A manufacturer knows that their items have a normally distributed lifespan, with a mean of 5.5 years, and standard deviation of 1.2 years. If 24 items are picked at random, 8% of the time their mean life will be less than how many years?

If 24 items are picked at random, 8% of the time their mean life will be less than 5.156 years.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this question, we have to understand the normal probability distribution and the central limit theorem.

Normal probability distribution:

Problems of normally distributed samples are solved using the z-score formula.

In a set with mean and standard deviation , the zscore of a measure X is given by:

The Z-score measures how many standard deviations the measure is from the mean. After finding the Z-score, we look at the z-score table and find the p-value associated with this z-score. This p-value is the probability that the value of the measure is smaller than X, that is, the percentile of X. Subtracting 1 by the pvalue, we get the probability that the value of the measure is greater than X.

Central limit theorem:

The Central Limit Theorem estabilishes that, for a random variable X, with mean and standard deviation , the sample means with size n of at least 30 can be approximated to a normal distribution with mean and standard deviation

In this problem, we have that:

If 24 items are picked at random, 8% of the time their mean life will be less than how many years?

This is the value of X when Z has a pvalue of 0.08. So it is X when Z = -1.405.

By the Central Limit Theorem

If 24 items are picked at random, 8% of the time their mean life will be less than 5.156 years.

the domain of a function is the set of input values, x , for which a function is defined. the domain is shown in the left oval in the picture below. the function provides an output value, f(x) , for each member of the domain.