Engineering Mathematics III
Question Bank on Module 4: Probability
Q1) Bag 1 contain 6 blue and 4 red balls, bag 2 contains 3 blue and 5 red balls and bag 3 contains 2 blue and
6 red balls. A bag is chosen at random and two balls are drawn from it without replacement. If both the balls
are found to be blue, find the probability that bag 2 was chosen.
Q2) A newly constructed flyover is likely to collapse. The chance that the design is faulty is 0 ∙ 5. The
chance that the flyover will collapse if the design is faulty is 0 ∙ 95, otherwise it is 0 ∙ 30. The flyover
collapsed. What is the probability that it collapsed because of faulty design?
Q3) The probability mass function of a random variable X is
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(X=x) k 3k 5k 7k 9k 11k 13k
Find (i) k (ii) 𝑃(𝑋 < 4) (𝑖𝑖𝑖)𝑃(3 < 𝑋 ≤ 6)
Q4) The probability density function of a random variable X is
X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
P(X=x) k 2k 3k k2 k2+k 2k2 4k2
Find i) k ii) E(X) iii) V(X) iv) P(X>6|X>4) v) E(3X+5) vi) V(3X+5) vii) C.D.F. of X
Q5) A discrete random variable X has the following probability distribution
X -2 -1 0 1 2 3
P(X = x) 0.1 k 0.2 2k 0.3 3k
Find (i) k, (ii) P(X > 2), (iii) P(-2 < X < 2), (iv) P(-1 < X < 1 / -2 < X < 3), (v) P(X < 2 / 0 < X < 4)
(vi) P(X < 1 / X < 2)
Q6) If 𝑋 has mean 5 and variance 5, 𝑋 has mean -2 and variance 3, and if 𝑋 , 𝑋 are independent, then
find 𝐸 𝑋 + 𝑋 , 𝑉 𝑋 + 𝑋 , 𝐸 𝑋 − 𝑋 , 𝑉 𝑋 − 𝑋 , 𝐸 2𝑋 + 3𝑋 − 5 ,
𝑉(2𝑋 + 3𝑋 − 5).
Q7) If 𝐸 (𝑋) = 1, 𝐸 (𝑋 ) = 4, 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑌 = 2𝑋 − 3.
Q8) The probability density function of a random variable X is given by
𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 𝑘𝑥, 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2,
= 2𝑘, 2 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 4,
= 6𝑘 − 𝑘𝑥, 4 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 6 .
Find i) 𝑘 ii) P(1<X<3) iii) E(X – 2) iv) V(X – 2) viii) C.D.F of X
Q9) If 𝑃(𝑋 = 𝑥) = , 𝑥 = 1,3,5,7,9 Find 𝑃(4 < 𝑋 < 8).
Q10) Let X be a continuous random variable with p.d.f. f(x) = kx(1-x), 0 < x < 1. Find k and determine a
number b such that P(X < b) = P(X > b).
Q11) A random variable X has probability density function, f(x) = 2𝑒 , for x > 0 and f(x) = 0 , for x < 0
Find P(1 < X < 3), P(X > 0.5)
Q12) If f(x) is probability distribution function of a continuous random variable X, find k, mean and
variance.
f(x) = 𝑘𝑥 , 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1
= (2 − 𝑥 ) , 1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2
Q13) The c.d.f of a continuous random variable X is ,
F(x) = 0 , x< 0,
=𝑥 ,0<x<1
=1 , x > 1.
Find the p.d.f and 𝑃 ≤ 𝑋 ≤ , 𝐸 (𝑋)𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉(𝑋).
Q14) Two unbiased dice are thrown. If X represents sum of the numbers on the two dice. Write probability
distribution of the random variable X and find mean, standard deviation , and P(|X-7|≥3 )
Q15) Find the mean and variance of the number of heads that appear in tossing of a fair coin four times.
Q16) Two urns contain respectively 5 white and 3 black balls; 2 white and 3 black balls. One ball is drawn
from each urn. Find the expected number and variance of white balls drawn.
Q17) There are 10 counters in a bag , 6 of which are worth 5 rupees each while the remaining 4 are of equal
but unknown value. If the expectation of drawing a single counter at random is 4 rupees, find the unknown
value.
Q18) If X denotes the outcome when a fair die is tossed, find M.G.F of X and hence, find the mean and
variance of X.
Q19) A random variable X has the following probability density function.
f(x) = 𝑒 ( ) , x > 5 and
=0 , elsewhere.
Find m.g.f, mean and variance of X .
Q20) A random variable X has the following probability distribution.
X 0 1 2 3
P(X=x) 1/6 1/3 1/3 1/6
Compute (i) Moment generating function about the origin, (ii) First two raw moments.
Q21) A random variable X has the following probability density function.
f(x) = 𝑘𝑒 , x > 0, k > 0
=0 , elsewhere.
Find m.g.f, mean and variance of X .
Q22) The first 4 moments of a distribution about origin of the random variable X are -1.5, 17, -30 and 108.
Compute Mean, variance, μ3 and μ4.
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