CAIE S2 2012 November — Question 6

Exam BoardCAIE
ModuleS2 (Statistics 2)
Year2012
SessionNovember
TopicContinuous Probability Distributions and Random Variables
TypeFind parameter from expectation

6 Darts are thrown at random at a circular board. The darts hit the board at distances \(X\) centimetres from the centre, where \(X\) is a random variable with probability density function given by $$f ( x ) = \begin{cases} \frac { 2 } { a ^ { 2 } } x & 0 \leqslant x \leqslant a
0 & \text { otherwise } \end{cases}$$ where \(a\) is a positive constant.
  1. Verify that f is a probability density function whatever the value of \(a\). It is now given that \(\mathrm { E } ( X ) = 8\).
  2. Find the value of \(a\).
  3. Find the probability that a dart lands more than 6 cm from the centre of the board.