The table below shows the BMI-for-age for boys aged 18 years in Singapore.
Age (years)Weight IndicatorUnderweightOverweight
≤5th\le 5^{\text{th}} percentile≥90th\ge 90^{\text{th}} percentile
18≤16.7\le 16.7≥m\ge m
It is given that the BMI for 18-year-old boys follows a normal distribution N(22.7,σ2)\text{N}(22.7, \sigma^2).

  1. (i)

    Show that σ=3.65\sigma = 3.65.

  2. (ii)

    Hence, find the minimum value of BMI, mm, such that a randomly chosen 18-year-old boy is overweight.

  3. (iii)

    The BMI for 15-year-old boys follows another normal distribution N(21.6,3.492)\text{N}(21.6, 3.49^2).

    Find the probability that the average BMI of a randomly chosen 15-year-old boy and a randomly chosen 18-year-old boy is more than 20.1.

  4. (iv)

    State, in context, an assumption made in your calculation in (iii).

Work through it with AI →

It won't just hand you the answer — it asks where you're stuck.How the checker works

Worked solution

10(i)

1. Formulate the probability equation using the percentile information given in the table.

Let XX be the BMI of a randomly chosen 18-year-old boy.
X∼N(22.7,σ2)X \sim \text{N}(22.7, \sigma^2)
From the table, the 5th5^{\text{th}} percentile is 16.716.7, which means:
P(X≤16.7)=0.05\text{P}(X \le 16.7) = 0.05

2. Standardise the variable and determine the standard normal z-score.

Standardising XX to the standard normal variable ZZ:
P(Z≤16.7−22.7σ)=0.05\text{P}\left(Z \le \frac{16.7 - 22.7}{\sigma}\right) = 0.05
Using the inverse normal function on the calculator for an area of 0.050.05:
16.7−22.7σ≈−1.64485\frac{16.7 - 22.7}{\sigma} \approx -1.64485

3. Solve for the standard deviation $\sigma$.

−6σ=−1.64485-\frac{6}{\sigma} = -1.64485
σ=61.64485\sigma = \frac{6}{1.64485}
σ≈3.6477\sigma \approx 3.6477
σ≈3.65 (shown)\sigma \approx 3.65 \text{ (shown)}

Answer

σ≈3.65\sigma \approx 3.65 (shown)

10(ii)

1. Set up the probability equation for the $90^{\text{th}}$ percentile of the normal distribution based on the given table.

Let XX be the BMI of a randomly chosen 18-year-old boy.
X∼N(22.7,3.652)X \sim \text{N}(22.7, 3.65^2)

Since the overweight indicator starts at the 90th90^{\text{th}} percentile,
P(X≤m)=0.90\mathrm{P}(X \le m) = 0.90

2. Use the inverse normal function on a graphing calculator to evaluate $m$.

m=27.377…m = 27.377\dots
m≈27.4 (to 3 s.f.)m \approx 27.4 \text{ (to 3 s.f.)}

Answer

27.427.4

10(iii)

1. Define the random variable for the average BMI and find its mean and variance.

Let XX and YY be the BMI of a randomly chosen 18-year-old and 15-year-old boy respectively.
X∼N(22.7,3.652)X \sim \text{N}(22.7, 3.65^2) and Y∼N(21.6,3.492)Y \sim \text{N}(21.6, 3.49^2)

Let the average BMI be A=X+Y2A = \frac{X+Y}{2}.
E(A)=E(X)+E(Y)2=22.7+21.62=22.15\text{E}(A) = \frac{\text{E}(X) + \text{E}(Y)}{2} = \frac{22.7 + 21.6}{2} = 22.15
Var(A)=(12)2Var(X+Y)=14(3.652+3.492)=25.50264=6.37565\text{Var}(A) = \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^2 \text{Var}(X+Y) = \frac{1}{4}(3.65^2 + 3.49^2) = \frac{25.5026}{4} = 6.37565

Hence, A∼N(22.15,6.37565)A \sim \text{N}(22.15, 6.37565)

2. Calculate the required probability.

We need to find the probability that the average is more than 20.120.1, which is P(A>20.1)\text{P}(A > 20.1).

Using a graphing calculator:
P(A>20.1)≈0.79156\text{P}(A > 20.1) \approx 0.79156
P(A>20.1)=0.792 (to 3 s.f.)\text{P}(A > 20.1) = 0.792 \text{ (to 3 s.f.)}

Answer

0.792

10(iv)

1. State the statistical assumption required to compute the variance of the linear combination of the two random variables.

In part (iii), to find the variance of the average BMI (a linear combination X+Y2\frac{X+Y}{2}), it was assumed that the two variables are independent.

In context: The BMI of a randomly chosen 15-year-old boy and the BMI of a randomly chosen 18-year-old boy are independent.

Answer

The BMI of a randomly chosen 15-year-old boy and the BMI of a randomly chosen 18-year-old boy are independent.

AI analysis — may contain mistakes.

Worked this one out on paper? Snap your steps and Gigle's AI math checker will circle the step where it went wrong.

More questions on this topic

  1. 1The owner of Eng Choo Farm claims that the eggs produced at his farm has an average cholesterol content of μ0\mu_0 mg pe…
  2. 2In this question you should state the parameters of any distributions that you use. Crispy Cream Donut Shop sells 2 type…
  3. 3XX is a normal random variable with mean 1 and variance 1, and YY is also a normal random variable with mean μ\mu and…
  4. 4Fishing Company A has two types of fishing vessels, the "Standard" vessel and the "Large" vessel. The amount of fish cau…
  5. 5In this question, you should state clearly all the distributions that you use, together with the values of the appropria…