In Marumbo, three quarters of the adults own a cell phone.
(ii) A random sample of 160 adults from Marumbo is taken. Use an approximation to find the probability that more than 114 of them own a cell phone.
(iii) Justify the use of your approximation in part (ii).
Solution
Let the number of adults who own a cell phone be a binomial random variable with parameters \(n = 160\) and \(p = 0.75\).
Calculate the mean and variance:
\(np = 160 \times 0.75 = 120\)
\(npq = 160 \times 0.75 \times 0.25 = 30\)
Use the normal approximation to the binomial distribution:
\(P(X > 114) = P\left( z > \frac{114.5 - 120}{\sqrt{30}} \right)\)
\(= P(z > -1.004)\)
\(= \Phi(1.004) = 0.842\)
Thus, \(P(X > 114) = 1 - 0.842 = 0.158\).
For part (iii), the approximation is justified because both \(np\) and \(nq\) are greater than 5.
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