Calculating Poisson Distribution for Car Backfire Frequency on City Streets

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the Poisson distribution for car backfire frequency, specifically for a scenario where backfires occur 8 times per hour. The mean and variance are both set to 8, which serves as the parameter for the Poisson distribution. The probability of hearing at most one backfire in an hour is derived as 9e^(-8), combining the probabilities of hearing 0 and 1 backfire. This solution is confirmed as correct by participants in the discussion.

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buddingscientist
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Hello In my text the following question is posed:

ON a city street, car backfires are heard 8 times per hour. Use the poisson distribution to find an exact expression for the prob. that a car backfire is heard at most once in a given hour. Do not simplify or evaluate your answer.


Now from my understanding, in the poisson distribution, mean = variance = 'parameter'

In the question we can assume that the mean equals 8, thus letting the parameter = 8.

A car backfire is heard at most once in a given hour.
= Probability of hearing 0 backfires + probability of hearing 1 backfire

= 8^0 e^(-8) / 0! + 8^1 e^(-8) / 1!
= e^(-8) + 8e^(-8)
= 9e^(-8)

Is this the correct solution? Thanks for your time
 
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