Math 483, HW7, Due , Wednesday September 27

1) Suppose that Y has density function


k y(1 y), if 0 y 1
f (y) =
0, otherwise.

a) Find the value of k that makes f (y) a probability density function.

b) Find P (0.4 Y 1).
c) Find P (Y 0.4|Y 0.8).

2) Suppose that Y has density function


c y, if 0 y 2
f (y) =
0, otherwise.

a) Find the value of c that makes f (y) a probability density function.

b) Find F (y).
c) Use F (y) to find P (1 Y 2).
3) The length of time to failure (in hundreds of hours) for a transistor is a random
variable Y with distribution function give by

0, y<0
F (y) = y 2
1e , y 0

a) Show that F (y) has the properties of a distribution function.

b) Find f (y).
c) Find the probability that the transistor operates at least 200 hours.
4) If Y has density function

(1/2)(2 y), if 0 y 2
f (y) =
0, otherwise,

find the mean and variance of Y .

5) If Y has density function

(3/2)y 2 + y, if 0 y 1
f (y) =
0, otherwise,

find the mean and variance of Y .

6) If Y is a continuous random variable with density function f (y), show that 2 =
V (Y ) = E(Y 2 ) [E(Y )]2 .

1
 7) If Y is a continuous random variable with mean and variance 2 and if a and b
are constants, prove the following.
a) E(aY + b) = aE(Y ) + b = a + b.
b) V (aY + b) = a2 V (Y ) = a2 2 .
8) Suppose Y has density function

k, if 2 y 2
f (y) =
0, otherwise.

a) Find the value of k.

b) Obtain the distribution function F (y) of Y .
9) The cycle time for trucks hauling concrete to a highway construction site is uni-
formly distributed over the interval 50 to 70 minutes. What is the probability that the
cycle time exceeds 65 minutes if it is known that the cycle time exceeds 55 minutes?
10) Refer to exercise 9, find the mean and variance of the cycle times for the trucks.
11) Use Table 4, Appendix III (the table is also located on the front of the book) to
find the following probabilities for a standard normal random variable Z:
a) P (0 Z 1.2)
b) P (0.9 Z 0)
c) P (0.3 Z 1.56)
d) P (0.2 Z 0.2)
e) P (1.56 Z 0.2)
12) The lifetime in hours of an electronic tube is a random variable having a probability
density function given by
f (x) = xex , x0
Compute the expected lifetime of such a tube.