S4 June 2012 Q4

EdexcelOld spec16 marksConfidence Intervals

4. A newspaper runs a daily Sudoku. A random sample of 10 people took the following times, in minutes, to complete the Sudoku.

5.0    4.5    4.7    5.3    5.2    4.1    5.3    4.8    5.5    4.6

Given that the times to complete the Sudoku follow a normal distribution,

(a) calculate a 95% confidence interval for
(i) the mean,
(ii) the variance,

of the times taken by people to complete the Sudoku. (13)

The newspaper requires the average time needed to complete the Sudoku to be 5 minutes with a standard deviation of 0.7 minutes.

(b) Comment on whether or not the Sudoku meets this requirement. Give a reason for your answer. (3)