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A new battery's voltage may be acceptable \((A)\) or unacceptable \((U)\). A certain flashlight requires two batteries, so batteries will be independently selected and tested until two acceptable ones have been found. Suppose that \(90 \%\) of all batteries have acceptable voltages. Let \(Y\) denote the number of batteries that must be tested. a. What is \(p(2)\), that is \(P(Y=2)\) ? b. What is \(p(3)\) ? c. To have \(Y=5\), what must be true of the fifth battery selected? List the four outcomes for which \(Y=5\) and then determine \(p(5)\). d. Use the pattern in your answers for parts (a)-(c) to obtain a general formula for \(p(y)\).

Short Answer

Expert verified
a. 0.81 b. 0.081 c. Fifth must be acceptable; four sequences lead to 0.00324 Formula: \( P(Y = y) = \binom{y-1}{2} \times 0.1^{y-2} \times 0.9^{2} \).

Step by step solution

01

Understand Probability of Acceptable Batteries

The probability that a battery is acceptable is given as 0.9. Therefore, the probability that a battery is unacceptable is 0.1.
02

Calculate p(2) for Y=2

The event that exactly 2 batteries are required to find two acceptable ones occurs when both batteries are acceptable. Therefore, \( P(Y = 2) = 0.9 \times 0.9 = 0.81 \).
03

Calculate p(3) for Y=3

To have \( Y = 3 \), the first battery must be unacceptable, and the next two batteries must be acceptable. Thus, \( P(Y = 3) = 0.1 \times 0.9 \times 0.9 = 0.081 \).
04

Analyze conditions for Y=5

For \( Y = 5 \), the first four batteries must include exactly three unacceptable ones and the fifth one must be acceptable. Possible sequences are: UUUA, UUAU, UAUA, AUUA where U denotes unacceptable, A denotes acceptable, and the last battery (5th) is always acceptable.
05

Compute p(5)

For each sequence where the fourth battery is unacceptable, the probability is \( 0.1^3 \times 0.9^2 \). Counting all such sequences, there are 4 possibilities, so \( P(Y = 5) = 4 \times 0.1^3 \times 0.9^2 = 0.00324 \).
06

Develop a General Formula for p(y)

The general formula for \( P(Y = y) \) requires \( y-1 \) total batteries with \( y-2 \) unacceptable and 2 being acceptable. Thus, \( P(Y = y) = \binom{y-1}{2} \times 0.1^{y-2} \times 0.9^{2} \), where \( \binom{y-1}{2} \) gives the number of ways to choose which \( y-2 \) batteries are unacceptable out of the first \( y-1 \).

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Probability
Probability is a concept that measures the likelihood of an event happening. It ranges from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates impossibility and 1 means certainty. We use probability to analyze uncertain situations, such as when deciding if a battery will have acceptable voltage or not.

In the case of the problem we're dealing with, the probability of a battery being acceptable is 0.9. This means there is a 90% chance that any given battery will be good. Conversely, there is a 0.1 (or 10%) probability that it will be unacceptable. Calculating probabilities usually involves multiplying the probabilities of independent events, which we'll talk about next.
Independent Events
Independent events are when the outcome of one event does not affect the outcome of another. In simple words, what happens with one event doesn't change what happens with the other. This concept is crucial when calculating probabilities in a situation where multiple events occur.

In our battery example, each battery is independent of others, meaning whether the first battery is acceptable does not affect whether the second battery is acceptable. Because of this independence, we can calculate the overall probability by multiplying individual probabilities, like how we calculated for the event where both batteries must be acceptable for the flashlight by multiplying their probabilities: 0.9 x 0.9.
Random Variable
A random variable is a numerical representation of outcomes from a random process. It helps translate the outcomes into understandable values.In this exercise, the random variable, denoted by \(Y\), represents the number of batteries we have to test to find two acceptable ones.

This random variable takes different possible values such as 2, 3, 5, etc., depending on how many batteries need to be tested before finding two that are acceptable. It basically counts the trials until we reach the desired outcome, and we can use this count to find the probability of each scenario occurring.
Binomial Coefficients
Binomial coefficients help us calculate how many ways we can arrange a certain number of items. They are part of what's called binomial distribution, which is useful in our battery testing problem.

For instance, to determine how many ways to arrange unacceptable batteries before a specific number of acceptable ones, we use binomial coefficients. In a formula, represented as \( \binom{n}{k} \), where \(n\) is the total number of trials and \(k\) is the number of successful outcomes (or arrangements in this context). For example, \( \binom{y-1}{y-2} \) helps to determine how many ways \(y-2\) unacceptable batteries can be placed among the first \(y-1\) trials.

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