Poisson random variable problem

In summary, the percentage of children who have hit the target at least twice in a recent slingshot contest in a small town is approximately 83%. This is determined using the Poisson distribution and the fact that 4% of the children did not hit the target even once in 100 shots.
  • #1
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The children in a small town own slingshots. In a recent contest 4% of them were such poor shots that they did not hit the target even once in 100 shots. If the number of times a randomly selected child has hit the target is approximately a Poisson random variable, determine the percentage of children who have hit the target at least twice.

Just want to make sure my reasoning/logic for this is correct...

so P(X=x) = eλn /n!

so from the question P(X=0) = 0.04 = e => λ = 3.21887

Then P(X >= 2) = 1 - ( P(X=0) + P(X=1) ) = 1 - 0.04 - e-3.218873.218871/1!

I get 0.83

does this seem reasonable?
 
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  • #2
Yes, it does. I didn't check your numeric calculations, but how you set it up looks correct, and your answer seems reasonable. Since 4% of the kids didn't hit the target in 100 tries, that means 96% hit it one or more times. We would expect that the percentage of kids who hit the target two or more times would be less than 96%, which is what you have.
 
  • #3
Thanks, just wanted to make sure i had the right idea!
 

1. What is a Poisson random variable?

A Poisson random variable is a discrete random variable that represents the number of events that occur in a fixed interval of time or space, given a known average rate of occurrence and the events are independent of each other.

2. How is a Poisson random variable different from a binomial random variable?

A binomial random variable represents the number of successes in a fixed number of trials, while a Poisson random variable represents the number of events in a fixed interval of time or space. Additionally, a binomial random variable has a fixed number of trials and a constant probability of success, while a Poisson random variable has a fixed average rate of occurrence.

3. What is the probability distribution of a Poisson random variable?

The probability distribution of a Poisson random variable is given by the Poisson distribution formula: P(X = k) = (λ^k * e^-λ) / k!, where λ is the average rate of occurrence and k is the number of events.

4. What are some real-world applications of Poisson random variables?

Poisson random variables are commonly used in a variety of fields, including biology, finance, and engineering. Some examples of real-world applications include modeling the demand for products, predicting the number of customers in a queue, and estimating the number of accidents on a highway.

5. How do you calculate the mean and variance of a Poisson random variable?

The mean and variance of a Poisson random variable are both equal to the average rate of occurrence (λ). This means that the mean and variance can be calculated using the formula E(X) = V(X) = λ.

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