Question 1 · Short Questions
6.25 marksIn the expansion of \((1 + ax)^4 (1 - x)^n\), where \(a\) is a constant and \(n\) is a positive integer, the coefficient of \(x\) is \(-1\) and the coefficient of \(x^2\) is \(-12\). Find the values of \(a\) and \(n\).
Question 2 · Short Questions
6.25 marksThe number of customers arriving at a checkout counter in a supermarket follows a Poisson distribution with a mean of 4 per 10-minute interval.
(a) Find the probability that exactly 3 customers arrive at the counter in a certain 10-minute interval.
(b) Find the probability that at least 2 customers arrive at the counter in a certain 5-minute interval.
(c) Given that at least 2 customers arrive at the counter in a certain 5-minute interval, find the probability that at most 4 customers arrive at the counter in that interval.
Question 3 · Short Questions
6.25 marksLet \(f(x) = x e^{-x}\).
(a) Use the trapezoidal rule with 4 subintervals to estimate \(\int_0^2 f(x) dx\).
(b) Determine whether the estimate in (a) is an over-estimate or an under-estimate. Explain your answer.
Question 4 · Short Questions
6.25 marksThe lifetimes of a certain brand of light bulbs follow a normal distribution with mean \(\mu\) hours and standard deviation \(\sigma\) hours. It is known that 6.68% of the light bulbs have a lifetime of less than 850 hours, and 11.51% of the light bulbs have a lifetime of more than 1120 hours.
(a) Find \(\mu\) and \(\sigma\).
(b) A batch of 5 light bulbs is selected at random. Find the probability that at least 1 of them has a lifetime of more than 1120 hours.
Question 5 · Short Questions
6.25 marksThe derivative of a curve is given by \(\frac{dy}{dx} = x \sqrt{2x^2 + 1}\). If the curve passes through the point \((2, 6)\), find the equation of the curve.
Question 6 · Short Questions
6.25 marksA company produces light switches, and the probability of a switch being defective is \(p\). It is known that in a randomly selected batch of 40 light switches, the expected number of defective switches is 2.4.
(a) Find the value of \(p\).
(b) Find the variance of the number of defective switches in a batch of 40.
(c) If a batch of 15 light switches is randomly selected, find the probability that:
(i) exactly 1 switch is defective;
(ii) at least 2 switches are defective.
Question 7 · Short Questions
6.25 marksA factory has two machines, A and B, producing the same component. Machine A produces 60% of the components and Machine B produces 40% of the components. The defective rates of Machine A and Machine B are 2% and 5% respectively.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly selected component is defective.
(b) Given that a randomly selected component is defective, find the probability that it was produced by Machine A.
Question 8 · Short Questions
6.25 marksA rectangular storage container with an open top is to have a volume of \(36\text{ m}^3\). The length of its base is twice its width. Let \(x\) metres be the width of the base.
(a) Show that the total surface area of the container, \(A\text{ m}^2\), is given by \(A = 2x^2 + \frac{108}{x}\).
(b) Find the value of \(x\) that minimizes the total surface area.