ELE 208 RECITATION QUESTIONS 2

1) Answer the following questions briefly

a) Is it reasonable to use traditional definition to find the probability that a particular
face of unfair die will show up?
b) Can we use the three axioms of probability alone to find the probability of an
event?
c) Are P A B , P AB and P A, B different notations of the same thing?
d) Is it true that P A B P A P B if A and B are mutually exclusive?
e) Is it true that P A B P A P B , if A and B are independent?
f) Under what condition for the set of events A1 , A2 ,
theorem be applied to event B?

, An can total probability

2) A typist makes error while typing a letter 0.3% of the time. There are two types of errors.
Type A and B errors occur 80% and 20% of time, respectively, whenever an error occurs.
a) What is the probability of no error in 10 letters?
b) What is the probability of no type A error in 10 letters?
c) Given that exactly one error has occurred in 10 letters, What is the probability that
it is a type A error?

3) Experiment-A: A random experiment consists of selecting two balls in succession from an

urn containing two black balls and one white ball (without putting back into the urn after
the first selection)
Experiment-B: Suppose that Experiment-A is modified so that the ball is immediately put
back into the urn after the first selection.
a) Specify the sample space for Experiment-A.
b) Define a probability law for Experiment-A and show that this probability law
satisfies the three axioms. Sketch the tree-based description of this experiment.
c) What is the sample space for Experiment-B?
d) Define a probability law for Experiment-B and show that this probability law
satisfies the three axioms. Sketch the tree-based description of this experiment.
e) Does the outcome of the second draw from the urn depend in any way on the
outcome of the first draw in either of these experiments? Explain why?
4) The lifetime of a device behaves according to the probability law P t , 1 t for t 1
. Let A be the event lifetime is greater than 4, and B the event lifetime is greater than
8.
a) Find the probability of A B , and A B .
b) Find the probability of the event lifetime is greater than 6 but less than or equal to
12.
c) Let C be the event lifetime is greater than t, and D be the event lifetime is
greater than 2t. Find P C | D .

5) We draw the top 7 cards from a well-shuffled standard 52-card deck.

Find the probability that:
a) The 7 cards include exactly 3 aces.
b) The 7 cards include exactly 2 kings.
c) The probability that the 7 cards include exactly 3 aces. or exactly 2 kings, or
both.
6) An internet user A would like to send an important message to user B. Assume that there
are two links from A to B, each with 6 relay nodes connected in series. A message may
reach B through a link only if every relay mode in that link is operational. Assume that a
node is operational with probability 0.99, which is independent of any other node.
a) Find the probability that one link is operational regardless of the other link.
b) Find the probability that at least one link is operational.
c) Find probability that both links are operational.
d) What is the probability that a message will reach B if it is sent through a link
chosen at random?
e) What is the probability that a message will reach B if it is sent through both links?
7) A modem transmits a 2 voltage signal into a channel. The channel adds to this signal a
noise term that is drawn from the set 0, 1, 2, 4 with respective probabilities

4 10,3 10, 2 10,1 10 .

a) Find the PMF of the output Y of the channel.
b) What is the probability that the output of the channel is equal to the input of the
channel?
c) What is the probability that the output of the channel is positive?
c
k2
a) Estimate the value of c numerically. Note that the series converges.
b) Find P X 4

8) Let X be a random variable with PMF pk

c) Find P 6 X 8
9) Two dice are tossed and we let X be the difference in the number of dots facing up.
a) Find and plot PMF of X
b) Find the probability that X 2