CAIE S2 2015 June — Question 5

Exam BoardCAIE
ModuleS2 (Statistics 2)
Year2015
SessionJune
TopicCentral limit theorem
TypeSampling method explanation

5 The mean breaking strength of cables made at a certain factory is supposed to be 5 tonnes. The quality control department wishes to test whether the mean breaking strength of cables made by a particular machine is actually less than it should be. They take a random sample of 60 cables. For each cable they find the breaking strength by gradually increasing the tension in the cable and noting the tension when the cable breaks.
  1. Give a reason why it is necessary to take a sample rather then testing all the cables produced by the machine.
  2. The mean breaking strength of the 60 cables in the sample is found to be 4.95 tonnes. Given that the population standard deviation of breaking strengths is 0.15 tonnes, test at the \(1 \%\) significance level whether the population mean breaking strength is less than it should be.
  3. Explain whether it was necessary to use the Central Limit theorem in the solution to part (ii).