What is the expected time between bites in a jungle full of bees?

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SUMMARY

The expected time between bites in a jungle full of bees can be calculated using probabilities associated with bee landings and bites. Given that a bee lands on the arm with a probability of 0.5 and bites with a probability of 0.2, the overall probability of being bitten in a single second is P(B) = P(A) * P(B|A) = 0.5 * 0.2 = 0.1. The distribution that describes the number of trials before a success is the geometric distribution, which is applicable here as each second represents an independent trial. The expected time between bites can be derived from the inverse of the bite probability, yielding an expected time of 10 seconds between bites.

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You are in a jungle, at each second a bee lands on your arm with a probability of 0.5. Given that a bee lands on you, it will bite your arm with a probability of 0.2 and not do anything with a probability of 0.8, independently of all other mosquitoes. What is the expected time between successive bites?
 
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1) What is the probability that you will get bitten in a single second.

2) What distribution deals with the number of trials before a success?

3) Show some working if you want help
 
1) What is the probability that you will get bitten in a single second.

The probability of getting bitten (event B), given the bee lands on you (event A),
is given as P(B|A)=0.2
and P(A) is given as =0.5
is it correct to say P(A|B) = P (A and B) / P(A) and solve for P(B) ,
I am not sure how to solve for P(B) though, Bayes rule? 2) What distribution deals with the number of trials before a success?
Is this asking whether it is a binomial random variable
where k is the # of bites, n is the number of seconds (as each second is a new trial)
and Px(k) = (n C k) p^k * (1-p)^(n-k)

should the correct random variable equation should be
=(nCk) * P(B)^k (1-P(B))^(n-k)

I am not sure if it makes sense to make the number of bites equal to the number of seconds to find the E[X] time between successive bites.
(both equal to 2?)
 
Last edited:
You are on the correct path with the conditional prob. What you are looking for is q = P(A and B), which is the binomial probability of being bitten.
 

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