Tell me more ×
Mathematics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people studying math at any level and professionals in related fields. It's 100% free, no registration required.

1) A car hire firm has 2 cars which it hires out day by day. The number of demands for a car on each day is distributed as a Poisson distribution with mean of 1.5. Calculate the proportion of days
(i) on which there is no demand,
(ii) on which demand is refused.

2) A source of liquid is known to contain a mean number of bacteria per cubic centimetre equal to 3. Ten 1 cc test tubes are filled with liquid. Assume that Poisson distribution is applicable. Calculate the probability that all the test tubes will show growth, i.e. contain at least one bacterium each.

share|improve this question
4  
Since you are new, I want to give some advice about the site: To get the best possible answers, you should explain what your thoughts on the problem are so far. That way, people won't tell you things you already know, and they can write answers at an appropriate level; also, people are much more willing to help you if you show that you've tried the problem yourself. If this is homework, please add the [homework] tag; people will still help, so don't worry. Also, many would consider your post rude because it is a command ("Calculate") not a request for help, so please consider rewriting it. – Zev Chonoles Jun 27 '12 at 10:18

closed as too localized by BenjaLim, LVK, sdcvvc, William, Matt N. Sep 3 '12 at 10:26

This question is unlikely to help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet. For help making this question more broadly applicable, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

$1.$ Let the random variable $X$ be the demand. We are told that $X$ has Poisson distribution with mean (parameter) $\lambda=1.5$. Thus $$\Pr(X=k)=e^{-\lambda} \frac{\lambda^k}{k!}\tag{$1$}$$ for every non-negative integer $k$.

(i) We want $\Pr(X=0)$. By $(1)$, this is simply $e^{-\lambda}$.

(ii) One has to interpret the meaning of "demand is refused." This seems to be an unusual way of saying that at least one customer is turned away, meaning that $X \ge 3$. To calculate $\Pr(X\ge 3)$, we find $\Pr(X=0)+\Pr(X=1)+\Pr(X=2)$, and subtract the sum from $1$.

We have $\Pr(X=0)=e^{-\lambda}$. By $(1)$, $\Pr(X=1)=\lambda e^{-\lambda}$ and $\Pr(X=2)=\frac{\lambda^2}{2!}e^{-\lambda}$. Add up. My calculator gives approximately $0.8088468$. Subtract this from $1$.

$2.$ Let the random variable $X_i$ be the number of bacteria in the $i$-th test tube ($i=1,2,\dots, 10$). The $X_i$, we are told, have Poisson distribution with mean (parameter) $\lambda=3$. We will assume that the $X_i$ are independent. This assumption really cannot be scientifically justified, and should have been mentioned explicitly in the statement of the problem.

For any $i$, $\Pr(X_i=0)=e^{-\lambda}$. So the probability that the $i$-th test tube shows some growth, meaning that $X_i \ge 1$, is $1-e^{-\lambda}$.

The probability that all the $X_i$ are $\ge 1$ is equal to $(1-e^{-\lambda})^{10}$. As a check on your calculations, the number turns out to be roughly $0.6000803$.

share|improve this answer
I have edited part (ii) of question 1.Instead of demand is reduced I have replaced by demand is refused.please help me to answer this question corect answer of question 1 part (ii) is 0.1913 – prashant kumar pathak Jun 27 '12 at 18:14
@prashantkumarpathak: The solution of $1$(ii) has been changed to reflect the change in the question. I do not completely agree with the answer given, get $0.1911532$ roughly. Perhaps whoever computed the answer found the separate probabilities and rounded each time. Not that it matters, the Poisson model would only be roughly right anyway. – André Nicolas Jun 27 '12 at 18:33
answer to 2nd question correct but I havent understood that why have you raised to the power of 10 the following expression (1−e^−lambda). – prashant kumar pathak Jun 27 '12 at 18:33
If $A$ and $B$ are independent events, the probability that $A$ happens and $B$ happens is $\Pr(A)\Pr(B)$. If $A$, $B$, $C$ are independent events, the probability that $A$, $B$, $C$ all happen is $\Pr(A)\Pr(B)\Pr(C)$. And so on. For example, if toss a fair coin $5$ times, probability we get $5$ heads in a row is $(1/2)^5$. – André Nicolas Jun 27 '12 at 18:40
In question 1 I did not understood this line "This seems to be an unusual way of saying that at least one customer is turned away, meaning that X≥3".why is X≥3? instead it should be X≥1 – prashant kumar pathak Jun 27 '12 at 18:55
show 1 more comment

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.