Two brothers Kai and Leo are duathlon (running and cycling) athletes who train regularly. For each day, the probability that Kai cycles is 34\frac{3}{4}, the probability that he runs is 35\frac{3}{5} and the probability he does both is pp. On average, Leo cycles 5 out of 7 days in a week. The probability that Leo cycles when Kai cycles is 0.9.

  1. (a)

    Write down, in terms of pp, the probability that, on one day, Kai either runs or cycles but not both.

  2. (b)

    Find the range of possible values of pp.

  3. (c)

    Find the probability that Leo cycles when Kai does not.

  4. (d)

    State, in context, two assumptions needed for the number of days Leo cycles over a period of 5 weeks to be well modelled by a binomial distribution.

  5. (e)

    Assume now that the number of days Leo cycles in 5 weeks has a binomial distribution.

    Find the probability that, in the 5 weeks, Leo cycles on at least 20 days but fewer than 30 days.

  6. (f)

    Find the probability that, in the 5 weeks, there are exactly 5 days in which both brothers do not cycle and they both cycle on the other days.

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Worked solution

11(a)

1. Express the probability of exactly one event occurring in terms of the given probabilities.

Let CC be the event that Kai cycles and RR be the event that Kai runs.
P(either runs or cycles but not both)=P(C∩R′)+P(C′∩R)P(\text{either runs or cycles but not both}) = P(C \cap R') + P(C' \cap R)
=(P(C)−P(C∩R))+(P(R)−P(C∩R))= (P(C) - P(C \cap R)) + (P(R) - P(C \cap R))

2. Substitute the given values and simplify the expression.

=(34−p)+(35−p)= \left(\frac{3}{4} - p\right) + \left(\frac{3}{5} - p\right)
=1520+1220−2p= \frac{15}{20} + \frac{12}{20} - 2p
=2720−2p= \frac{27}{20} - 2p

Answer

2720−2p\frac{27}{20} - 2p

11(b)

1. Determine the lower bound of $p$ using the fact that the maximum probability of the union of two events is 1.

P(C∪R)≤1\mathrm{P}(C \cup R) \le 1
P(C)+P(R)−P(C∩R)≤1\mathrm{P}(C) + \mathrm{P}(R) - \mathrm{P}(C \cap R) \le 1
34+35−p≤1\frac{3}{4} + \frac{3}{5} - p \le 1
2720−p≤1\frac{27}{20} - p \le 1
p≥720p \ge \frac{7}{20}

2. Determine the upper bound of $p$ by considering that the intersection of two events cannot exceed the probability of either individual event, and state the combined range.

P(C∩R)≤P(C)andP(C∩R)≤P(R)\mathrm{P}(C \cap R) \le \mathrm{P}(C) \quad \text{and} \quad \mathrm{P}(C \cap R) \le \mathrm{P}(R)
p≤34andp≤35p \le \frac{3}{4} \quad \text{and} \quad p \le \frac{3}{5}
∴p≤35\therefore p \le \frac{3}{5}
Combining the two inequalities gives the range of possible values for pp:
720≤p≤35\frac{7}{20} \le p \le \frac{3}{5}

Answer

720≤p≤35\frac{7}{20} \le p \le \frac{3}{5}

11(c)

1. Set up an equation for the total probability that Leo cycles.

Let KCK_C be the event that Kai cycles and LCL_C be the event that Leo cycles.
Using the law of total probability,
P(LC)=P(LC∩KC)+P(LC∩KC′)\mathrm{P}(L_C) = \mathrm{P}(L_C \cap K_C) + \mathrm{P}(L_C \cap K'_C)

2. Calculate the probability that Leo cycles and Kai does not.

We are given P(LC)=57\mathrm{P}(L_C) = \frac{5}{7}, P(KC)=34\mathrm{P}(K_C) = \frac{3}{4}, and P(LC∣KC)=0.9\mathrm{P}(L_C \mid K_C) = 0.9.
P(LC∩KC)=P(LC∣KC)P(KC)=0.9×34=2740\mathrm{P}(L_C \cap K_C) = \mathrm{P}(L_C \mid K_C) \mathrm{P}(K_C) = 0.9 \times \frac{3}{4} = \frac{27}{40}
Therefore,
57=2740+P(LC∩KC′)\frac{5}{7} = \frac{27}{40} + \mathrm{P}(L_C \cap K'_C)
P(LC∩KC′)=57−2740=200−189280=11280\mathrm{P}(L_C \cap K'_C) = \frac{5}{7} - \frac{27}{40} = \frac{200 - 189}{280} = \frac{11}{280}

3. Calculate the required conditional probability.

P(KC′)=1−P(KC)=1−34=14\mathrm{P}(K'_C) = 1 - \mathrm{P}(K_C) = 1 - \frac{3}{4} = \frac{1}{4}
The probability that Leo cycles when Kai does not is:
P(LC∣KC′)=P(LC∩KC′)P(KC′)=1128014=1170\mathrm{P}(L_C \mid K'_C) = \frac{\mathrm{P}(L_C \cap K'_C)}{\mathrm{P}(K'_C)} = \frac{\frac{11}{280}}{\frac{1}{4}} = \frac{11}{70}

Answer

1170\frac{11}{70}

11(d)

1. State the independence assumption in context.

Whether Leo cycles on any particular day is independent of whether he cycles on any other day.

2. State the constant probability assumption in context.

The probability that Leo cycles is the same for each day.

Answer
  1. Whether Leo cycles on any particular day is independent of whether he cycles on any other day.
  2. The probability that Leo cycles is constant for every day.

11(e)

1. Define the random variable and its binomial distribution.

Let XX be the number of days Leo cycles in 55 weeks.
Since there are 77 days in a week, the total number of days is n=5×7=35n = 5 \times 7 = 35.
Based on his average, the probability that Leo cycles on any given day is p=57p = \frac{5}{7}.
Therefore, we model this as a binomial distribution:
X∼B(35,57)X \sim \mathrm{B}\left(35, \frac{5}{7}\right)

2. Formulate the required probability interval and compute it using a graphing calculator.

We need to find the probability that Leo cycles on at least 2020 days but fewer than 3030 days. Since XX is a discrete random variable, "fewer than 3030" means a maximum of 2929.
P(20≤X<30)=P(20≤X≤29)\mathrm{P}(20 \le X < 30) = \mathrm{P}(20 \le X \le 29)
Expressing this in terms of cumulative probabilities:
P(20≤X≤29)=P(X≤29)−P(X≤19)\mathrm{P}(20 \le X \le 29) = \mathrm{P}(X \le 29) - \mathrm{P}(X \le 19)
Using a graphing calculator to evaluate the binomial cumulative distribution function (binomcdf):
P(20≤X≤29)≈0.96010−0.01240\mathrm{P}(20 \le X \le 29) \approx 0.96010 - 0.01240
P(20≤X≤29)=0.94770≈0.948 (to 3 s.f.)\mathrm{P}(20 \le X \le 29) = 0.94770 \approx 0.948 \text{ (to 3 s.f.)}

Answer

0.9480.948

11(f)

1. Find the probability that both brothers cycle on a given day.

Let KK be the event that Kai cycles, and LL be the event that Leo cycles.
P(K∩L)=P(L∣K)×P(K)=0.9×34=2740P(K \cap L) = P(L \mid K) \times P(K) = 0.9 \times \frac{3}{4} = \frac{27}{40}

2. Find the probability that neither brother cycles on a given day.

P(K′∩L′)=1−P(K∪L)P(K' \cap L') = 1 - P(K \cup L)
=1−[P(K)+P(L)−P(K∩L)]= 1 - [P(K) + P(L) - P(K \cap L)]
=1−(34+57−2740)=59280= 1 - \left(\frac{3}{4} + \frac{5}{7} - \frac{27}{40}\right) = \frac{59}{280}

3. Calculate the probability of the specific arrangement of days over the 5 weeks.

The 5 weeks consist of 5×7=355 \times 7 = 35 days.
The question specifies exactly 5 days of 'neither cycle' and the remaining 35−5=3035 - 5 = 30 days of 'both cycle'.
P=(355)×P(K′∩L′)5×P(K∩L)30P = \binom{35}{5} \times P(K' \cap L')^5 \times P(K \cap L)^{30}
=(355)(59280)5(2740)30= \binom{35}{5} \left(\frac{59}{280}\right)^5 \left(\frac{27}{40}\right)^{30}
≈0.0010198≈0.00102 (3 s.f.)\approx 0.0010198 \approx 0.00102 \text{ (3 s.f.)}

Answer

0.001020.00102

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