Question

Suppose, household color TVs are replaced at an average age of μ = 8.2 years after purchase, and the (95% of data) range was from 4.2 to 12.2 years. Thus, the range was 12.2 − 4.2 = 8.0 years. Let x be the age (in years) at which a color TV is replaced. Assume that x has a distribution that is approximately normal.

(a) The empirical rule indicates that for a symmetric and bell-shaped distribution, approximately 95% of the data lies within two standard deviations of the mean. Therefore, a 95% range of data values extending from μ − 2σ to μ + 2σ is often used for "commonly occurring" data values. Note that the interval from μ − 2σ to μ + 2σ is 4σ in length. This leads to a "rule of thumb" for estimating the standard deviation from a 95% range of data values. (a) The empirical rule indicates that for a symmetric and bell-shaped distribution, approximately 95% of the data lies within two standard deviations of the mean. Therefore, a 95% range of data values extending from μ − 2σ to μ + 2σ is often used for "commonly occurring" data values. Note that the interval from μ − 2σ to μ + 2σ is 4σ in length. This leads to a "rule of thumb" for estimating the standard deviation from a 95% range of data values. Estimating the standard deviation For a symmetric, bell-shaped distribution, standard deviation ≈ range 4 ≈ high value − low value 4 where it is estimated that about 95% of the commonly occurring data values fall into this range. Use this "rule of thumb" to approximate the standard deviation of x values, where x is the age (in years) at which a color TV is replaced. (Round your answer to one decimal place.) ____ yrs

(b) What is the probability that someone will keep a color TV more than 5 years before replacement? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)

(c) What is the probability that someone will keep a color TV fewer than 10 years before replacement? (Round your answer to four decimal places.)

(d) Assume that the average life of a color TV is 8.2 years with a standard deviation of 2.0 years before it breaks. Suppose that a company guarantees color TVs and will replace a TV that breaks while under guarantee with a new one. However, the company does not want to replace more than 14% of the TVs under guarantee. For how long should the guarantee be made (rounded to the nearest tenth of a year)?

Answer 1

a)

X = age (in years) at which a color TV is replaced.

b)

Since the random variable x is normally distributed, the probability is obtained by calculating z score.

The probability for the z score is obtained from standard normal distribution table for z = -1.6

c)

Converting to standard normal,

The z score for probability = 0.86 is obtained from standard normal distribution table