Home Assignment - Experimental Methods & Analysis

Dr. Abid Ali Khan,

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
AMU, Aligarh-202002, India

Random Variables and probability Distributions

1. A coin is flipped until 3 heads in succession occur. List only those elements of the sample space
that require 6 or less tosses. Is this a discrete sample space? Explain.
2. Determine the value of “c” so that each of the following function can serve as a probability
distribution of the discrete random variable X.
(a) f(x) = c(x2 + 4) for x = 0, 1, 2, 3;
(b) f(x) = for x = 0, 1, 2
3. A shipment of 7 television sets contain 2 defective sets. A hotel makes a random purchase of 3 of
the sets. If x is the number of defective sets purchased by the hotel, find the probability distribution of
x. Express the results graphically as a probability histogram.
4. A continuous random variable X that can assume values between x = 1 and x = 3 has a density
function given by f(x) = ½.
(a) Show that the area under the curve is equal to 1.
(b) Find P (2 < x < 2.5)
(c) Find P (x ≤ 1.6)
5. From a box containing containing 4 black balls and 2 green balls, 3 balls are drawn in succession,
each ball being replaced in the box before the next draw is made. Find the probability distribution for
the number of green balls.
6. Two refills for a ball point pen are selected at random from a box that contains 3 blue refills, 2 red
refills and 3 green refills. If X is the number of blue refills and Y is the number of red refills selected,
find (a) the joint probability function f(x , y) (b) P[(X, Y) є A] where A is the region { (x,y| x
+ y ≤ 1}.
7. Referring to problem 6, find the conditional distribution of X, given that Y = 1, and use it to
determine P(X = 0|Y = 1).
8. The joint density for the random variable (X,Y), where X is the unit temperature change and Y is
the proportion of spectrum shift that a certain atomic particle produces is
f (x,y) = { 10 xy2, 0< x < y <1
0, elsewhere
(a) find the marginal densities g(x) and h(y) and the conditional density f(x|y)
(b) find the probability that the spectrum shifts more than half of the total observations , given the
temperature is increased to 0.25 units.
9. From a pack of fruit containing 3 oranges, 2 apples and 3 bananas a random sample of 4 pieces of
fruit is selected. If X is the number of oranges and Y is the number of apples in the same, find
(a) The joint probability distribution of X and Y.
(b) P [(X,Y) є A], where A is the region that is given by {(x,y)|x+y ≤ 2}.
10. Let X denote the reaction time, in seconds, to a certain simulant and Y denotes the temperature
(0F) at which a certain reaction starts to take place. Suppose that X and Y are random variables with
the joint density
f(x,y) = { k(x 2
+ y2), 30 ≤ x < 50; 30 ≤ y < 50
0, elsewhere
(a) Find k (b) Find P (30 ≤ X ≤ 50; 40 ≤ Y < 50.
(c) Find the probability that both tires are under filled.
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11. The probability that a patient recovers from a rare blood disease is 0.4. If 15 people are known to
have contracted this disease, what is the probability that
(a) at least 10 survive (b) from 3 to 8 survive (c) exactly survive.
Discrete Probability Distributions
12. It is conjectured that an impurity exist in 30% of all drinks wells in a certain rural community. In
order to gain some insight on this problem, it is determined that some tests should be made. It is too
expensive to test all the wells. So 10 were randomly selected.
(a) Using the binomial distribution what is the probability that exactly three wells have the impurity
assuming that the conjecture is correct.
(b) What is the probability that three wells are impure.
13. A traffic control engineer reports that 75% of the vehicles passing through a check point are from
within the state. What is the probability that fewer than 4 of the next 9 vehicles are from out of the
state.
14. Suppose that airplane engines operate independently and fails with probability equal to 0.4,
assuming that a plane makes a safe flight if at least ½ of its engines runs, Determine whether a 2
engine or a 4 engine plane has higher probability of a safe flight.
15. What is the probability that a waitress will refuse to serve alcoholic beverages to only 2 minors if
she randomly checks the IDs of 5 students from among 9 students of which 4 of them are not of legal
ages.
16. From a lot of 10 missiles, 4 are selected at random and are fired. If the lot contains 3 defective
missiles that will not fire, what is the probability that
(a) all 4 will fire (b) at most 2 will not fire.
17. The probability that a person living in a certain city owns a dog is estimated to be 0.3. Find the
probability that tenth person randomly interviewed in that city is the fifth one to own a dog.
18. Three people toss a coin and the odd man pays o coffee. If the coin all turn up the same they are
tossed again. Find the probability that fewer than 4 tosses are needed.
19. The probability that a person will die from a certain respiratory disease is 0.002. Find the
probability that fewer than 5 of the next 2000 so infected will die.
20. Find the mean and variance in previous problem of the random variable X representing the
number of persons among 2000 hat die from the respiratory infection.

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Q1. A thermometer is used for the range of 200 to 400 0F, and it is stated that its accuracy is one-
quarter of 1 percent. What does this mean in terms of temperature?

Q2. A resistor has a nominal stated value of 10 ohms+ 1 percent. A voltage is impressed on the
resistor, and the power dissipation is to be calculated in two different ways: (i) from P = E2/R and (ii)
from P = EI. In (i) only a voltage measurement will be made, while both current and voltage in each
case when the measured values of E and I are:
E = 100V + 1% (for both cases)
I = 10 A + 1%
Please calculate uncertainty in measurement of power dissipation for both ways (i) and (ii).

Q3. A certain obstruction-type flowmeter (orifice, venture, nozzle), shown in the accompanying
figure, is used to measure the flow of air at low velocities. The relation describing the flow rate is

where C is an empirical-discharge coefficient, A is the flow area, p1 and p2 are the upstream and
downstream pressures, T1 is the upstream temperature, and R is the gas constant for air. Calculate the
percent uncertainty in the mass flow rate for the following condition using perturbation method:
C = 0.92 + 0.005 (from calibration data)
p1 = 25 psia +2psia
T1 = 700F + 20F T1 = 5300R
∆p = p1 – p2 = 1.4 psia + 0.005 psia (measured directly)
A = 1.0 in2 + 0.001 in2

Q4. A resistance arrangement of 50 Ω is desired. Two resistances of 100 + 0.1 Ω and tow
resistances of 25.0 + 0.02 Ω are available. Which should be used, a series arrangement with 25 Ω
resistance or a parallel arrangement with 100 Ω resistors? Calculate the uncertainty for each
arrangement.

Q5. The following data give the worldwide number of fatal airline accidents of commercially
scheduled air transports in the years from 1985 to 1993.

Year 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992

1993
Accidents 22 22 26 28 27 25 30 29 24
Find the sample variance of the number of accidents in these years.

Q6. The sample mean and sample variance of five data values are, respectively, x¯=104 and s2 =4.
If three of the data values are 102, 100, 105, what are the other two data values?

Q7. A total of 28 percent of American males smoke cigarettes, 7 percent smoke cigars, and 5
percent smoke both cigars and cigarettes. What percentages of males smoke neither cigars nor
cigarettes?

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Q8. A box contains three marbles — one red, one green, and one blue. Consider an experiment
that consists of taking one marble from the box, then replacing it in the box and drawing a second
marble from the box. Describe the sample space. Repeat for the case in which the second marble is
drawn without first replacing the first marble.

Q9. There are two local factories that produce radios. Each radio produced at factory A is
defective with probability 0.05, whereas each one produced at factory B is defective with probability .
01. Suppose you purchase two radios that were produced at the same factory, which is equally likely
to have been either factory A or factory B. If the first radio that you check is defective, what is the
conditional probability that the other one is also defective?

Q10. Suppose that an insurance company classifies people into one of three classes — good risks,
average risks, and bad risks. Their records indicate that the probabilities that good, average, and bad
risk persons will be involved in an accident over a 1-year span are, respectively, .05, .15, and .30. If
20 percent of the population is “good risks,” 50 percent are “average risks,” and 30 percent are “bad
risks,” what proportion of people has accidents in a fixed year? If policy holder A had no accidents in
1987, what is the probability that he or she is a good (average) risk?

Q11. Suppose that X is a continuous random variable whose probability density function is given
by

(a) What is the value of C?

(b) Find P{X > 1}

Q12. Find E[X] where X is the outcome when we roll a fair die.

Q13. Suppose X has the following probability mass function

p(0) = 0.2, p(1) = 0.5, p(2) = 0.3
Calculate E[X 2].

Q14. The amount of time, in hours, that a computer functions before breaking down a continuous
random variable with probability density function given by

What is the probability that exactly 2 of 5 such tubes in a radio set will have to be replaced within the
first 150 hours of operation? Assume that the events E i , i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, that the ith such tube will
have to be replaced within this time are independent.

Q15. The density function of X is given by

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 Find (a) E[Max(Xi , . . . , Xn)] and
(b) E[Min(X1, . . . , Xn)].

Q17. The probability that an automobile being filled with gasoline will also need an oil change in
0.25; the probability that it needs a new oil filter is 0.40; and the probability that both the oil and filter
need changing is 0.14.
(a) If the oil had to be changed what is the probability that a new oil filter is needed:
(b) If a new oil filter is needed, what is the probability that the oil has to be changed?

Q18. A traffic control engineer reports that 75% of the vehicles passing through a checkpoint are
from within the state. What is the probability that fewer than 4 of the next 9 vehicles are from out of
the state?

Q19. A safety engineer claims that only 40% of all workers wear safety helmets when they eat
lunch at the workplace. Assuming that his claim is right, find the probability that 4 of 6 workers
randomly chosen will be wearing their helmets, while having lunch at the workplace.

Q20. Suppose that for a very large shipment of integrated circuit chips, the probability of failure for
any one chip is 0.10. Assuming that the assumptions underlying the binomial distributions are met,
find the probability that at most 3 chips fail in a random sample of 20.

Q21. Assuming that 6 in 10 automobile accidents are due mainly to a speed violation, find the
probability that among 8 automobile accidents 6 will be due mainly to a speed violation.
(a) By using the formula for the binomial distribution
(b) By using the binomial table.

Q22. A manufacturer knows that on the average 20% of the electric toasters which he makes will
require repairs within one year after they are sold. When 20 toasters are randomly selected, find
appropriate numbers x and y such that
(a) The probability that at least x of them will require repairs is less than 0.5
(b) The probability that at least y of them will not require repairs is greater than 0.8.

Q23. The probability that a student fails the screening test for scoliosis (curvature of the spine) at a
local high school is known to be 0.004. of the next 1875 students who are screened for scoliosis, find
the probability that
(a) Fewer than 5 fail the test;
(b) 8, 9, or 10 fail the test.

Q24. The number of customers arriving per hour at a certain automobile service facility is assumed
to follow a Poisson distribution with mean  =7.
(a) Compute the probability that more than 10 customers will arrive in a 2-hour period.
(b) What is the mean number of arrivals during a 2-hour period?

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Q25. It is known that 5% of the books bound at a certain bindery have defective bindings. Find the
probability that 2 of 100 books bound by this bindery will have defective bindings using
(a) The formula for the binomial distribution
(b) The Poisson approximation to the binomial distribution

Q26. In the inspection of tin plate produced by continuous electrolytic process, 0.2 imperfection is
spotted on the average per minute. Find the probabilities of spotting
(a) One imperfection in 3 minutes
(b) At least two imperfections in 5 minutes
(c) At most one imperfection in 15 minutes

Q27. Given a random variable has a normal distribution with µ = 16.2 and σ 2 = 1.5625, find the
probabilities that it will take on a value
(a) Greater than 16.8;
(b) Less than 14.9
(c) Between 13.6 and 18.8
(d) Between 16.5 and 16.7

Q28. The time required to assemble a piece of machinery is a random variable having
approximately a normal distribution with µ = 12.9 minutes and σ = 2.0 minutes. What are the
probabilities that the assembly of a piece of machinery of this kind will take
(a) At least 11.5 minutes;
(b) Anywhere from 11.0 to 14.8 minutes?

Q29. A soft drink machine is regulated so that it discharges an average of 200 milliliters per cup. If
the amount of drink is normally distributed with a standard deviation equal to 15 milliliters,
(a) What fraction of the cups will contain more than 224 milliliters:
(b) What is the probability that a cup contains between 191 and 209 milliliters:
(c) How many cups will probably overflow if 230 milliliter cups are used for the next 1000
drinks:
(d) Below what value do we get the smallest 25% of the drinks?

Q30. Given the normally distributed variable X with mean 18 and standard deviation 2.5, find
(a) P(X<15)
(b) The value of k such that P(X<k)=0.2236
(c) The value of k such that P(X>k)=0.1814
(d) P(17<X<21)

Q31. An electric firm manufactures light bulbs that have a length of life that is approximately
normally distributed, with mean equal to 800 hours and a standard deviation of 40 hours. Find the
probability that a random sample of 16 bulbs will have an average life of less than 775 hours.

Q32. A certain type of thread is manufactured with a mean tensile strength of 78.3kg and a standard
deviation of 5.6 kg. how is the variance of the sample mean changed when the sample size is
(a) Increased from 64 to 196?
(b) Decreased from 784 to 49?

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Q33. If a certain machine makes electrical resistors having a mean resistance of 40ohms and a
standard deviation of 2 ohms, what is the probability that a random sample of 36 of these resistors
will have a combined resistance of more than 1458 ohms?

Q35. The weights of a population of workers have mean 167 and standard deviation 27.
(a) If a sample of 36 workers is chosen, approximate the probability that the sample mean of
their weights lies between 163 and 170.
(b) Repeat part (a) when the sample is of size 144.

Q36. A random sample of 10 observations is taken from a normal populations having the same
variance, what is the probability that either sample variance will be at least seven times as large as the
other?

Q37. A random sample of 10 observations is taken from a normal population having the variance σ 2
= 42.5. Find the approximate probability of obtaining a sample standard deviation between 3.14 and
8.94.

Q38. If two independent samples of size n1=26 and n2=8 are taken from a normal population, what
is the probability that the variance of the second sample will be at least 2.4 times the variance of the
first sample?

Q40. How can the dynamic characteristics of a measuring system be improved with the help of a
compensating system?

Q42. What is the probability that a random number will be within 0.7 units of the mean? Use
normal distribution.

Q43. In an assessment process several measurements are made on each photographic plate to
determine the distance between two points. For one plate the average of four measurements is
1.215 inches. Assume that the population of measurement has a normal distribution with std. dev.
of 0.01 inch. What is a 95% confidence interval for the distance between the points? If we specify
the length of a 95% confidence interval to be 0.015 inch, how many measurements should be
made on each plate?

Q44. The data in table represents the burning time of 13 grains. Assuming that the distribution of
the burning time is normal, test at the 5% level of significance whether the std. dev. of the source
population is 0.01. Burning time  0.516, 0.508, 0.517 0.529 0.501 0.521 0.539 0.509 0.521
0.532 0.547 0.504 0.525

Q45. Among the twenty-four invoices prepared by a billing department, four contain errors while
the others do not. If we randomly check two of these invoices, what are the probabilities that
a. Both will contain error
b. Neither will contain error
Q46. (a) An Automobile manufacturing company purchases tyres from three different tyre
producers. Company purchases 30% from MRF tyres, 25% from Goodyear tyres, and 45% from
Radial tyres. If 2% tyres from MRF, 3% from Goodyear, and 3% from Radial are bad. What is the
probability that the Automobile manufacturing company will get a bad tyre?

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 (b) The mileage (in thousands of mile) that car owners get with a certain kind of tyre is
random variable having the probability density
if x>0 f(x)=(1/20)e-x/20;
else f(x)=0
Find the probabilities that one of the these tyres will last anywhere between 16,000 and 24,000.

Q47. The number of Gamma rays emitted per second by a certain radioactive substance is random
variable having the Poisson distribution with  = 5.8. A recording instrument becomes inoperative
when there are more than 10 rays per second. What is the probability that the instrument becomes
in operative during any given second?

Q48. The probability that the noise level of a wide band amplifier will exceed 3dB is 0.5. Use table
to find the probabilities that among 20 such amplifiers the noise level of
a) at most 16 will exceed 3dB;
b) seven or more will exceed 3dB.

Q49. If S12 and S22 represent the variances of independent random samples of size n1 = 25 and n2
= 31, taken from normal populations with variances 12 =10 and 22 = 15, respectively, find the
P(S12/S22>1.26).

Q50. A tobacco company claims that the amount of nicotine in its cigarettes is a random variable
with mean 2.2 mg and standard deviation .3 mg. However, the sample mean nicotine content of
100 randomly chosen cigarettes was 3.1 mg. What is the approximate probability that the sample
mean would have been as high or higher than 3.1 if the company’s claims were true?

Q51. What is the maximum error one can expect to make with probability 0.90 when using the
mean of a random sample of size n = 64 to estimate the mean of a population with 2 =2.56?

Q52. Formulate the system equation for “Liquid in glass thermometer” relating the output signal in
the form of displacement of liquid in the capillary tube and the input temperature of the fluid,
surrounding the bulb of thermometer.

Q53. An unmanned submarine is equipped with temperature and depth measuring instruments and
has radio equipment which can transmit the output readings of these instruments back to the
surface. The submarine is initially floating on the surface of the sea with the instrument output
readings in steady state. The depth measuring instrument is approximately zero order and the
temperature transducer first order with a time constant of 50 seconds. The water temperature on
the sea surface, To is 20 oC and the temperature Tx at a depth of x meters is given by the relation:
Tx = To – 0.01x
(i) If the submarine starts diving at time zero, and thereafter goes down at a velocity of 0.5
m/sec, construct a table showing the temperature and depth measurements reported at
intervals of 100 seconds over the first 500 seconds of travel. Show also in the table, the error
in each temperature reading.
(ii) What temperature does the submarine report at a depth of 1000 meters?

Q54. A quartz crystal with piezoelectric properties has a diameter of 10 mm and thickness 2 mm. its
voltage sensitivity constant is 4500 V / μm. Find the voltage output due to a force of 100 N.
Young’s Modulus = 1011 N / m2.
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Q55. Two resistors R1 and R2 are connected in parallel. The values of the resistances are
R1=100.0 + 0.1 ohm
R2=50.0 + 0.03 ohm
Calculate the uncertainty in the combined resistance.

Q56. In testing a certain kind of truck tire over a rugged terrain, it is found that 25% of the trucks
fail to complete the test run without a blow-out. Of the next 15 trucks tested, find the probabilities
that
(i) From 3 to 6 have blowouts;
(ii) Fewer than 4 have blowouts;
(iii) More than 5 have blowouts

Q57. If two independent samples of size n1=9 and n2 = 16 are taken from a normal population,
what is the probability that the variance of the first sample will be at least four times large as the
variance of the second sample?
Q58. What are the conditions in which Poisson approximation to Binomial distribution is used?
Q59. What is the definition of discrete probability distribution?

Q60. One bag contains 4 white balls and 3 black balls, and a second bag contains 3 white balls and
5 black balls. One ball is drawn from the first bag and placed unseen in the second bag. What is
the probability that a ball now drawn from the second bag is black?

Q61. A soft drink machine is regulated so that it discharges an average of 200 millilitres per cup. If
the amount of drink is normally distributed with a standard deviation equal to 15 millilitres,
(i) What fraction of the cups will contain more than 224 millilitres:
(ii) What is the probability that a cup contains between 191 and 209 millilitres?
(iii) How many cups will probably overflow if 230 millilitre cups are used for the next
1000 drinks?

Q62. An electric firm manufactures light bulbs that have a length of life that is approximately
normally distributed with a standard deviation of 40 hours. If a sample of 30 bulbs has an average
life of 780 hours, find a 95% confidence interval for the population mean of all bulbs produced by
this firm.

Q63. Explain the procedure to test the data for normality.

Q64. What parameters must be observed to measure torque? Explain the procedure of calculating
torque using those parameters.

Q65. Name the basic and auxiliary functional elements of a measurement system?

Q66. A voltage is impressed on the resistor, and the power dissipation is to be calculated as P = EI.
While both current and voltage in each case when the measured values of E and I are:
E = 150V + 1%
I = 10 A + 1A

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Q67. If a certain machine makes electrical resistors having a mean resistance of 40ohms and a
standard deviation of 2 ohms, what is the probability that a random sample of 36 of these resistors
will have a combined resistance of more than 1494 ohms?

Q68. Suppose X has the following probability mass function

p(0) = 0.3, p(1) = 0.5, p(2) = 0.2
Calculate E[X 3].

Q69. What are the basic and auxiliary functional elements of a measurement system? Also show
with the help of diagrams, how the Bourdon tube pressure gauge will be modified if a digital
output is required?

Q70. What is the purpose of defining Operational Transfer Function (OTF)? Write the OTF for zero
order, first order and second order instruments.

Q71. Two resistors are connected in series ad have the following values:
R1=10,000  + 5% and R2=1000,000  + 10%
Calculate the percent uncertainty for the series total resistance.

Q72. Explain the difference in discrete and continuous random variable. Write also the formulae to
calculate mean and variances for the data of these.

Q73. If the probability that a battery of mobile has a useful life of 8000 hours is 0.80, find the
probabilities that among 20 such batteries
a) 17 will have a useful life of at least 8000 hours
b) at least 14 will have the useful life of at least 8000 hours

Q74. A continuous random variable has a normal distribution with = 62.4. Find its standard
deviation if the probability is 0.20 that it will take on a value greater than 79.2.

Q75. What is the maximum error one can expect to make with probability 0.90 when using the
mean of a random sample of size n = 64 to estimate the mean of a population with 2 =2.56?

Q76. Formulate the system equation relating output and input signals for the Liquid in Glass
Thermometer with dynamic input.

Q77. Derive the expression of the output for Second order instruments when the input is varying
harmonically with time.
Medium Temp.

Q78. Explain the working of Capacitive Transducers. How can it be used to measure liquid level?
A capacitive transducer
100 oC
consists of two plates of diameter 2 cm each, separated by an air gap of
0.25 mm. Find the displacement sensitivity of such an arrangement. The dielectric constant for air
is 1.0006.

Q79. A thermocouple with a time constant of 0.3 sec and a static sensitivity of 0.04 mV/oC is used
to measure the temperature of a medium, which varies as in Fig (1). If the initial temperature of
the thermocouple reference and measuring junctions was 25oC.

25 oC 10
0.6 sec 30 sec
Time
Fig (1)
 Find the output of the thermocouple at t=0.6 and 30 sec.

Q80. Name the basic and auxiliary functional elements of a measurement system?

Q81. A voltage is impressed on the resistor, and the power dissipation is to be calculated as P = EI.
While both current and voltage in each case when the measured values of E and I are:
E = 150V + 1%
I = 10 A + 1A

Q82. If a certain machine makes electrical resistors having a mean resistance of 40ohms and a
standard deviation of 2 ohms, what is the probability that a random sample of 36 of these resistors
will have a combined resistance of more than 1494 ohms?

Q83. What is the probability that a random number will be within 0.7 units of the mean? Use
normal distribution.

Q84. In an assessment process several measurements are made on each photographic plate to
determine the distance between two points. For one plate the average of four measurements is
1.215 inches. Assume that the population of measurement has a normal distribution with std. dev.
of 0.01 inch. What is a 95% confidence interval for the distance between the points? If we specify
the length of a 95% confidence interval to be 0.015 inch, how many measurements should be
made on each plate?

Q85. Among the twenty-four invoices prepared by a billing department, four contain errors while
the others do not. If we randomly check two of these invoices, what are the probabilities that
(i) Both will contain error
(ii) Neither will contain error

Q86. Formulate the system equation for a force-measuring Spring Scale. Assume total mass as M
(kilograms), linear spring with spring constant Ks (Newton per meter) and viscous damping effect
with constant B (Newton per meter per second). Also, with the help of the above governing

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 equation, find out the output response of the second order instrument for the harmonic input
signal of the form xi(t) = Xi sin ωt, where Xi is the amplitude and ω the circular frequency of the
harmonic input.

Q87. The two resistors R1 and R2 are connected in series. The voltage drops across each resistor
are measured as
E1 = 10 V ± 0.1 V (1%)
E2 = 1.2 V ± 0.005 V (0.467%) along with a value of R2 = 0.0066 Ω ± ¼%
From these measurements determine the power dissipated in resistor R1 and its uncertainty.

Q88. A certain type of storage battery lasts, on average, 3.0 years, with a standard deviation of 0.5
year. Assuming that the battery lives are normally distributed, find the probability that a given
battery will last less than 2.4 years, and, also find the probability that a given battery will last
between 2.3 and 3.7 years.

Q89. Among 10,000 random digits, find the probability P that the digit 3 appears: (i) between 975
and 1024 times, (ii) at most 950 times.

Q90. Find the probability that a random sample of 25 observations, from a normal population with
variance σ2 = 6, will have a variance s2 (i) greater than 9.1; (ii) between 3.462 and 10.745.

Q91. Construct a normal score plot using the observations: 16, 10, 18, 27, 29, 19

Q92. The mean weight loss of n = 16 grinding balls after certain length of time in mill study is 3.42
grams with a standard deviation of 0.68 gram. Construct a 99% confidence interval for the true
mean weight loss of such grinding balls under the stated conditions.

Q93. The cost of manufacturing a lot of certain product depends on the lot size, as shown by the
following sample data:
Cost ($) 30 70 140 270 530 1010
Lot Size 1 5 10 25 50 100
(i) Draw a scatter gram to verify the assumption that the relationship is linear.
(ii) Fit a straight line by the method of least squares.
(iii) Find a 98% confidence interval for the mean cost of manufacturing a lot of size
30.

Q94. How Prony brake is used for Torque and Power measurements? Explain.

Q95. What is Strain Gauge? Explain how it can be used to record Bending force and Axial force.

Q96. Discuss the construction details and applications of Thermocouples for temperature
measurements.

Q97. The power measurement is to be conducted by measuring voltage and current across the
resistor with the circuit shown in the accompanying figure. The Voltmeter has an internal
resistance Rm, and the value of R is known only approximately. Calculate the nominal value of
the power dissipated in R and the uncertainty in power for the following conditions:
R = 100  (not exactly known)
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 Rm = 1000 5 %
I = 5 A 1%
E = 500 V 1%

Q98. Suppose 20% of the items produced by a factory are defective. Suppose 20 items are chosen at
random. Find the probability that at most 15 items will be defective.

Q99. Let Z be the random variable with standard normal distribution. Find the value of z if
P(Z  z) = 0.7967

Q100. Suppose 300 misprints are distributed randomly throughout a book of 500 pages. Find the
probability P that a given page contains: a) exactly 2 misprints, b) 2 or more misprints.

Q101. A process for making certain bearings is under control if the diameters of the bearings have a
mean of 0.5000 cm. What can we say about this process if a sample of 10 of these bearings has a
mean diameter of 0.5060 cm and a standard deviation of 0.0040 cm?

Q102. If two independent random samples of size n1 = 9 and n2 = 16 are taken from a normal
population, what is the probability that the variance of the first sample will be at least four times
as large as the variance of the first sample?

Q103. What is the maximum error one can expect to make with probability 0.90 when using the
mean of a random sample of size n = 64 to estimate the mean of a population with 2 =2.56?

Q104. Raw material used in production of a synthetic fibre is stored in a place, which has no
humidity control. Measurements of the relative humidity in the storage place and the moisture
content of a sample of the raw material (both in percentages) on 12 days yielded the following
results:
Humidity (x) 4 3 5 4 4 6 3 3 4 3 5 4
2 5 0 3 8 2 1 6 4 9 5 8
Moisture 1 8 14 9 1 1 7 9 1 1 1 1
content (y) 2 1 6 2 0 3 1
Fit a straight line by the method of least squares.

Q105. Determine a 95 percent confidence interval for the average resting pulse of the members of a
health club if a random selection of 15 members of the club yielded the data 54, 63, 58, 72, 49,
92, 70, 73, 69, 104, 48, 66, 80, 64, 77. Also determine a 95 percent confidence interval for the
mean resting pulse of the members of health club.

Q106. How does an Error differ from Uncertainty?

Q107. Write down the properties of Standardized Normal Distribution.

Q108. Certain resistor draws 110.2 Volts and 5.3 Amp., The uncertainties in the measurements are
±0.2Volt and ±0.06Amp., respectively. Calculate the power dissipated in the resistor and the
uncertainty in the Power.

13
Q109. Three machines A, B, and C produce, respectively 40%, 10% and 50% of the items in a
factory. The percentage of defective items produced by the machines is, respectively, 2%,, 3%
and 4%. An item from the factory is selected at random.
a) Find the probability that the item is defective.
b) If the item is defective, find the probability that the item was produced by machine B.

Q110. A pair of fair dice are tossed. Let Y be the random variable denoted by the sum of the
numbers Y(a,b) = a+b. Find the mean & the standard deviation of Y.

Q111. The probability is 0.02 that an item produced by a factory is defective. A shipment of 10,000
items is sent to warehouse. Find the probability that 100 t0 150 items will be found defectives.

Q112. The average salary of newly graduate engineers in USA is $43,000 with standard deviation of
$3000. Approximate the probability that the average salary of a sample of 12 recently graduate
engineers exceeds $45,000.

Q113. For a simple type of input varying harmonically with time, as shown in figure, find out the
output response of the first order system.

Q114. Explain the significance of uncertainty analysis.

Q115. A lot contains 12 items of which 4 are defective. Three items are drawn at random from the
lot one after other. Find the probability p that all 3 are non defective.

Q116. The length of time, in minutes, for an airplane to obtain clearance fro take off at a certain
airport is a random variable Y=3X-2, where X has the density function

Find the mean and variance of the random variable Y.

Q117. Let X denote the number of times a certain numerical control machine will malfunction: 1, 2,
or 3 times on any given day. Let Y denote the number of times a technician is called on an
emergency call. Their joint probability distribution is given as

f(x,y) x 2 4

14
 1 0.10 0.15
Y 3 0.20 0.30
5 0.10 0.15
Evaluate E(X) and E(Y) for distributions of X & Y.

Q118. A normal population with unknown variance has a mean of 20. Is one likely to obtain a
random sample of size 9 from this population with a mean of 24 and a standard deviation of 4,1?
If not, what conclusion would you draw?

Q119. Construct Normal Scores Plot using the observations 16,10,18,27,29,19,17.

Q120. If 5 batteries have lifetimes of 1.9, 2.4, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.2 years, construct a 95% confidence
interval for σ2.

Q121. The following show the improvement (gain in reading speed) of eight students in a speed-
reading program, and the number of weeks they have been in the program.
No. of weeks 3 5 2 8 6 9
Speed Gain (words/minutes) 86 118 49 193 164 232
a) Estimate the regression model of µy/x = α + βx
b) Mean squared error ‘se”
c) Compute correlation coefficient ‘r’

Q122. Draw a schematic diagram of a generalized measurement system consisting of Basic and
Auxiliary functional elements.

Q123. An instrument is calibrated in an environment at a temperature of 20°C and the following

output readings Y are obtained for various input values X:
Y: 13.1 26.2 39.3 52.4 65.5 78.6
X: 5 10 15 20 25 30
Determine the measurement sensitivity.
When the instrument is subsequently used in an environment at a temperature of 50°C, the
input/output characteristic changes to the following:
Y: 14.7 29.4 44.1 58.8 73.5 88.2
X: 5 10 15 20 25 30
Determine the new measurement sensitivity. Hence determine the sensitivity drift due to the change
in ambient temperature of 30°C.

Q124. Write down the general differential equation describing the dynamic response of a second
order measuring instrument. Sketch the instrument response for the cases of heavy damping,
critical damping and light damping when step input signal is given to the instrument. Also state
which of these, is the usual target when a second order instrument is being designed.
Q125. A random sample of 10 observations is taken from a normal population having the variance
σ2 =42.5. Find the approximate probability of obtaining a sample standard deviation between 3.14
and 8.94.

Q126. Suppose the four observations are 67, 48, 76, 81. Construct a normal-score plot to verify the
normality of the data.

15
Q127. A consulting firm rents cars from three agencies, 20% from agency D, 20% from agency E,
and 60% from agency F. if 10% of the cars from D, 12% of the cars from E, and 4% of the cars
from F have bad tires, what is the probability that the firm will get a car with bad tires?

Q128. During one stage manufacturing of integrated circuit chips, a coating must be applied. If 70%
of chips receive a thick enough coating, use Table to find the probabilities that among 15 chips
a) At least 12 will have thick enough coatings.
b) Exactly 10 will have thick enough coatings.

Q129. If two random variables have the joint density

Find the probability that 0.2<X<0.5 and 0.4<Y<0.6.

Q130. A random sample of 10 observations is taken from a normal population having the variance
σ2 =42.5. Find the approximate probability of obtaining a sample standard deviation between 3.14
and 8.94.

Q131. Suppose the four observations are 67, 48, 76, 81. Construct a normal-score plot to verify the
normality of the data.

Q132. A random sample of 100 automobile owners shows that, in the state of Virginia, an
automobile is driven on the average 23,500 km per year with a standard deviation of 3900 km.
Construct a 99% confidence interval for the average number of kilometres an automobile is driven
annually in Virginia.

Q133. Raw material used in the production of synthetic fiber is stored in a place which has no
humidity control. Measurements of the relative humidity in the storage place and the moisture
content of a sample of raw material (both in percentage) on 12 days yielded the following results:
Humidity (X): 42 35 50 48 43
Moisture content (Y): 12 08 14 11 09
a) Fit a straight line by the method of Least Square.
b) Find a 99% confidence interval for the mean moisture content of the raw material when
the humidity of the storage place is 40%.

Q134. Write down the general differential equation describing the dynamic response of a second
order measuring instrument and state the expressions relating the static sensitivity, undamped
natural frequency and damping ratio to the parameters in this differential equation. Sketch the
instrument response for the cases of heavy damping, critical damping and light damping for step
input signal, and state which of these, is the usual target when a second order instrument is being
designed.

Q135. Consider a first order system (1+τD)xo=xi ,

a) if xi = αt+βt2 then the complimentary function is……………………
b) If xi = αe-t/τ then the particular solution is…………………………...

16
Q136. A load cell is calibrated in an environment at a temperature of 21°C and has the following
deflection/load characteristic:
Load (kg) 0 50 100 150 200
Deflection (mm) 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
When used in an environment at 35°C, its characteristic changes to the following:
Load (kg) 0 50 100 150 200
Deflection (mm) 0.2 1.3 2.4 3.5 4.6
(a) Determine the sensitivity at 21°C and 35°C.
(b) Calculate the total zero drift and sensitivity drift at 35°C.
(c) Hence determine the zero drift and sensitivity drift coefficients (in units of µm/°C and (µm per
kg)/(°C)).

Q137. The power measurement is to be conducted by measuring voltage and current across the
resistor with the circuit shown below. The voltmeter has an internal resistance 1000Ω±5%, and
the value of resistance R=100Ω (not known exactly). Calculate the nominal value of power
dissipated in R and the uncertainty if
I=5A±1% and E=500V±1%

Q138. A company produces light bulbs at three factories A, B, C. Factory A produces 40% of the
total number of bulbs, of which 2 percent are defective. Factory A produces 40% of the total
number of bulbs, of which 2 percent are defective. Factory A produces 40% of the total number of
bulbs, of which 2 percent are defective. What is the probability that a item will be found
defective. If A defective bulb is found among the total output. Find the probability that it came
from Factory A.

Q139. Let X be a random variable with the following distribution function f:

𝟏
𝒙 𝒊𝒇 𝟎≤𝒙≤𝟐
𝒇ሺ𝒙ሻ= ቊ𝟐𝟎 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆

Estimate i) P(1≤x≤1.5), ii) E(X), iii) E(X2), and iv) Var(X)

Q140. An important manufacturing process produces cylindrical component parts for automotive
industry. It is important that the process produce parts having a mean of 5 millimeters. The
engineer involved conjectures that the population mean is 5.0 millimeters. An experiment is
conducted in which 100 parts produced by the process are selected randomly and diameter
measured on each. It is known that the population standard deviation σ=0.1. The experiment
indicates a sample information appear to support or refute the engineer’s conjecture?

Q141. A Study conducted at the VPI & SU to determine if certain static arm-strength measures have
an influence on the dynamic lift characteristics of an individual. Ten individuals were subjected to
strength tests and then were asked to perform a weight lifting test in which weight was
dynamically lifted over head. The data area as follows:
Arm Strength 17.3 19.7 23.1 26.4 28.1 28.7 31.3 39.5 40.4
(x)
Dynamic Lift 71.7 75.0 100.0 73.3 88.3 96.7 85.0 100 101
(y)

17
 Estimate µY/x=+x. A 95% confidence interval for mean dynamic lift for arm strength at 20
units.

Q142. A machine is producing metal pieces that are cylindrical in shape. A sample of pieces is taken
and the diameters are 1.01, 0.97, 1.03, 1.04, 0.99, 0.98, 0.99, 1.01, and 1.03 centimeters. Find a
99% confidence interval for the mean diameter of pieces from this machine, assuming an
approximate normal distribution.

Q143. The following measurements were recorded for the drying time, in hours, of a certain brand of
latex paint:
3.4 2.5 4.8 2.9 3.6
2.8 3.3 5.6 3.7 2.8
Please verify if data is close to normal distribution using normal scores plots.

Q144. Draw schematic diagram of a generalized measurement system consisting of Basic and
Auxiliary functional elements.

Q145. Formulate the system equation for a thermocouple. Also show that thermocouple is a first
order instrument.

Q146. What is the difference between ramp response and impulse response of a measuring
instrument? Show that impulse response of a first order system is given by the expression
q_0=(KA/τ) e^((-t)/τ)

Q147. Write the general differential equation describing the response of a second order measuring
instrument. Also sketch the response for the cases of light damping, critical damping and heavy
damping and state which of these is the usual target when a second order instrument is being
designed.

Q148. A first order system is subjected to a harmonic response of 3 Hz. The system has a time
constant of 0.5s. Calculate the error of amplitude response and the phase lag.

Q149. Show that the Gauge Factor of a resistance strain gauge is given by
F=(1+2μ)
where, μ is the Poisson ratio.

Q150. Develop an equation for voltage sensitivity of a capacitive type transducer.

Q151. Two resistors are connected in series and have the following values:

Calculate the percent uncertainty for the series total resistance.

Q152. Compute , where X has density function

Q153. A. It is known that 5% of items manufactured at a lock company are defective. Find the
probability that 2 of 100 locks manufactured by this company will have defective using

18
 (i) Binomial distribution
(ii) Poisson approximation to binomial distribution.

Q154. If the amount of cosmic radiation to which a person is exposed while flying by jet across US
is a random variable having the normal distribution with µ=4.35mrem and σ=0.59 mrem, find the
probabilities that the amount of cosmic radiation to which person will be exposed to such a flight
is
(i) between 4.5 and 5.5
(ii) at least 5.0

Q155. If measurements of the specific gravity of a metal can be looked upon as a sample from a
normal population having a standard deviation of 0.04, what is the probability that the mean of a
random sample of size 25 will be “off” by at most 0.02?

Q156. Find the probability that a random sample of 25 observations, from a normal population with
variance σ2=6, will have a variance s2
(i) at most 9.1
(ii) less than 3.462 or greater than 10.745

Q157. A thermometer acting as first order system is initially at a temperature of 35ºC and is then
suddenly subjected to a temperature of 110ºC. After 8 seconds the thermometer indicates a
temperature of 75ºC. Calculate:
(i) Time constant of the thermometer.
(ii) 90% rise time for the thermometer.

Q158. Explain with the help of a diagram, how Nozzle Flapper Transducer translates displacements
into pressure variation.

Q159. The average life of a certain type of small motor is 10 years with a standard deviation of 2
years. The manufacturer replaces free all motors that fail while under guarantee. If he is willing to
replace only 3 % of the motors that fail, how long a guarantee should be offer? Assume that the
lifetime of a motor follows a normal distribution.

Q160. What is the maximum error one can expect to make with probability 0.90 when using the
mean of a random sample of size n = 64 to estimate the mean of a population with 2 =2.56?

Q161. Determine a 95% confidence interval for the average resting pulse of the members of a health
club if a random selection of 15 members of the club yielded the data 54, 63, 58, 72, 49, 92, 70,
73, 69, 104, 48, 66, 80, 64, 77.

Q162. The temperature of a body may also be measured by determining the total emitted energy
from the body and then calculating the temperature from the following formula:

If the values of emissivity (ϵ) of the surface being measure is 0.02+0.05 and the absolute
uncertainty in the measurement of the emitted energy is estimated as 1% of the value of E. ‘σ’ is

19
 Stefan-Boltzmann constant. Determine the percentage uncertainty in the determination of
temperature.

Q163. A shipment of 120 burglar alarms contains 5 that are defective. If ten of these alarms are
randomly selected and shipped to a customer, find the probability that the customer will get
atleast two bad units.

Q164. The probability that an electronic component will fail in less than 1000 hours of continuous
use is 0.25. Use the normal approximation to find the probability that among 200 such
components less than 45 will fail in less than 1000 hours of continuous use.

Q165. Find the probability that a random sample of 25 observations, from a normal population with
variance µ=2.5 and σ2=0.5, will have a mean at most 3.0.

Q166. The three resistors R, R and Rs are connected as shown in the accompanying figure. Voltage
drop across each resistor are measured as:
E=10V±0.1V
Es=1.2V±0.005V
along with a value of Rs = 0.0066Ω±1/4%.
From these measurements determine the power dissipated in any resistor ‘R’ and its uncertainty.

R
Rs
R
Q167. A manufacturer knows that on the average 2% of the electric toasters that he makes will
require repairs within 90days after they are sold. Use normal approximation to the binomial
distribution to determine the probability that among 1200 of these toasters at least 35 will require
repairs within the first 90days after they are sold.

Q168. Find the value of F=0.99 for 1=6 & 2=20.

Q169. If two random variables have the joint density

Find the expressions for f(x/y) for 0<y<1 and f(x/y=1/2)

Q170. Adding graphite to iron can improve its ductile qualities. If measurements of the diameter of
graphite spheres within an iron matrix can be modelled as a normal distribution having standard
deviation of 0.16, what is the probability that the mean of a sample of size 36 will differ from the
population mean by more than 0.06?

Q171. Find the value of F=0.95 for 1=12 & 2=15.

Q172. Draw a schematic diagram of a generalized measurement system consisting of Basic and
Auxiliary functional elements.

Q173. A manufacturer produces electric irons. The thermostats were to be tested on iron on the
5500F setting, and the actual temperature was to be read. The data are as follows:

20
 550.3, 539.8, 550.1, 540.8, 555.4, 560.1, 551.2, 549.1
Draw the normal score plot to test the normality of the data.

Q174. The following data were collected to determine the relationship between pressure and the
corresponding scale reading for the purpose of calibration:
Pressure (x) 10 11 12 40 50
Scale reading (y) 13 16 20 86 92
(i) find the equation of the regression line using least square method.
(ii) Calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient.
(iii) Estimate mean square error.

Q175. A thermocouple with a time constant of 0.3sec and a static sensitivity of 0.04 mV/oC is
suddenly immersed in a bath of hot oil, which is at 100oC. The initial temperature of the
thermocouple measuring and reference junctions was 25oC.
(i) Write the governing equation of the thermocouple and find the output at time 0.1, 0.3 and 1.0
sec.
(ii) Design a compensating circuit to be used along with the thermocouple so that the time
constant is reduced to half its value. For this system, find the output at time, given in (i).

Q176. Write short notes of the following:

(i) Linear Variable Differential Transformer and its applications in measurement systems.
(ii) Different types of photoelectric transducers.
(iii) Laser Jet Printers
(iv)Digital to Analog Converters
(v) Prony brake used for Torque and Power measurements
(vi)Strain Gauge and its application for Bending force and Axial force measurement.
(vii) Force measurement using strain gauge
(viii) Application of prony brake for torque measurement
(ix)Flow measurement using venturi meter
(x) Magnetic tape recorder.
(xi)Pneumatic Amplifying element
(xii) Impedance Loading of instruments
(xiii) Galvanometric Recorders
(xiv) Low pass and High pass filters.
(xv) Hydraulic amplifying element.
(xvi) Optical amplifying element.
(xvii) Cathode Ray Oscilloscope.
(xviii) Zero drift in instruments.
(xix) Resolution of instruments.
(xx) Impedance matching.
(xxi) Static sensitivity of instruments.
(xxii) Turbine Flow meter
(xxiii) Pirani Thermal Conductivity Gage
(xxiv) Bernoulli’s trial

Q177. Answer of the following:

(i) Explain the use of strain gauges for the measurement of torque with schematic
diagram.

21
 (ii) Explain how the proving ring is used for force measurement.
(iii) Name at least four thermocouple combinations. What happens when a number of
thermocouples are connected in series? Or when they are connected in parallel?
(iv) Draw the schematic diagram of Ionization Gauge for measurement of pressure and
explain its functioning.
(v) Describe the difference in principle of operation of bimetallic thermometer and
pressure thermometer.
(vi) What is the physical significance of time constant of an instrument? Explain with an
example of first order instrument.
(vii) Explain the basic principle on which electrical strain gages works?
(viii) Give the classification of devices used for measurement of power.
(ix) How the precision is different from accuracy?
(x) What in normal approximation to binomial distribution?

Q178. Explain in the difference of the following.

(i) Type I and Type II error
(ii) Systematic and Random error
(iii) Precision and Accuracy
(iv)Discrete and Continuous random variable
(v) Analogue and digital transducers
(vi) Step response and ramp response
(vii) Amplifiers and filters
(viii) Static and Dynamic performance characteristics of instruments
(ix) Static sensitivity of measurement and Sensitivity to disturbance
(x) Contacting and Non-contacting type of instruments
(xi) Dumb and intelligent type of instruments
(xii) Active and passive type of instruments
(xiii) Fixed error and random error
(xiv) Analog and Digital type of instruments.
(xv) Null and Deflection type of instruments.
(xvi) Static and dynamic performance characteristics
(xvii) Impedance loading and Impedance matching
(xviii) discrete and continuous probability distributions

Q179. Discuss briefly with the help of diagrams

(i) Resistance Temperature Detectors and Thermistors
(ii) McLeod Pressure Gauge
(iii) Obstruction type flowmeters
(iv) Opto-electrical transducers
(v) Low Pressure Measurement using Pirani Thermal-Conductivity Gage
(vi) Torque measurement using Strain Gauges
(vii) Thermoelectric effects
(viii) Practical applications of Capacitive transducers supported
(ix) Resistance Ladder type Digital to Analogue convertor

Q180. Define the following in relation to instruments:

(i) Hysteresis
(ii) Drift

22
 (iii) Impedance loading
(iv) Time constant of a first order instrument
(v) Tolerance
(vi) Backlash
(vii) Static sensitivity to disturbance
(viii) Compensation
(ix) Linearity
(x) Static sensitivity of measurement
(xi) Resolution
(xii) Threshold
(xiii) Impedance matching.
(xiv) Static sensitivity of instruments.

Q181. Give examples of the following types of instruments along with an explanation:
(i) Passive type of instruments.
(ii) Null type of instruments.
(iii) Non-contacting type of instruments.
(iv) Intelligent type of instruments.
(v) Self generating type

Q182. Describe the working of the following:

(i) Rotation torque sensors
(ii) Electromagnetic balance
(iii) Hot wire anemometer
(iv) Optical pyrometer
(v) Pirani Thermal Conductivity gage
(vi) working of LASER Printer
(vii) LVDT
(viii) Nozzle flapper type amplifier
(ix) Analog to Digital Converter
(x) Digital transducer for measuring angular displacement.

23