CAIE FP2 2015 June — Question 9

Exam BoardCAIE
ModuleFP2 (Further Pure Mathematics 2)
Year2015
SessionJune
TopicExponential Distribution
TypeLink Poisson to exponential

9 Cotton cloth is sold from long rolls of cloth. The number of flaws on a randomly chosen piece of cloth of length \(a\) metres has a Poisson distribution with mean \(0.8 a\). The random variable \(X\) is the length of cloth, in metres, between two successive flaws.
  1. Explain why, for \(x \geqslant 0 , \mathrm { P } ( X > x ) = \mathrm { e } ^ { - 0.8 x }\).
  2. Find the probability that there is at least one flaw in a 4 metre length of cloth.
  3. Find
    (a) the distribution function of \(X\),
    (b) the probability density function of \(X\),
    (c) the interquartile range of \(X\).