9709 P6 - Jun 2008 - Q6
2951
Every day Eduardo tries to phone his friend. Every time he phones there is a 50% chance that his friend will answer. If his friend answers, Eduardo does not phone again on that day. If his friend does not answer, Eduardo tries again in a few minutes’ time. If his friend has not answered after 4 attempts, Eduardo does not try again on that day.
(i) Draw a tree diagram to illustrate this situation.
(ii) Let \(X\) be the number of unanswered phone calls made by Eduardo on a day. Copy and complete the table showing the probability distribution of \(X\).
| \(x\) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| \(P(X = x)\) | \(\frac{1}{4}\) |
(iii) Calculate the expected number of unanswered phone calls on a day.
