Single sample t-test

A question is this type if and only if it requires testing a hypothesis about a single population mean using a t-distribution, given raw data or summary statistics (Σx, Σx², or x̄ and s²) from one sample with unknown variance, where the sample is small or normality is assumed.

66 questions · Standard +0.3

5.05c Hypothesis test: normal distribution for population mean
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Edexcel S4 2005 June Q3
8 marks Standard +0.3
3. A machine is set to fill bags with flour such that the mean weight is 1010 grams. To check that the machine is working properly, a random sample of 8 bags is selected. The weight of flour, in grams, in each bag is as follows. $$\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l } 1010 & 1015 & 1005 & 1000 & 998 & 1008 & 1012 & 1007 \end{array}$$ Carry out a suitable test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, to test whether or not the mean weight of flour in the bags is less than 1010 grams. (You may assume that the weight of flour delivered by the machine is normally distributed.)
(Total 8 marks)
Edexcel S4 2006 June Q1
7 marks Standard +0.3
  1. Historical records from a large colony of squirrels show that the weight of squirrels is normally distributed with a mean of 1012 g . Following a change in the diet of squirrels, a biologist is interested in whether or not the mean weight has changed.
A random sample of 14 squirrels is weighed and their weights \(x\), in grams, recorded. The results are summarised as follows: $$\Sigma x = 13700 , \quad \Sigma x ^ { 2 } = 13448750 .$$ Stating your hypotheses clearly test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not there has been a change in the mean weight of the squirrels.
Edexcel S4 2010 June Q5
11 marks Standard +0.3
  1. A car manufacturer claims that, on a motorway, the mean number of miles per gallon for the Panther car is more than 70 . To test this claim a car magazine measures the number of miles per gallon, \(x\), of each of a random sample of 20 Panther cars and obtained the following statistics.
$$\bar { x } = 71.2 \quad s = 3.4$$ The number of miles per gallon may be assumed to be normally distributed.
  1. Stating your hypotheses clearly and using a \(5 \%\) level of significance, test the manufacturer's claim. The standard deviation of the number of miles per gallon for the Tiger car is 4 .
  2. Stating your hypotheses clearly, test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not there is evidence that the variance of the number of miles per gallon for the Panther car is different from that of the Tiger car.
Edexcel S4 2013 June Q6
10 marks Standard +0.3
  1. A machine fills bottles with water. The amount of water in each bottle is normally distributed. To check the machine is working properly, a random sample of 12 bottles is selected and the amount of water, in ml, in each bottle is recorded. Unbiased estimates for the mean and variance are
$$\hat { \mu } = 502 \quad s ^ { 2 } = 5.6$$ Stating your hypotheses clearly, test at the 1\% level of significance
  1. whether or not the mean amount of water in a bottle is more than 500 ml ,
  2. whether or not the standard deviation of the amount of water in a bottle is less than 3 ml .
Edexcel S4 2013 June Q1
7 marks Standard +0.3
  1. George owns a garage and he records the mileage of cars, \(x\) thousands of miles, between services. The results from a random sample of 10 cars are summarised below.
$$\sum x = 113.4 \quad \sum x ^ { 2 } = 1414.08$$ The mileage of cars between services is normally distributed and George believes that the standard deviation is 2.4 thousand miles. Stating your hypotheses clearly, test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not these data support George's belief.
Edexcel S4 2014 June Q4
12 marks Challenging +1.8
  1. At the start of each academic year, a large college carries out a diagnostic test on a random sample of new students. Past experience has shown that the standard deviation of the scores on this test is 19.71
The admissions tutor claimed that the new students in 2013 would have more varied scores than usual. The scores for the students taking the test can be assumed to come from a normal distribution. A random sample of 10 new students was taken and the score \(x\), for each student was recorded. The data are summarised as \(\sum x = 619 \sum x ^ { 2 } = 42397\)
  1. Stating your hypotheses clearly, and using a \(5 \%\) level of significance, test the admission tutor's claim. The admissions tutor decides that in future he will use the same hypotheses but take a larger sample of size 30 and use a significance level of 1\%.
  2. Use the tables to show that, to 3 decimal places, the critical region for \(S ^ { 2 }\) is \(S ^ { 2 } > 664.281\)
  3. Find the probability of a type II error using this test when the true value of the standard deviation is in fact 22.20
Edexcel S4 2014 June Q1
5 marks Standard +0.3
  1. A production line is designed to fill bottles with oil. The amount of oil placed in a bottle is normally distributed and the mean is set to 100 ml .
The amount of oil, \(x \mathrm { ml }\), in each of 8 randomly selected bottles is recorded, and the following statistics are obtained. $$\bar { x } = 92.875 \quad s = 8.3055$$ Malcolm believes that the mean amount of oil placed in a bottle is less than 100 ml .
Stating your hypotheses clearly, test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, whether or not Malcolm's belief is supported.
Edexcel S4 2016 June Q2
13 marks Standard +0.3
2. The weights of piglets at birth, \(M \mathrm {~kg}\), are normally distributed \(\mathrm { N } \left( \mu , \sigma ^ { 2 } \right)\) A random sample of 9 piglets is taken and their weights at birth, \(m \mathrm {~kg}\), are recorded. The results are summarised as $$\sum m = 11.6 \quad \sum m ^ { 2 } = 15.2$$ Stating your hypotheses clearly, test at the 5\% level of significance
  1. whether or not the mean weight of piglets at birth is greater than 1.2 kg ,
  2. whether or not the standard deviation of the weights of piglets at birth is different from 0.3 kg .
Edexcel S4 2017 June Q3
11 marks Standard +0.3
3. The lengths, \(X \mathrm {~mm}\), of the wings of adult blackbirds follow a normal distribution. A random sample of 5 adult blackbirds is taken and the lengths of the wings are measured. The results are summarised below $$\sum x = 655 \text { and } \sum x ^ { 2 } = 85845$$
  1. Test, at the \(10 \%\) level of significance, whether or not the mean length of an adult blackbird's wing is less than 135 mm . State your hypotheses clearly.
  2. Find the \(90 \%\) confidence interval for the variance of the lengths of adult blackbirds' wings. Show your working clearly.
Edexcel S4 2018 June Q1
5 marks Moderate -0.3
  1. A machine fills packets with almonds. The weight, in grams, of almonds in a packet is modelled by \(\mathrm { N } \left( \mu , \sigma ^ { 2 } \right)\). To check that the machine is working properly, a random sample of 10 packets is selected and unbiased estimates for \(\mu\) and \(\sigma ^ { 2 }\) are
$$\bar { x } = 202 \quad \text { and } \quad s ^ { 2 } = 3.6$$ Stating your hypotheses clearly, test, at the \(1 \%\) level of significance, whether or not the mean weight of almonds in a packet is more than 200 g .
Edexcel S4 Q1
8 marks Standard +0.3
  1. The weights of the contents of jars of jam are normally distributed with a stated mean of 100 g . A random sample of 7 jars was taken and the contents of each jar, \(x\) grams, was weighed. The results are summarised by the following statistics.
$$\sum x = 710.9 , \sum x ^ { 2 } = 72219.45 .$$ Test at the \(5 \%\) level of significance whether or not there is evidence that the mean weight of the contents of the jars is greater than 100 g . State your hypotheses clearly.
(8 marks)
OCR MEI Further Statistics B AS 2019 June Q5
14 marks Standard +0.3
5 A technician is investigating whether a batch of nylon 66 (a particular type of nylon) is contaminated by another type of nylon.
The average melting point of nylon 66 is \(264 ^ { \circ } \mathrm { C }\). However, if the batch is contaminated by the other type of nylon the melting point will be lower. The melting points, in \({ } ^ { \circ } \mathrm { C }\), of a random sample of 8 pieces of nylon from the batch are as follows. \(\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l } 262.7 & 265.0 & 264.1 & 261.7 & 262.9 & 263.5 & 261.3 & 262.6 \end{array}\)
  1. Find
    The technician produces a Normal probability plot and carries out a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for these data as shown in Fig. 5. \begin{figure}[h]
    \includegraphics[alt={},max width=\textwidth]{1db026a2-dffc-4877-b927-247fbf0e7a78-5_560_1358_982_246} \captionsetup{labelformat=empty} \caption{Fig. 5}
    \end{figure}
  2. Comment on what the Normal probability plot and the \(p\)-value of the test suggest about the data.
  3. In this question you must show detailed reasoning. Carry out a suitable test at the \(5 \%\) significance level to investigate whether the batch appears to be contaminated with another type of nylon.
  4. Name an alternative test that could have been carried out if the population standard deviation had been known.
OCR MEI Further Statistics Major 2022 June Q11
13 marks Standard +0.3
11 A particular dietary supplement, when taken for a period of 1 month, is claimed to increase lean body mass of adults by an average of 1 kg . A researcher believes that this claim overestimates the increase. She selects a random sample of 10 adults who then each take the supplement for a month. The increases in lean body masses in kg are as follows. $$\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l l l } - 0.84 & - 0.76 & - 0.16 & 0.43 & 1.31 & 1.32 & 1.47 & 1.64 & 1.93 & 2.14 \end{array}$$ A Normal probability plot and the \(p\)-value of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for these data are shown below. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{77eabbd6-a058-457f-9601-d66f3c2db005-09_575_1485_689_242}
  1. The researcher decides to carry out a hypothesis test in order to investigate the claim. Comment on the type of hypothesis test that should be used. You should refer to
OCR MEI Further Statistics Major 2024 June Q7
16 marks Standard +0.3
7 An environmental investigator wants to check whether the level of selenium in carrots in fields near a mine is different from the usual level in the country, which is \(9.4 \mathrm { ng } / \mathrm { g }\) (nanograms per gram). She takes a random sample of 10 carrots from fields near the mine and measures the selenium level of each of them in \(\mathrm { ng } / \mathrm { g }\), with results as follows. \(\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l l l } 6.20 & 10.72 & 11.42 & 16.32 & 15.33 & 10.56 & 8.83 & 9.21 & 7.78 & 14.32 \end{array}\)
  1. Find estimates of each of the following.
    The investigator produces a Normal probability plot and carries out a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for these data as shown in the diagram. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{bab116b3-6e5f-44db-ac86-670e4040d649-06_583_1499_959_242}
  2. Comment on what the Normal probability plot and the \(p\)-value of the test suggest about the data.
  3. State the null hypothesis for the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for Normality.
  4. In this question you must show detailed reasoning. Carry out a test at the \(5 \%\) significance level to investigate whether the mean selenium level in carrots from fields near the mine is different from \(9.4 \mathrm { ng } / \mathrm { g }\).
  5. If the \(p\)-value of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for Normality had been 0.007, explain what procedure you could have used to investigate the selenium level in carrots from fields near the mine.
AQA Further Paper 3 Statistics Specimen Q7
10 marks Standard +0.3
7 Petroxide Industries produces a chemical used in the production of mobile phone covers for a mobile phone company. The chemical becomes less effective when the mean level of impurity is greater than 3 per cent.
Sunita is the Quality Control manager at Petroxide Industries. After a complaint from the mobile phone company, Sunita obtains a random sample of this chemical from 9 batches. She measures the level of impurity, \(X\) per cent, in each sample.
The summarised results are as follows. $$\sum x = 28.8 \quad \sum ( x - \bar { x } ) ^ { 2 } = 0.6$$ 7
    1. Investigate using the \(5 \%\) level of significance whether the mean level of impurity in the chemical is greater than 3 per cent.
      [0pt] [7 marks]
      7
      1. (ii) State the assumption that it was necessary for you to make in order for the test in part (a)(i) to be valid.
        7
    2. State the changes that would be required to your test in part (a) if you were told that the standard deviation of the level of impurity is known to be 0.25 per cent.
      [0pt] [2 marks]
      Turn over for the next question
Edexcel FS2 2019 June Q6
9 marks Standard +0.3
6 A company manufactures bolts. The diameter of the bolts follows a normal distribution with a mean diameter of 5 mm . Stan believes that the mean diameter of the bolts is less than 5 mm . He takes a random sample of 10 bolts and measures their diameters. He calculates some statistics but spills ink on his work before completing them. The only information he has left is as follows \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{67df73d4-6ce4-45f7-8a69-aa94292ea814-16_394_1150_527_456} Stating your hypotheses clearly, test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, whether or not Stan's belief is supported.
AQA S2 2007 June Q8
11 marks Moderate -0.3
8 A jam producer claims that the mean weight of jam in a jar is 230 grams.
  1. A random sample of 8 jars is selected and the weight of jam in each jar is determined. The results, in grams, are $$\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l } 220 & 228 & 232 & 219 & 221 & 223 & 230 & 229 \end{array}$$ Assuming that the weight of jam in a jar is normally distributed, test, at the \(5 \%\) level of significance, the jam producer's claim.
  2. It is later discovered that the mean weight of jam in a jar is indeed 230 grams. Indicate whether a Type I error, a Type II error or neither has occurred in carrying out the hypothesis test in part (a). Give a reason for your answer.
AQA Further Paper 3 Statistics 2019 June Q7
9 marks Standard +0.3
7 A shopkeeper sells chocolate bars which are described by the manufacturer as having an average mass of 45 grams. The shopkeeper claims that the mass of the chocolate bars, \(X\) grams, is getting smaller on average. A random sample of 6 chocolate bars is taken and their masses in grams are measured. The results are $$\sum x = 246 \quad \text { and } \quad \sum x ^ { 2 } = 10198$$ Investigate the shopkeeper's claim using the \(5 \%\) level of significance.
State any assumptions that you make.
AQA Further Paper 3 Statistics 2020 June Q7
8 marks Standard +0.3
7 The rainfall per day in February in a particular town has been recorded as having a mean of 1.8 inches. Sienna claims that rainfall in February has increased in the town. She records the rainfall in a random sample of 12 days. Her sample mean is 2 inches and her sample standard deviation is 0.4 inches.
It is assumed that rainfall per day has a normal distribution.
7
  1. Investigate Sienna's claim using the \(5 \%\) level of significance.
    7
  2. For the test carried out in part (a), state in context the meaning of a Type II error. 7
  3. The distribution of rainfall per day in February in the town over 10 years is shown in the histogram. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{443e7f17-a555-41ff-9d91-541cf45aae99-11_508_645_849_699} Explain whether or not the assumption that rainfall per day in February has a normal distribution is appropriate.
AQA Further Paper 3 Statistics 2023 June Q4
5 marks Standard +0.3
4 The random variable \(X\) has a normal distribution with unknown mean \(\mu\) and unknown variance \(\sigma ^ { 2 }\) A random sample of 8 observations of \(X\) has mean \(\bar { x } = 101.5\) and gives the unbiased estimate of the variance as \(s ^ { 2 } = 4.8\) The random sample is used to conduct a hypothesis test at the \(10 \%\) level of significance with the hypotheses $$\begin{aligned} & \mathrm { H } _ { 0 } : \mu = 100 \\ & \mathrm { H } _ { 1 } : \mu \neq 100 \end{aligned}$$ Carry out the hypothesis test.
AQA Further Paper 3 Statistics 2024 June Q6
9 marks Standard +0.3
6 Over time it has been accepted that the mean retirement age for professional baseball players is 29.5 years old. Imran claims that the mean retirement age is no longer 29.5 years old.
He takes a random sample of 5 recently retired professional baseball players and records their retirement ages, \(x\). The results are $$\sum x = 152.1 \quad \text { and } \quad \sum ( x - \bar { x } ) ^ { 2 } = 7.81$$ 6
  1. State an assumption that you should make about the distribution of the retirement ages to investigate Imran's claim. 6
  2. Investigate Imran's claim, using the 10\% level of significance.
CAIE FP2 2012 June Q9
10 marks Standard +0.3
A random sample of 8 observations of a normal random variable \(X\) gave the following summarised data, where \(\overline{x}\) denotes the sample mean. $$\Sigma x = 42.5 \quad \Sigma(x - \overline{x})^2 = 15.519$$ Test, at the 5% significance level, whether the population mean of \(X\) is greater than 4.5. [7] Calculate a 95% confidence interval for the population mean of \(X\). [3]
CAIE FP2 2012 June Q9
10 marks Standard +0.3
A random sample of 8 observations of a normal random variable \(X\) gave the following summarised data, where \(\bar{x}\) denotes the sample mean. $$\Sigma x = 42.5 \quad \Sigma(x - \bar{x})^2 = 15.519$$ Test, at the 5\% significance level, whether the population mean of \(X\) is greater than 4.5. [7] Calculate a 95\% confidence interval for the population mean of \(X\). [3]
CAIE FP2 2017 June Q7
7 marks Standard +0.8
A farmer grows a particular type of fruit tree. On average, the mass of fruit produced per tree has been 6.2 kg. He has developed a new kind of soil and claims that the mean mass of fruit produced per tree when growing in this new soil has increased. A random sample of 10 trees grown in the new soil is chosen. The masses, \(x\) kg, of fruit produced are summarised as follows. $$\Sigma x = 72.0 \qquad \Sigma x^2 = 542.0$$ Test at the 5% significance level whether the farmer's claim is justified, assuming a normal distribution. [7]
CAIE FP2 2017 June Q7
7 marks Standard +0.8
A farmer grows a particular type of fruit tree. On average, the mass of fruit produced per tree has been 6.2 kg. He has developed a new kind of soil and claims that the mean mass of fruit produced per tree when growing in this new soil has increased. A random sample of 10 trees grown in the new soil is chosen. The masses, \(x\) kg, of fruit produced are summarised as follows. $$\Sigma x = 72.0 \quad \Sigma x^2 = 542.0$$ Test at the 5% significance level whether the farmer's claim is justified, assuming a normal distribution. [7]