OCR S2 2016 June — Question 6

Exam BoardOCR
ModuleS2 (Statistics 2)
Year2016
SessionJune
TopicPoisson Distribution
TypeState conditions only

6 The number of cars passing a point on a single-track one-way road during a one-minute period is denoted by \(X\). Cars pass the point at random intervals and the expected value of \(X\) is denoted by \(\lambda\).
  1. State, in the context of the question, two conditions needed for \(X\) to be well modelled by a Poisson distribution.
  2. At a quiet time of the day, \(\lambda = 6.50\). Assuming that a Poisson distribution is valid, calculate \(\mathrm { P } ( 4 \leqslant X < 8 )\).
  3. At a busy time of the day, \(\lambda = 30\).
    (a) Assuming that a Poisson distribution is valid, use a suitable approximation to find \(\mathrm { P } ( X > 35 )\). Justify your approximation.
    (b) Give a reason why a Poisson distribution might not be valid in this context when \(\lambda = 30\).