Chapter 6: Q. 5 (page 353)
Benford鈥檚 law Faked numbers in tax returns, invoices, or expense account claims often display patterns that aren鈥檛 present in legitimate records. Some patterns, like too many round numbers, are obvious and easily avoided by a clever crook. Others are more subtle. It is a striking fact that the first digits of numbers in legitimate records often follow a model known as Benford鈥檚 law. Call the first digit of a randomly chosen record for short. Benford鈥檚 law gives this probability model for(note that a first digit can鈥檛 be )

(a) Show that this is a legitimate probability distribution.
(b) Make a histogram of the probability distribution. Describe what you see.
(c) Describe the event in words. What is ?
(d) Express the event 鈥渇irst digit is at most 鈥 in terms of . What is the probability of this event?
Short Answer
a) The probability range from to .
b)
c) As a result, is the required probability.
d) As a result, is the required probability.






