Asksia AI LOGO

Sia

Question
Statistics
Posted 8 months ago

Some nations require their students to pass an exam before earning their primary school degrees or diplomas. A certain nation gives students an exam whose scores are normally distributed with a mean of 41 points and a standard deviation of 9 points.

Suppose we select 2 of these testers at random, and define the random variable DD as the difference between their scores. We can assume that their scores are independent.

Find the probability that their scores differ by more than 15 points. You may round your answer to two decimal places.
P(D>15)
P(|D|>15) \approx

\square
Sign in to unlock the answer
Answer from Sia
Posted 8 months ago
Solution by Steps
step 1
Define the random variable D D as the difference between the scores of two randomly selected testers. Since the scores are normally distributed with mean μ=41 \mu = 41 and standard deviation σ=9 \sigma = 9 , the difference D D will also be normally distributed with mean μD=0 \mu_D = 0 and standard deviation σD=2σ=29=92 \sigma_D = \sqrt{2} \cdot \sigma = \sqrt{2} \cdot 9 = 9\sqrt{2}
step 2
We need to find the probability that the absolute value of D D is greater than 15, i.e., P(D>15) P(|D| > 15) . This can be written as P(D>15)+P(D<15) P(D > 15) + P(D < -15)
step 3
Standardize the variable D D to the standard normal distribution Z Z using the formula Z=DμDσD Z = \frac{D - \mu_D}{\sigma_D} . For D=15 D = 15 , Z=15092=1592=1591.4141.18 Z = \frac{15 - 0}{9\sqrt{2}} = \frac{15}{9\sqrt{2}} = \frac{15}{9 \cdot 1.414} \approx 1.18
step 4
Using the standard normal distribution table, find P(Z>1.18) P(Z > 1.18) . This is approximately 10.8810=0.1190 1 - 0.8810 = 0.1190
step 5
Since the normal distribution is symmetric, P(Z<1.18)=P(Z>1.18) P(Z < -1.18) = P(Z > 1.18) . Therefore, P(D>15)=2P(Z>1.18)=20.1190=0.2380 P(|D| > 15) = 2 \cdot P(Z > 1.18) = 2 \cdot 0.1190 = 0.2380
Answer
0.24
Key Concept
The difference between two normally distributed independent variables is also normally distributed.
Explanation
We used the properties of the normal distribution and standardization to find the probability that the absolute difference between two scores exceeds 15 points.

Not the question you are looking for? Ask here!

Enter question by text

Enter question by image

Unlock Smarter Learning with AskSia Super!

Join Super, our all-in-one AI solution that can greatly improve your learning efficiency.

30% higher accuracy than GPT-4o
Entire learning journey support
The most student-friendly features
Study Other Question