Ergonomics. Exercises 9–16 involve applications to ergonomics, as described in the Chapter Problem.


Safe Loading of Elevators The elevator in the car rental building at San Francisco International Airport has a placard stating that the maximum capacity is “4000 lb—27 passengers.” Because 4000/27=148, this converts to a mean passenger weight of 148 lb when the elevator is full. We will assume a worst-case scenario in which the elevator is filled with 27 adult males. Based on Data Set 1 “Body Data” in Appendix B, assume that adult males have weights that are normally distributed with a mean of 189 lb and a standard deviation of 39 lb.


b. Find the probability that a sample of 27 randomly selected adult males has a mean weight greater than 148 lb.

Ergonomics. Exercises 9–16 involve applications to ergonomics, as described in the Chapter Problem.

Water Taxi Safety Passengers died when a water taxi sank in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Men are typically heavier than women and children, so when loading a water taxi, assume a worst-case scenario in which all passengers are men. Assume that weights of men are normally distributed with a mean of 189 lb and a standard deviation of 39 lb (based on Data Set 1 “Body Data” in Appendix B). The water taxi that sank had a stated capacity of 25 passengers, and the boat was rated for a load limit of 3500 lb.

b. If the water taxi is filled with 25 randomly selected men, what is the probability that their mean weight exceeds the value from part (a)?

In Exercises 7–10, use the same population of {4, 5, 9} that was used in Examples 2 and 5. As in Examples 2 and 5, assume that samples of size n = 2 are randomly selected with replacement.

Sampling Distribution of the Sample Proportion

a. For the population, find the proportion of odd numbers.

MCAT The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is used to help screen applicants to medical schools. Like many such tests, the MCAT uses multiple-choice questions with each question having five choices, one of which is correct. Assume that you must make random guesses for two such questions. Assume that both questions have correct answers of “a.”

b. Find the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample proportion.

Using the Central Limit Theorem. In Exercises 5–8, assume that the amounts of weight that male college students gain during their freshman year are normally distributed with a mean of 1.2 kg and a standard deviation of 4.9 kg (based on Data Set 13 “Freshman 15” in Appendix B).

b. If 9 male college students are randomly selected, find the probability that their mean weight gain during freshman year is between 0 kg and 3 kg.

Using the Central Limit Theorem. In Exercises 5–8, assume that the amounts of weight that male college students gain during their freshman year are normally distributed with a mean of 1.2 kg and a standard deviation of 4.9 kg (based on Data Set 13 “Freshman 15” in Appendix B).

a. If 1 male college student is randomly selected, find the probability that he has no weight gain during his freshman year. (That is, find the probability that during his freshman year, his weight gain is less than or equal to 0 kg.)

Cell Phones and Brain Cancer In a study of 420,095 cell phone users in Denmark, it was found that 135 developed cancer of the brain or nervous system. For those not using cell phones, there is a 0.000340 probability of a person developing cancer of the brain or nervous system. We therefore expect about 143 cases of such cancers in a group of 420,095 randomly selected people.

a. Find the probability of 135 or fewer cases of such cancers in a group of 420,095 people.

b. What do these results suggest about media reports that suggest cell phones cause cancer of the brain or nervous system?