Edexcel S3 2007 June — Question 7

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleS3 (Statistics 3)
Year2007
SessionJune
TopicLinear combinations of normal random variables
TypeDirect comparison of two variables

7. A set of scaffolding poles come in two sizes, long and short. The length \(L\) of a long pole has the normal distribution \(\mathrm { N } \left( 19.7,0.5 ^ { 2 } \right)\). The length \(S\) of a short pole has the normal distribution \(\mathrm { N } \left( 4.9,0.2 ^ { 2 } \right)\). The random variables \(L\) and \(S\) are independent. A long pole and a short pole are selected at random.
  1. Find the probability that the length of the long pole is more than 4 times the length of the short pole. Four short poles are selected at random and placed end to end in a row. The random variable \(T\) represents the length of the row.
  2. Find the distribution of \(T\).
  3. Find \(\mathrm { P } ( | L - T | < 0.1 )\).