of red (vehicle stops). Consider that the arrival time of
the vehicles time at the junction is uniformly distributed over a 5 minutes cycle. The expected
waiting time (in minutes) for the vehicle at the junction is _____.

Answer: 0.9
1
The pdf of the waiting time (x ) is f ( x)  ,0  x  3
5
3
1  x2 
3 3
1
Expected waiting time   xf ( x)dx   xdx     0.9 min .
0
50 5  2 0

3. For the function f ( x)  a  bx, 0  x  1, to be a valid probability density function, which

one of the following is correct?
(A) a  1, b  4 (B) a  0.5, b  1
(C) a  0, b  1 (D) a  1, b  1

Answer: (B)
1

 a  bxdx  1  a  2  1. The relation is satisfied by (B) only.

b
0

1
4. The variance of the random variable X with probability density function f ( x)  | x | e | x|
2
is _______.
Answer: 6
f (x ) is an even function of x as f ( x)  f ( x) xf (x ) is an odd function of x and x 2 f ( x) is
 
an even function of x E ( x)   xf ( x)dx  0,

 
1
E ( x )   x f ( x)dx 2.  x 3 e  x dx  4  3! 6
2 2


20

5. The probability density function of evaporation E on any day during a year in a

1 / 5, 0  E  5 mm / day
watershed is given by f ( E )  
0, otherwise
The probability that E lies in between 2 and 4 mm/day in a day in the watershed is (in
decimal)__________
Answer: 0.4
4 4
f ( E )dE   dE  4  2  0.4
1 1
P(2  E  4)  
2
52 5

6. Consider the following probability mass function (p.m.f.) of a random variable X :

q if X  0

p( x, q)  1  q if X  1 If q = 0.4, the variance of
0, otherwise

X is ________. [CE 2015] Answer: 0.24
E ( X )  0.q  1.(1  q)  1  q  0.6 E ( X )  0 .q  1 .(1  q)  1  q  0.6
2 2 2

 
var( X )  E X 2  E ( X )  0.6  (0.6) 2  0.24
2

7. The annual precipitation data of a city is normally distributed with mean and standard
deviation 1000 mm and 200 mm respectively. The probability that the annual precipitation
is more than 1200 mm is _____
 X  1000 1200  1000 
P( X  1200)  P    P( Z  1)  P(1  z  )  0.5  50%
 200 200 
[As P(0 < z < ∞) = 0.5]

8. Let X be a random variable which is uniformly chosen from the set of positive odd
numbers less than 100. The expectation E[X] is __________.
Answer: 50

The positive odd integers less than 100 are 1, 3, 5, ----, 99.
Total number of observations = 50 and the probability of occurrence of any of the
1 1 1 1 1
observations = p   E ( X )   px  .1  .3      .99
n 50 50 50 50


1
1  3  5      99  1  50 1  99  50
50 50 2

9.A machine produces 0, 1 or 2 defective pieces in a day with associated probability of 1/6,
2/3 and 1/6, respectively. The mean value and the variance of the number of defective pieces
produced by the machine in a day, respectively, are
1 1 4 1 4
(A) 1 & (B) & 1 (C) 1 & (D) &
3 3 3 3 3

Answer: (A)
Let x denotes the number of defective pieces produced in a day.
The probability distribution of x :

x 0 1 2 Total
p( x ) 1/6 2/3 1/6 1
1 2 1
Mean of x     x. p ( x)  0.  1.  2.  1
6 3 6
1 2 1 1
Variance of x =   x 2 . p ( x)   2  0.  1.  4.  12 
6 3 6 3

10. Let X be a Gaussian random variable with mean 0 and variance  2 . Let Y  max( X ,0)
where max( a, b) is the maximum of a and b. Then the median of Y is ______.
Answer: 0
Half of the values of Y are in the left of the mean X  0 and the remaining half of the values
of Y is to the right of the mean X  0. So, the median of Y is 0.

11. Let the random variable X represents the number of times a fair coin needs to be tossed
till two consecutive heads appear for the first time. The expectation of X is ___________
Answer: 1.5
1 1 1
The outcomes will be HH, P(X = 2) =  
2 2 4
1 1 1 1
THH, P(X = 3) =   
2 2 2 8
1 1 1 1 1
TTHH, P(X = 4) =     ----------
2 2 2 2 16
1 1 1
Required expectation  2   3   4     
4 8 16
1 1 1 1  1  1 1  
 2   3   4      1  2   3       1  1.5
2  2 2 2
2 3  2 
 2 2 2
 

12. In a company with 100 employees, 45 earn Rs. 20,000 per month, 25 earn Rs. 30,000, 20
earn Rs. 40,000, 8 earn Rs. 60,000 and 2 earn Rs. 1,50,000. The median of the salaries (in
Rs.) is
(A) 20,000 (B) 30,000 (C) 32,300 (D) 40,000
Answer: (B)
The total salaries of different class of employees are (in Rs.)
45 × 20,000, 25 × 30,000, 20 × 40,000, 8 × 60,000, 2 × 1,50,000 = 9,00,000, 7,50,000,
8,00,000, 4,80,000, 3,00,000
When the data is arranged in increasing order
9,00,000, 8,00,000 7,50,000, 4,80,000, 3,00,000
The data in the mid position is 7,50,000 which corresponds to salary Rs. 30,000.

13. Students taking an exam are divided into two groups, P and Q such that each group has
the same number of students. The performance of each of the students in a test was evaluated
out of 200 marks. It was observed that the mean of group P was 105, while that of group Q
was 85. The standard deviation of group P was 25, while that of group Q was 5. Assuming
that the marks were distributed on a normal distribution, which of the following statements
will have the highest probability of being TRUE?
(A) No student in group Q scored less marks than any student in group P.
(B) No student in group P scored less marks than any student in group Q.
(C) Most students of group Q scored marks in a narrower range than students in group P.
(D) The median of the marks of group P is 100.
Answer: (C)
Coefficient of variation (C.V.) = {(S.D./mean) × 100}%
For group P, C.V. (V1 )   
25
 100 %  23.8%
 105 
 5 
For group Q, C.V. (V2 )    100 %  5.88%
 85 
As V2  V1 so, most students of group Q scored marks in a narrower range than students in
group P.
14. In a class of 100 students, (i) there are 30 students who neither like romantic movies nor
comedy movies, (ii) the number of students who like romantic movies is twice the number of
students who like comedy movies, and (iii) the number of students who like both romantic
movies and comedy movies is 20. How many students in the class like romantic movies?
(A) 40 (B) 20 (C) 60 (D) 30
15. What is the smallest number with distinct digits whose digits adds up to 45?
(A) 123555789 (B) 123457869 (C) 123456789 (D) 99999
Ans. (C)
Given : The smallest number with distinct digits whose digits adds up to 45 (A) 99999, the
digits of this number are not distinct, so it is not correct. (B) 123457869, the digits of this
number are distinct, so it is correct. (C) 123456789, the digits of this number are distinct, so it
is correct. (D) 123555789, the digits of this number are not distinct, so it is not correct.