9709 P53 - Nov 2023 - Q2
The weights of large bags of pasta produced by a company are normally distributed with mean 1.5 kg and standard deviation 0.05 kg.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen large bag of pasta weighs between 1.42 kg and 1.52 kg.
9709 P53 - Nov 2021 - Q4
Raj wants to improve his fitness, so every day he goes for a run. The times, in minutes, of his runs have a normal distribution with mean 41.2 and standard deviation 3.6.
(a) Find the probability that on a randomly chosen day Raj runs for more than 43.2 minutes.
(b) Find an estimate for the number of days in a year (365 days) on which Raj runs for less than 43.2 minutes.
9709 P52 - Nov 2021 - Q6
The times taken, in minutes, to complete a particular task by employees at a large company are normally distributed with mean 32.2 and standard deviation 9.6.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen employee takes more than 28.6 minutes to complete the task.
(c) Find the probability that the time taken to complete the task by a randomly chosen employee differs from the mean by less than 15.0 minutes.
9709 P51 - Nov 2021 - Q7
The times, in minutes, that Karli spends each day on social media are normally distributed with mean 125 and standard deviation 24.
(i) On how many days of the year (365 days) would you expect Karli to spend more than 142 minutes on social media?
(ii) Find the probability that Karli spends more than 142 minutes on social media on fewer than 2 of 10 randomly chosen days.
9709 P51 - Jun 2021 - Q2
A company produces a particular type of metal rod. The lengths of these rods are normally distributed with mean 25.2 cm and standard deviation 0.4 cm. A random sample of 500 of these rods is chosen.
How many rods in this sample would you expect to have a length that is within 0.5 cm of the mean length?
9709 P52 - Mar 2021 - Q3
The time spent by shoppers in a large shopping centre has a normal distribution with mean 96 minutes and standard deviation 18 minutes.
Find the probability that a shopper chosen at random spends between 85 and 100 minutes in the shopping centre.
9709 P53 - Nov 2020 - Q1
The times taken to swim 100 metres by members of a large swimming club have a normal distribution with mean 62 seconds and standard deviation 5 seconds.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen member of the club takes between 56 and 66 seconds to swim 100 metres.
9709 P52 - Nov 2020 - Q3
Pia runs 2 km every day and her times in minutes are normally distributed with mean 10.1 and standard deviation 1.3.
(a) Find the probability that on a randomly chosen day Pia takes longer than 11.3 minutes to run 2 km.
(c) On how many days in a period of 90 days would you expect Pia to take between 8.9 and 11.3 minutes to run 2 km?
9709 P51 - Nov 2020 - Q5
The time in hours that Davin plays on his games machine each day is normally distributed with mean 3.5 and standard deviation 0.9.
(a) Find the probability that on a randomly chosen day Davin plays on his games machine for more than 4.2 hours.
(c) Calculate an estimate for the number of days in a year (365 days) on which Davin plays on his games machine for between 2.8 and 4.2 hours.
9709 P53 - Jun 2020 - Q3
In a certain town, the time, X hours, for which people watch television in a week has a normal distribution with mean 15.8 hours and standard deviation 4.2 hours.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen person from this town watches television for less than 21 hours in a week.
9709 P51 - Jun 2020 - Q6
The lengths of female snakes of a particular species are normally distributed with mean 54 cm and standard deviation 6.1 cm.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen female snake of this species has length between 50 cm and 60 cm.
9709 P52 - Jun 2023 - Q5
The lengths of Western bluebirds are normally distributed with mean 16.5 cm and standard deviation 0.6 cm.
A random sample of 150 of these birds is selected.
How many of these 150 birds would you expect to have length between 15.4 cm and 16.8 cm?
9709 P63 - Nov 2019 - Q4
The heights of students at the Mainland college are normally distributed with mean 148 cm and standard deviation 8 cm.
120 Mainland students are chosen at random.
Find the number of these students that would be expected to have a height within half a standard deviation of the mean.
9709 P62 - Nov 2019 - Q6
The heights, in metres, of fir trees in a large forest have a normal distribution with mean 40 and standard deviation 8.
- Find the probability that a fir tree chosen at random in this forest has a height less than 45 metres.
- Find the probability that a fir tree chosen at random in this forest has a height within 5 metres of the mean.
9709 P61 - Nov 2019 - Q7
The shortest time recorded by an athlete in a 400 m race is called their personal best (PB). The PBs of the athletes in a large athletics club are normally distributed with mean 49.2 seconds and standard deviation 2.8 seconds.
- Find the probability that a randomly chosen athlete from this club has a PB between 46 and 53 seconds. [4]
Three athletes from the club are chosen at random.
- Find the probability that exactly 2 have PBs of less than 46 seconds. [3]
9709 P63 - Jun 2019 - Q1
The time taken, in minutes, by a ferry to cross a lake has a normal distribution with mean 85 and standard deviation 6.8.
Find the probability that, on a randomly chosen occasion, the time taken by the ferry to cross the lake is between 79 and 91 minutes.
9709 P62 - Jun 2019 - Q2
The volume of ink in a certain type of ink cartridge has a normal distribution with mean 30 ml and standard deviation 1.5 ml. People in an office use a total of 8 cartridges of this ink per month. Find the expected number of cartridges per month that contain less than 28.9 ml of this ink.
9709 P61 - Jun 2019 - Q7
The weight of adult female giraffes has a normal distribution with mean 830 kg and standard deviation 120 kg.
There are 430 adult female giraffes in a particular game reserve. Find the number of these adult female giraffes which can be expected to weigh less than 700 kg.
9709 P62 - Mar 2019 - Q3
The times taken, in minutes, for trains to travel between Alphaton and Beeton are normally distributed with mean 140 and standard deviation 12.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen train will take less than 132 minutes to travel between Alphaton and Beeton.
9709 P63 - Nov 2018 - Q5
The weights of apples sold by a store can be modelled by a normal distribution with mean 120 grams and standard deviation 24 grams. Apples weighing less than 90 grams are graded as 'small'; apples weighing more than 140 grams are graded as 'large'; the remainder are graded as 'medium'.
(i) Show that the probability that an apple chosen at random is graded as medium is 0.692, correct to 3 significant figures.
(ii) Four apples are chosen at random. Find the probability that at least two are graded as medium.
9709 P62 - Nov 2018 - Q7
The variable \(Y\) is normally distributed with mean \(\mu\) and standard deviation \(\sigma\), where \(4\sigma = 3\mu\) and \(\mu \neq 0\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen value of \(Y\) is positive.
9709 P61 - Nov 2018 - Q4
It is given that \(X \sim N(31.4, 3.6)\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen value of \(X\) is less than 29.4.
9709 P51 - Jun 2023 - Q4
A mathematical puzzle is given to a large number of students. The times taken to complete the puzzle are normally distributed with mean 14.6 minutes and standard deviation 5.2 minutes.
In a random sample of 250 of the students, how many would you expect to have taken more than 20 minutes to complete the puzzle?
9709 P61 - Jun 2018 - Q4
The random variable \(X\) has the distribution \(N(\mu, \sigma^2)\), where \(3\sigma = 4\mu\) and \(\mu \neq 0\). Find \(P(X < 3\mu)\).
9709 P63 - Jun 2017 - Q4
The random variable X has the distribution \(N(\mu, \sigma^2)\), where \(\mu = 1.5\sigma\). A random value of \(X\) is chosen. Find the probability that this value of \(X\) is greater than 0.
9709 P61 - Jun 2017 - Q6
The lengths of metal rods have a normal distribution with mean 16 cm and standard deviation 0.2 cm. Rods which are shorter than 15.75 cm or longer than 16.25 cm are not usable. Find the expected number of usable rods in a batch of 1000 rods.
Problem #3138
The random variable X has a normal distribution with mean equal to the standard deviation. Find the probability that a particular value of X is less than 1.5 times the mean.
9709 P62 - Mar 2017 - Q7
The lengths, in centimetres, of middle fingers of women in Snoland have a normal distribution with mean 7.9 and standard deviation 0.44. A random sample of 5 women from Snoland is chosen.
(ii) Find the probability that exactly 3 of these women have middle fingers shorter than 8.2 cm.
9709 P62 - Nov 2016 - Q4
The time taken to cook an egg by people living in a certain town has a normal distribution with mean 4.2 minutes and standard deviation 0.6 minutes.
Find the probability that a person chosen at random takes between 3.5 and 4.5 minutes to cook an egg.
9709 P62 - Jun 2016 - Q6
The time in minutes taken by Peter to walk to the shop and buy a newspaper is normally distributed with mean 9.5 and standard deviation 1.3.
- Find the probability that on a randomly chosen day Peter takes longer than 10.2 minutes.
- Calculate an estimate of the number of days in a year (365 days) on which Peter takes less than 8.8 minutes to walk to the shop and buy a newspaper.
9709 P62 - Mar 2016 - Q7
The times in hours taken by another garage to fit a tow bar onto a car have the distribution \(N(\mu, \sigma^2)\) where \(\mu = 3\sigma\).
Find the probability that it takes more than \(0.6\mu\) hours to fit a tow bar onto a randomly chosen car at this garage.
9709 P62 - Nov 2015 - Q7
The random variable \(Y\) is normally distributed with mean \(\mu\) and standard deviation \(\sigma\). Given that \(\sigma = \frac{2}{3} \mu\), find the probability that a random value of \(Y\) is less than \(2\mu\).
9709 P61 - Nov 2015 - Q4
Amy’s friend Marok measured her pulse rate every day after running for half an hour. Marok’s pulse rate, in beats per minute, was found to have a mean of 148.6 and a standard deviation of 18.5. Assuming that pulse rates have a normal distribution, find what proportion of Marok’s pulse rates, after running for half an hour, were above 160 beats per minute.
9709 P52 - Mar 2023 - Q6
In a cycling event the times taken to complete a course are modelled by a normal distribution with mean 62.3 minutes and standard deviation 8.4 minutes.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen cyclist has a time less than 74 minutes.
(b) Find the probability that 4 randomly chosen cyclists all have times between 50 and 74 minutes.
9709 P63 - Jun 2015 - Q5
The heights of books in a library, in cm, have a normal distribution with mean 21.7 and standard deviation 6.5. A book with a height of more than 29 cm is classified as ‘large’.
(i) Find the probability that, of 8 books chosen at random, fewer than 2 books are classified as large.
(ii) n books are chosen at random. The probability of there being at least 1 large book is more than 0.98. Find the least possible value of n.
9709 P62 - Nov 2014 - Q5
The random variable \(Y\) has the distribution \(N(\mu, \sigma^2)\), where \(2\sigma = 3\mu\) and \(\mu \neq 0\). Find \(P(Y > 4\mu)\).
9709 P61 - Nov 2014 - Q6
A farmer finds that the weights of sheep on his farm have a normal distribution with mean 66.4 kg and standard deviation 5.6 kg.
(i) 250 sheep are chosen at random. Estimate the number of sheep which have a weight of between 70 kg and 72.5 kg.
(ii) The proportion of sheep weighing less than 59.2 kg is equal to the proportion weighing more than y kg. Find the value of y.
9709 P61 - Jun 2014 - Q1
The petrol consumption of a certain type of car has a normal distribution with mean 24 kilometres per litre and standard deviation 4.7 kilometres per litre. Find the probability that the petrol consumption of a randomly chosen car of this type is between 21.6 kilometres per litre and 28.7 kilometres per litre.
9709 P63 - Nov 2013 - Q2
A factory produces flower pots. The base diameters have a normal distribution with mean 14 cm and standard deviation 0.52 cm. Find the probability that the base diameters of exactly 8 out of 10 randomly chosen flower pots are between 13.6 cm and 14.8 cm.
9709 P62 - Nov 2013 - Q1
It is given that \(X \sim N(1.5, 3.2^2)\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen value of \(X\) is less than \(-2.4\).
9709 P61 - Nov 2013 - Q1
It is given that \(X \sim N(30, 49)\), \(Y \sim N(30, 16)\) and \(Z \sim N(50, 16)\). On a single diagram, with the horizontal axis going from 0 to 70, sketch three curves to represent the distributions of \(X, Y\) and \(Z\).
9709 P61 - Jun 2013 - Q4
The random variable Y is normally distributed with positive mean μ and standard deviation \(\frac{1}{2} \mu\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen value of Y is negative.
9709 P63 - Nov 2012 - Q5
The random variable X is such that X ~ N(82, 126).
A value of X is chosen at random and rounded to the nearest whole number. Find the probability that this whole number is 84.
9709 P62 - Nov 2012 - Q2
The random variable X is the daily profit, in thousands of dollars, made by a company. X is normally distributed with mean 6.4 and standard deviation 5.2.
(i) Find the probability that, on a randomly chosen day, the company makes a profit between $10,000 and $12,000.
(ii) Find the probability that the company makes a loss on exactly 1 of the next 4 consecutive days.
9709 P53 - Nov 2022 - Q5
The weights of the bags of sugar produced by company B are normally distributed with mean 1.04 kg and standard deviation 0.06 kg.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen bag produced by company B weighs more than 1.11 kg.
9709 P63 - Jun 2012 - Q6
In another fish farm, the lengths of salmon, X cm, are normally distributed with mean 32.9 cm and standard deviation 2.4 cm.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen salmon is 34 cm long, correct to the nearest centimetre.
9709 P61 - Jun 2012 - Q1
It is given that \(X \sim N(28.3, 4.5)\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen value of \(X\) lies between 25 and 30.
9709 P62 - Nov 2011 - Q7
In a certain country, the daily minimum temperature, in °C, in winter has the distribution \(N(8, 24)\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen winter day in this country has a minimum temperature between 7°C and 12°C.
9709 P63 - Nov 2010 - Q1
Name the distribution and suggest suitable numerical parameters that you could use to model the weights in kilograms of female 18-year-old students.
9709 P61 - Nov 2010 - Q3
The times taken by students to get up in the morning can be modelled by a normal distribution with mean 26.4 minutes and standard deviation 3.7 minutes.
(i) For a random sample of 350 students, find the number who would be expected to take longer than 20 minutes to get up in the morning. [3]
(ii) ‘Very slow’ students are students whose time to get up is more than 1.645 standard deviations above the mean. Find the probability that fewer than 3 students from a random sample of 8 students are ‘very slow’. [4]
9709 P62 - Jun 2010 - Q2
The lengths of new pencils are normally distributed with mean 11 cm and standard deviation 0.095 cm.
- Find the probability that a pencil chosen at random has a length greater than 10.9 cm.
- Find the probability that, in a random sample of 6 pencils, at least two have lengths less than 10.9 cm.
9709 P6 - Nov 2008 - Q3
The daily minimum temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) in January in Ottawa is a random variable with distribution \(N(-15.1, 62.0)\). Find the probability that a randomly chosen day in January in Ottawa has a minimum temperature above 0°C.
9709 P6 - Jun 2005 - Q6
Tyre pressures on a certain type of car independently follow a normal distribution with mean 1.9 bars and standard deviation 0.15 bars.
Find the probability that all four tyres on a car of this type have pressures between 1.82 bars and 1.92 bars.
9709 P6 - Jun 2004 - Q4
Melons are sold in three sizes: small, medium and large. The weights follow a normal distribution with mean 450 grams and standard deviation 120 grams. Melons weighing less than 350 grams are classified as small.
- Find the proportion of melons which are classified as small.
- The rest of the melons are divided in equal proportions between medium and large. Find the weight above which melons are classified as large.
9709 P6 - Nov 2003 - Q7
The length of time a person undergoing a routine operation stays in hospital can be modelled by a normal distribution with mean 7.8 days and standard deviation 2.8 days.
- Calculate the proportion of people who spend between 7.8 days and 11.0 days in hospital.
- Calculate the probability that, of 3 people selected at random, exactly 2 spend longer than 11.0 days in hospital.
- A health worker plotted a box-and-whisker plot of the times that 100 patients, chosen randomly, stayed in hospital. The result is shown below. State with a reason whether or not this agrees with the model used in parts (i) and (ii).
\(
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9709 P52 - Nov 2022 - Q2
The lengths of the rods produced by a company are normally distributed with mean 55.6 mm and standard deviation 1.2 mm.
(a) In a random sample of 400 of these rods, how many would you expect to have length less than 54.8 mm?
(b) Find the probability that a randomly chosen rod produced by this company has a length that is within half a standard deviation of the mean.
9709 P6 - Jun 2003 - Q3
The height of sunflowers follows a normal distribution with mean 112 cm and standard deviation 17.2 cm. Find the probability that the height of a randomly chosen sunflower is greater than 120 cm.
9709 P6 - Nov 2002 - Q3
The distance in metres that a ball can be thrown by pupils at a particular school follows a normal distribution with mean 35.0 m and standard deviation 11.6 m.
Find the probability that a randomly chosen pupil can throw a ball between 30 and 40 m.
9709 P6 - Jun 2002 - Q4
On another day the mean speed of cars on the motorway was found to be 107.6 km h-1 and the standard deviation was 13.8 km h-1. Assuming these speeds follow a normal distribution and that the speed limit is 110 km h-1, find what proportion of cars exceed the speed limit.
9709 P53 - Jun 2022 - Q5
Farmer Jones grows apples. The weights, in grams, of the apples grown this year are normally distributed with mean 170 and standard deviation 25. Apples that weigh between 142 grams and 205 grams are sold to a supermarket.
(a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen apple grown by Farmer Jones this year is sold to the supermarket.
Farmer Jones sells the apples to the supermarket at $0.24 each. He sells apples that weigh more than 205 grams to a local shop at $0.30 each. He does not sell apples that weigh less than 142 grams.
The total number of apples grown by Farmer Jones this year is 20000.
(b) Calculate an estimate for his total income from this year’s apples.
9709 P52 - Jun 2022 - Q4
The weights, in kg, of bags of rice produced by Anders have the distribution \(N(2.02, 0.03^2)\).
Find the probability that a randomly chosen bag of rice produced by Anders weighs between 1.98 and 2.03 kg.
9709 P51 - Jun 2022 - Q5
The lengths, in cm, of the leaves of a particular type are modelled by the distribution \(N(5.2, 1.5^2)\).
Find the probability that a randomly chosen leaf of this type has length less than 6 cm.





























































