Chapter 8 - Exercise 10, Page 322

A student’s score on a particular calculus final is a random variable with values of [0,100], mean 70, and variance 25.

(a) Find a lower bound for the probability that the student’s score will fall between 65 and 75.

\(P(65 \leq X \leq 75)\)

We can subtract the average (\(\mu=70\)) from each element of the inequality.

\(P(65-70 \leq X-70 \leq 75-70)\)

\(P(-5 \leq X-70 \leq 5)\)

This can also be rewritten as

\(1-P(|X-70|\geq 5)\)

In this form, as per Chebyshev’s inequality, we know this probability will solve out to \(\frac{\sigma^{2}}{\in^{2}}\).

\(1-\frac{25}{5^2}\)

\(1-\frac{25}{25}\)

\(1-1\)

\(0\)

The lower bound for the probability that the student’s score will fall between 65 and 75 is 0.

(b) If 100 students take the final, find a lower bound for the probability that the class average will fall between 65 and 75.

The \(\mu\) remains the same, but the \(\sigma^{2}\) changes to \(\frac{25}{100}\).

Again, \(P(65 \leq X \leq 75)\) reduces to \(1-P(|X-70|\geq 5)\). Using Chebyshev’s inequality, we know this probability will solve out to \(\frac{\sigma^{2}}{\in^{2}}\).

\(1-\frac{\frac{25}{100}}{25}\)

\(1-\frac{1}{100}\)

\(\frac{99}{100}\)

The lower bound for the probability that the class average will fall between 65 and 75 if 100 students take the final is 0.99.