Handout 2 Book List

Probability
S E Hodge, M L Seed, Statistics and Probability (Blackie Chambers)
A M Arthurs, Probability Theory (Routledge & Kegan Paul)
E Kreyszig, Advanced Engineering Mathematics (Wiley)
K A Stroud, Engineering Mathematics (MacMillan)
W Feller, An Introduction to Probability Theory and its Applications (Wiley)
D Stirzaker, Probability and Random Variables: A Beginners Guide (CUP)
S M Ross, A first course in Probability (Prentice Hall).
Mechanics
N Lamb, Statics (CUP)
A S Ramsey, Statics (CUP)
C Collinson & T Roper, Particle Mechanics (Arnold)
R Douglas Gregory, Classical Mechanics (Cambridge)
P Dyke & R Whitworth, Guide to Mechanics (Macmillan)
R C Smith & P Smith, Mechanics (Wiley)
M Lunn, A first course in Mechanics (OUP)
J L Synge & B A Griffith, Principles of Mechanics (McGraw Hill)
K R Symon, Mechanics (Addison Wesley)
W Chester, Mechanics (George Allen & Unwin)
M B Glauert, Principles of Dynamics (Routledge & Kegan Paul).
Both
L Bostock & S Chandler, Mathematics Mechanics and Probability (ST(P))
L Bostock & S Chandler, Further Mechanics and Probability (ST(P))
Note that the book by Gregory, while slightly too advanced in places, will also be suitable for MATH1302
and MATH2302.

MATH1301
Example Sheet 2.
Questions 1, 2, 5 and 7 due in Tuesday 23 October 2007.
1. A set consists of ten objects labelled 1 to 10. Three objects are selected. Find the probability that
(i) the largest; (ii) the smallest object number will be 5.
2. A fair coin is spun five times. Find the probability that: (i) there are exactly two heads; (ii) there
will be at least two heads; (iii) no two consecutive spins will have the same result.
3. A man tosses a penny eight times. For each head he moves 1 metre northwards and for each tail
he moves 1 metre southwards. Find the probability that (i) he will end up at his starting point
(ii) he will end up more than 3 metres from his starting point.
4. A woman with n keys wants to open her door and tries the keys independently. Find the expected
number of trials (i) if unsuccessful keys are not eliminated from further selections; (ii) if they are.
5. If there are on average 1% left-handed people, estimate the chances of having at least 4 left-handers
among 200 people. (Use Poisson).
6. A manufacturer produces airmail envelopes whose weight is normally distributed with means =
1.950 grams and standard deviation = 0.025 grams. The envelopes are sold in lots of 1000. How
many envelopes in a lot will be heavier than 2 grams?
7. The probability density function for the normal distribution with mean and standard deviation
is given by
"

2 #
1
1 x
f (x) =
exp
.
2

2
Using a change of variables z = (x )/, calculate:
Z
f (x) dx
and

xf (x) dx.

You may use the fact that

Z

1
exp u2 du = 2.
2

Extra examples for practice.

8. A fair coin tossed 6 times constitutes one trial of an experiment. In a sequence of such trials, what
proportion of the outcomes will contain three heads and three tails?
9. One trial of an experiment consists of throwing two fair dice independently and the possible outcomes are represented by (i, j) with i, j = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. If a sequence of n such trials is carried
out, find the probability that the nth trial will be the first one for which i + j = 9.
10. The flow of traffic at a certain street crossing is described by saying that the probability of a car
passing during any given second is a constant p, and that there is no interaction between the passing
of cars at different seconds. Treating seconds as individual time units, the model of Bernoulli trials
applies. Suppose that a pedestrian can cross the street only if no car is to pass in the next three
seconds. Find the probabilities that the pedestrian has to wait for exactly k = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 seconds.
11. Vehicles pass a point on a busy road at an average rate of 300 per hour. Find the probability that
none pass in a given minute. What is the expected number passing in two minutes? Find the
probability that this expected number actually pass in a given two-minute period.