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The Normal Distribution

The Normal Distribution

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Question 84

An industrial engineer is evaluating the tensile strength of two specific grades of composite fiber braids, Grade X and Grade Y. Random samples are extracted from production and their strengths, s N/mm2s\text{ N/mm}^2s N/mm2, are recorded. The findings are summarized in the table below.

Number in sampleSample mean sˉ\bar{s}sˉ∑s2\sum s^2∑s2
Grade X1285.587834.0
Grade Y1592.2127625.4

You may assume that the samples are drawn from independent normal distributions with a common population variance.

The engineer claims that the mean tensile strength of Grade Y fiber is 5 N/mm2\text{N/mm}^2N/mm2 greater than the mean tensile strength of Grade X fiber.

a.

Test the engineer's claim at the 5% level of significance.

[5]
b.

Given that the true population variance for both grades is actually 10 (N/mm2)210\text{ (N/mm}^2)^210 (N/mm2)2,

(i) show that when samples of size 12 and 15 are used with a 5% level of significance, the engineer's claim is accepted if 2.60<SˉY−SˉX<7.402.60 < \bar{S}_Y - \bar{S}_X < 7.402.60<SˉY​−SˉX​<7.40.

[3]
c.

(ii) Hence find the probability of a Type II error for this test if, in fact, the true mean tensile strength of Grade Y is 8 N/mm2\text{N/mm}^2N/mm2 greater than the mean tensile strength of Grade X.

[3]
Markscheme

The Normal Distribution Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Maths
  3. /The Normal Distribution

616 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Maths The Normal Distribution, covering 3.1 The Normal Distribution, 3.2 Finding Probabilities for Normal Distributions, 3.3 The Inverse Normal Distribution Function, 3.4 The Standard Normal Distribution, 3.5 Finding the mean and standard deviation, 3.6 Approximating a Binomial Distribution, and 3.7 Hypothesis Testing with the Normal Distribution. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

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