2.04b Binomial distribution: as model B(n,p)

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Edexcel S2 2024 January Q3
12 marks Standard +0.3
  1. Rowan believes that \(35 \%\) of type \(A\) vacuum tubes shatter when exposed to alternating high and low temperatures.
Rowan takes a random sample of 15 of these type \(A\) vacuum tubes and uses a two-tailed test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, to test his belief.
  1. Give two assumptions, in context, that Rowan needs to make for a binomial distribution to be a suitable model for the number of these type \(A\) vacuum tubes that shatter when exposed to alternating high and low temperatures.
  2. Using a binomial distribution, find the critical region for the test. You should state the probability of rejection in each tail, which should be as close as possible to 0.025
  3. Find the actual level of significance of the test based on your critical region from part (b) Rowan records that in the latest batch of 15 type \(A\) vacuum tubes exposed to alternating high and low temperatures, 4 of them shattered.
  4. With reference to part (b), comment on Rowan's belief. Give a reason for your answer. Rowan changes to type \(B\) vacuum tubes. He takes a random sample of 40 type \(B\) vacuum tubes and finds that 8 of them shatter when exposed to alternating high and low temperatures.
  5. Test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not there is evidence that the proportion of type \(B\) vacuum tubes that shatter when exposed to alternating high and low temperatures is lower than \(35 \%\) You should state your hypotheses clearly.
Edexcel S2 2024 January Q6
9 marks Moderate -0.3
  1. A bag contains a large number of counters with an odd number or an even number written on each.
Odd and even numbered counters occur in the ratio \(4 : 1\) In a game a player takes a random sample of 4 counters from the bag.
The player scores
5 points for each counter taken that has an even number written on it
2 points for each counter taken that has an odd number written on it
The random variable \(X\) represents the total score, in points, from the 4 counters.
  1. Find the sampling distribution of \(X\) A random sample of \(n\) sets of 4 counters is taken. The random variable \(Y\) represents the number of these \(n\) sets that have a total score of exactly 14
  2. Calculate the minimum value of \(n\) such that \(\mathrm { P } ( Y \geqslant 1 ) > 0.95\)
Edexcel S2 2014 June Q1
7 marks Easy -1.2
  1. State the conditions under which the Poisson distribution may be used as an approximation to the binomial distribution. A farmer supplies a bakery with eggs. The manager of the bakery claims that the proportion of eggs having a double yolk is 0.009 The farmer claims that the proportion of his eggs having a double yolk is more than 0.009
  2. State suitable hypotheses for testing these claims. In a batch of 500 eggs the baker records 9 eggs with a double yolk.
  3. Using a suitable approximation, test at the \(5 \%\) level of significance whether or not this supports the farmer's claim.
Edexcel S2 2014 June Q4
12 marks Standard +0.3
4. Pieces of ribbon are cut to length \(L \mathrm {~cm}\) where \(L \sim \mathrm {~N} \left( \mu , 0.5 ^ { 2 } \right)\)
  1. Given that \(30 \%\) of the pieces of ribbon have length more than 100 cm , find the value of \(\mu\) to the nearest 0.1 cm . John selects 12 pieces of ribbon at random.
  2. Find the probability that fewer than 3 of these pieces of ribbon have length more than 100 cm . Aditi selects 400 pieces of ribbon at random.
  3. Using a suitable approximation, find the probability that more than 127 of these pieces of ribbon will have length more than 100 cm .
Edexcel S2 2014 June Q5
7 marks Standard +0.3
5. A company claims that \(35 \%\) of its peas germinate. In order to test this claim Ann decides to plant 15 of these peas and record the number which germinate.
    1. State suitable hypotheses for a two-tailed test of this claim.
    2. Using a \(5 \%\) level of significance, find an appropriate critical region for this test. The probability in each of the tails should be as close to \(2.5 \%\) as possible.
  1. Ann found that 8 of the 15 peas germinated. State whether or not the company's claim is supported. Give a reason for your answer.
  2. State the actual significance level of this test.
Edexcel S2 2024 June Q4
10 marks Standard +0.3
4 A bag contains 50 counters, each with one of the numbers 4,7 or 10 written on it in the ratio \(2 : 3 : 5\) respectively. A random sample of 2 counters is taken from the bag. The numbers on the 2 counters are recorded as \(D _ { 1 }\) and \(D _ { 2 }\) The random variable \(M\) represents the mean of \(D _ { 1 }\) and \(D _ { 2 }\)
  1. Show that \(\mathrm { P } ( M = 4 ) = \frac { 9 } { 245 }\)
  2. Find the sampling distribution of \(M\) A random sample of \(n\) sets of 2 counters is taken. The random variable \(T\) represents the number of these \(n\) sets of 2 counters that have a mean of 4 Given that each set of 2 counters is replaced after it is drawn,
  3. calculate the minimum value of \(n\) such that \(\mathrm { P } ( T = 0 ) < 0.15\)
Edexcel S2 2024 June Q5
12 marks Standard +0.3
5 A receptionist receives incoming telephone calls and should connect them to the appropriate department. The probability of them being connected to the wrong department on the first attempt is 0.05 A random sample of 8 calls is taken.
  1. Find the probability that at least 2 of these calls are connected to the wrong department on the first attempt. The receptionist receives 1000 calls each day.
  2. Use a Poisson approximation to find the probability that exactly 45 callers are connected to the wrong department on the first attempt in a day. The total time, \(T\) seconds, taken for a call to be answered by a department has a continuous uniform distribution over the interval [10,50]
  3. Find \(\mathrm { P } ( T > 16 )\) The number of calls the receptionist receives in a one-minute interval is modelled by a Poisson distribution with mean 6 The receptionist receives a call from Jia and tries to connect it to the right department.
  4. Find the probability that in the next 40 seconds Jia's call is answered by the right department on the first attempt and the receptionist has received no other calls.
Edexcel S2 2016 October Q3
10 marks Moderate -0.3
  1. A large number of students sat an examination. All of the students answered the first question. The first question was answered correctly by \(40 \%\) of the students.
In a random sample of 20 students who sat the examination, \(X\) denotes the number of students who answered the first question correctly.
  1. Write down the distribution of the random variable \(X\)
  2. Find \(\mathrm { P } ( 4 \leqslant X < 9 )\) Students gain 7 points if they answer the first question correctly and they lose 3 points if they do not answer it correctly.
  3. Find the probability that the total number of points scored on the first question by the 20 students is more than 0
  4. Calculate the variance of the total number of points scored on the first question by a random sample of 20 students.
Edexcel S2 2016 October Q7
8 marks Standard +0.3
  1. An ice cream shop sells a large number of 1 scoop, 2 scoop and 3 scoop ice cream cones to its customers in the ratio \(5 : 2 : 1\)
A random sample of 2 customers at the ice cream shop is taken. Each customer orders a 1 scoop or a 2 scoop or a 3 scoop ice cream cone. Let \(S\) represent the total number of ice cream scoops ordered by these 2 customers.
  1. Find the sampling distribution of \(S\) A random sample of \(n\) customers at the ice cream shop is taken. Each customer orders a 1 scoop or a 2 scoop or a 3 scoop ice cream cone. The probability that more than \(n\) scoops of ice cream are ordered by these customers is greater than 0.99
  2. Find the smallest possible value of \(n\)
    \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}]{4ecee051-3a6f-4c12-8c53-926e8c3e241f-28_2632_1828_121_121}
Edexcel S2 2017 October Q1
9 marks Standard +0.3
  1. A shop sells rods of nominal length 200 cm . The rods are bought from a manufacturer who uses a machine to cut rods of length \(L \mathrm {~cm}\), where \(L \sim \mathrm {~N} \left( \mu , 0.2 ^ { 2 } \right)\)
The value of \(\mu\) is such that there is only a \(5 \%\) chance that a rod, selected at random from those supplied to the shop, will have length less than 200 cm .
  1. Find the value of \(\mu\) to one decimal place. A customer buys a random sample of 8 of these rods.
  2. Find the probability that at least 3 of these rods will have length less than 200 cm . Another customer buys a random sample of 60 of these rods.
  3. Using a suitable approximation, find the probability that more than 5 of these rods will have length less than 200 cm .
Edexcel S2 2017 October Q2
18 marks Standard +0.3
2. The weekly sales, \(S\), in thousands of pounds, of a small business has probability density function $$\mathrm { f } ( s ) = \left\{ \begin{array} { c c } k ( s - 2 ) ( 10 - s ) & 2 < s < 10 \\ 0 & \text { otherwise } \end{array} \right.$$
  1. Use algebraic integration to show that \(k = \frac { 3 } { 256 }\)
  2. Write down the value of \(\mathrm { E } ( S )\)
  3. Use algebraic integration to find the standard deviation of the weekly sales. A week is selected at random.
  4. Showing your working, find the probability that this week's sales exceed \(\pounds 7100\) Give your answer to one decimal place. A quarter is defined as 12 consecutive weeks. The discrete random variable \(X\) is the number of weeks in a quarter in which the weekly sales exceed £7100 The manager earns a bonus at the following rates:
    \(\boldsymbol { X }\)Bonus Earned
    \(X \leqslant 5\)\(\pounds 0\)
    \(X = 6\)\(\pounds 1000\)
    \(X \geqslant 7\)\(\pounds 5000\)
  5. Using your answer to part (d), calculate the manager's expected bonus per quarter.
Edexcel S2 2018 October Q2
13 marks Standard +0.3
  1. At a cafe, customers ordering hot drinks order either tea or coffee.
Of all customers ordering hot drinks, \(80 \%\) order tea and \(20 \%\) order coffee. Of those who order tea, \(35 \%\) take sugar and of those who order coffee \(60 \%\) take sugar.
  1. A random sample of 12 customers ordering hot drinks is selected. Find the probability that fewer than 3 of these customers order coffee.
    1. A randomly selected customer who orders a hot drink is chosen. Show that the probability that the customer takes sugar is 0.4
    2. Write down the distribution for the number of customers who take sugar from a random sample of \(n\) customers ordering hot drinks.
  2. A random sample of 10 customers ordering hot drinks is selected.
    1. Find the probability that exactly 4 of these 10 customers take sugar.
    2. Given that at least 3 of these 10 customers take sugar, find the probability that no more than 6 of these 10 customers take sugar.
  3. In a random sample of 150 customers ordering hot drinks, find, using a suitable approximation, the probability that at least half of them take sugar.
Edexcel S2 2018 October Q4
9 marks Standard +0.3
4. A bag contains a large number of marbles, each of which is blue or red. A random sample of 3 marbles is taken from the bag. The random variable \(D\) represents the number of blue marbles taken minus the number of red marbles taken. Given that 20\% of the marbles in the bag are blue,
  1. show that \(\mathrm { P } ( D = - 1 ) = 0.384\)
  2. find the sampling distribution of \(D\)
  3. write down the mode of \(D\) Takashi claims that the true proportion of blue marbles is greater than 20\% and tests his claim by selecting a random sample of 12 marbles from the bag.
  4. Find the critical region for this test at the 10\% level of significance.
  5. State the actual significance level of this test. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{d2f40cdb-917a-4377-88f4-396766a299e2-15_2255_47_314_37}
Edexcel S2 2020 October Q2
12 marks Moderate -0.3
  1. In the summer Kylie catches a local steam train to work each day. The published arrival time for the train is 10 am.
The random variable \(W\) is the train's actual arrival time minus the published arrival time, in minutes. When the value of \(W\) is positive, the train is late. The cumulative distribution function \(\mathrm { F } ( w )\) is shown in the sketch below. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{3a781851-e2cc-4379-8b8c-abb3060a6019-06_583_1235_589_349}
  1. Specify fully the probability density function \(\mathrm { f } ( w )\) of \(W\).
  2. Write down the value of \(\mathrm { E } ( \mathrm { W } )\)
  3. Calculate \(\alpha\) such that \(\mathrm { P } ( \alpha \leqslant W \leqslant 1.6 ) = 0.35\) A day is selected at random.
  4. Calculate the probability that on this day the train arrives between 1.2 minutes late and 2.4 minutes late. Given that on this day the train was between 1.2 minutes late and 2.4 minutes late,
  5. calculate the probability that it was more than 2 minutes late. A random sample of 40 days is taken.
  6. Calculate the probability that for at least 10 of these days the train is between 1.2 minutes late and 2.4 minutes late. DO NOT WRITEIN THIS AREA
Edexcel S2 2020 October Q3
15 marks Moderate -0.3
3. A manufacturer produces plates. The proportion of plates that are flawed is \(45 \%\), with flawed plates occurring independently. A random sample of 10 of these plates is selected.
  1. Find the probability that the sample contains
    1. fewer than 2 flawed plates,
    2. at least 6 flawed plates.
      (4) George believes that the proportion of flawed plates is not \(45 \%\). To assess his belief George takes a random sample of 120 plates. The random variable \(F\) represents the number of flawed plates found in the sample.
  2. Using a normal approximation, find the maximum number of plates, \(c\), and the minimum number of plates, \(d\), such that $$\mathrm { P } ( F \leqslant c ) \leqslant 0.05 \text { and } \mathrm { P } ( F \geqslant d ) \leqslant 0.05$$ where \(F \sim \mathrm {~B} ( 120,0.45 )\) The manufacturer claims that, after a change to the production process, the proportion of flawed plates has decreased. A random sample of 30 plates, taken after the change to the production process, contains 8 flawed plates.
  3. Use a suitable hypothesis test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, to assess the manufacturer's claim. State your hypotheses clearly. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{3a781851-e2cc-4379-8b8c-abb3060a6019-11_2255_50_314_34}
Edexcel S2 2020 October Q6
11 marks Standard +0.8
6.
  1. Explain what you understand by the sampling distribution of a statistic. A factory produces beads in bags for craft shops. A small bag contains 40 beads, a medium bag contains 80 beads and a large bag contains 150 beads. The factory produces small, medium and large bags in the ratio 5:3:2 respectively. A random sample of 3 bags is taken from the factory.
  2. Find the sampling distribution for the range of the number of beads in the 3 bags in the sample. A random sample of \(n\) sets of 3 bags is taken. The random variable \(Y\) represents the number of these \(n\) sets of 3 bags that have a range of 70
  3. Calculate the minimum value of \(n\) such that \(\mathrm { P } ( Y = 0 ) < 0.2\)
Edexcel S2 2021 October Q1
14 marks Standard +0.3
  1. A research project into food purchases found that \(35 \%\) of people who buy eggs do not buy free range eggs.
A random sample of 30 people who bought eggs is taken. The random variable \(F\) denotes the number of people who do not buy free range eggs.
  1. Find \(\mathrm { P } ( F \geqslant 12 )\)
  2. Find \(\mathrm { P } ( 8 \leqslant F < 15 )\) A farm shop gives 3 loyalty points with every purchase of free range eggs. With every purchase of eggs that are not free range the farm shop gives 1 loyalty point. A random sample of 30 customers who buy eggs from the farm shop is taken.
  3. Find the probability that the total number of points given to these customers is less than 70 The manager of the farm shop believes that the proportion of customers who buy eggs but do not buy free range eggs is more than \(35 \%\) In a survey of 200 customers who buy eggs, 86 do not buy free range eggs. Using a suitable test and a normal approximation,
  4. determine, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether there is evidence to support the manager's belief. State your hypotheses clearly.
Edexcel S2 2021 October Q2
11 marks Standard +0.8
2. (i) The continuous random variable \(X\) is uniformly distributed over the interval \([ a , b ]\) Given that \(\mathrm { P } ( 8 < X < 14 ) = \frac { 1 } { 5 }\) and \(\mathrm { E } ( X ) = 11\)
  1. write down \(\mathrm { P } ( X > 14 )\)
  2. find \(\mathrm { P } ( 6 X > a + b )\) (ii) Susie makes a strip of pasta 45 cm long. She then cuts the strip of pasta, at a randomly chosen point, into two pieces. The random variable \(S\) is the length of the shortest piece of pasta.
    1. Write down the distribution of \(S\)
    2. Calculate the probability that the shortest piece of pasta is less than 12 cm long. Susie makes 20 strips of pasta, all 45 cm long, and separately cuts each strip of pasta, at a randomly chosen point, into two pieces.
    3. Calculate the probability that exactly 6 of the pieces of pasta are less than 12 cm long.
Edexcel S2 2022 October Q1
11 marks Standard +0.3
Bhavna produces rolls of cloth. She knows that faults occur randomly in her cloth at a mean rate of 1.5 every 15 metres.
  1. Find the probability that in 15 metres of her cloth there are
    1. less than 3 faults,
    2. at least 6 faults. Each roll contains 100 metres of Bhavna's cloth.
      She selects 15 rolls at random.
  2. Find the probability that exactly 10 of these rolls each have fewer than 13 faults. Bhavna decides to sell her cloth in pieces.
    Each piece of her cloth is 4 metres long.
    The cost to make each piece is \(\pounds 5.00\) She sells each piece of her cloth that contains no faults for \(\pounds 7.40\) She sells each piece of her cloth that contains faults for \(\pounds 2.00\)
  3. Find the expected profit that Bhavna will make on each piece of her cloth that she sells.
Edexcel S2 2022 October Q3
10 marks Standard +0.3
  1. A company produces packets of sunflower seeds. Each packet contains 40 seeds. The company claims that, on average, only 35\% of its sunflower seeds do not germinate.
A packet is selected at random.
  1. Using a \(5 \%\) level of significance, find an appropriate critical region for a two-tailed test that the proportion of sunflower seeds that do not germinate is 0.35 You should state your hypotheses clearly and state the probability, which should be as close as possible to \(2.5 \%\), for each tail of your critical region.
  2. Write down the actual significance level of this test. Past records suggest that \(2.8 \%\) of the company's sunflower seeds grow to a height of more than 3 metres.
    A random sample of 250 of the company's sunflower seeds is taken and 11 of them grow to a height of more than 3 metres.
  3. Using a suitable approximation test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not there is evidence that the proportion of sunflower seeds that grow to a height of more than 3 metres is now greater than \(2.8 \%\) State your hypotheses clearly.
Edexcel S2 2022 October Q4
9 marks Standard +0.3
The probability that a person completes a particular task in less than 15 minutes is 0.4 Jeffrey selects 20 people at random and asks them to complete the task. The random variable, \(X\), represents the number of people who complete the task in less than 15 minutes.
  1. Find \(\mathrm { P } ( 5 \leqslant X < 8 )\) Mia takes a random sample of 140 people.
    Using a normal approximation, the probability that fewer than \(n\) of these 140 people complete the task in less than 15 minutes is 0.0239 to 4 decimal places.
  2. Find the value of \(n\) Show your working clearly.
Edexcel S2 2023 October Q1
10 marks Moderate -0.8
  1. Sam is a telephone sales representative.
For each call to a customer
  • Sam either makes a sale or does not make a sale
  • sales are made independently
Past records show that, for each call to a customer, the probability that Sam makes a sale is 0.2
  1. Find the probability that Sam makes
    1. exactly 2 sales in 14 calls,
    2. more than 3 sales in 25 calls. Sam makes \(n\) calls each day.
  2. Find the minimum value of \(n\)
    1. so that the expected number of sales each day is at least 6
    2. so that the probability of at least 1 sale in a randomly selected day exceeds 0.95
Edexcel S2 2003 January Q6
20 marks Moderate -0.8
6. A magazine has a large number of subscribers who each pay a membership fee that is due on January 1st each year. Not all subscribers pay their fee by the due date. Based on correspondence from the subscribers, the editor of the magazine believes that \(40 \%\) of subscribers wish to change the name of the magazine. Before making this change the editor decides to carry out a sample survey to obtain the opinions of the subscribers. He uses only those members who have paid their fee on time.
  1. Define the population associated with the magazine.
  2. Suggest a suitable sampling frame for the survey.
  3. Identify the sampling units.
  4. Give one advantage and one disadvantage that would have resulted from the editor using a census rather than a sample survey. As a pilot study the editor took a random sample of 25 subscribers.
  5. Assuming that the editor's belief is correct, find the probability that exactly 10 of these subscribers agreed with changing the name. In fact only 6 subscribers agreed to the name being changed.
  6. Stating your hypotheses clearly test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not the percentage agreeing to the change is less that the editor believes. The full survey is to be carried out using 200 randomly chosen subscribers.
  7. Again assuming the editor's belief to be correct and using a suitable approximation, find the probability that in this sample there will be least 71 but fewer than 83 subscribers who agree to the name being changed. \section*{END}
Edexcel S2 2005 January Q1
4 marks Easy -1.2
  1. The random variables \(R , S\) and \(T\) are distributed as follows
$$R \sim \mathrm {~B} ( 15,0.3 ) , \quad S \sim \mathrm { Po } ( 7.5 ) , \quad T \sim \mathrm {~N} \left( 8,2 ^ { 2 } \right) .$$ Find
  1. \(\mathrm { P } ( R = 5 )\),
  2. \(\mathrm { P } ( S = 5 )\),
  3. \(\mathrm { P } ( T = 5 )\).
Edexcel S2 2005 January Q4
10 marks Moderate -0.3
4. In an experiment, there are 250 trials and each trial results in a success or a failure.
  1. Write down two other conditions needed to make this into a binomial experiment. It is claimed that \(10 \%\) of students can tell the difference between two brands of baked beans. In a random sample of 250 students, 40 of them were able to distinguish the difference between the two brands.
  2. Using a normal approximation, test at the \(1 \%\) level of significance whether or not the claim is justified. Use a one-tailed test.
  3. Comment on the acceptability of the assumptions you needed to carry out the test.