Suppose p is the number of cars per minute passing through a certain road…

2013

Suppose p is the number of cars per minute passing through a certain road junction between 5 PM and 6 PM, and p has a Poisson distribution with mean 3. What is the probability of observing fewer than 3 cars during any given minute in this interval?

Answer: C. 17 / (2e3)We want P(X < 3) for X ~ Poisson(mean = 3), so compute P(X=0)+P(X=1)+P(X=2). P(X=0) = e^-3 * 3^0 / 0! = e^-3 ≈ 0.0497871 P(X=1) = e^-3 * 3^1 / 1! = 3 e^-3 ≈…

  1. A.

    8 / (2e3)

  2. B.

    9 / (2e3)

  3. C.

    17 / (2e3)

  4. D.

    26 / (2e3)

Attempted by 45 students.

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Correct answer: C

We want P(X < 3) for X ~ Poisson(mean = 3), so compute P(X=0)+P(X=1)+P(X=2).

  • P(X=0) = e^-3 * 3^0 / 0! = e^-3 ≈ 0.0497871

  • P(X=1) = e^-3 * 3^1 / 1! = 3 e^-3 ≈ 0.1493613

  • P(X=2) = e^-3 * 3^2 / 2! = (9/2) e^-3 = 4.5 e^-3 ≈ 0.2240420

Sum: P(X<3) = e^-3(1 + 3 + 9/2) = (17/2) e^-3 = 17/(2 e^3) ≈ 0.42319

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