An experimenter publishing in the Annals of Botany investigated whether the
stem diameters of the dicot sunflower would change depending on whether the
plant was left to sway freely in the wind or was artificially supported.
\(^{2}\) Suppose that the unsupported stem diameters at the base of a particular
species of sunflower plant have a normal distribution with an average diameter
of 35 millimeters \((\mathrm{mm})\) and a standard deviation of \(3 \mathrm{~mm}\)
a. What is the probability that a sunflower plant will have a basal diameter
of more than \(40 \mathrm{~mm} ?\)
b. If two sunflower plants are randomly selected, what is the probability that
both plants will have a basal diameter of more than \(40 \mathrm{~mm} ?\)
c. Within what limits would you expect the basal diameters to lie, with
probability \(.95 ?\)
d. What diameter represents the 90 th percentile of the distribution of
diameters?