Year: 1993
Paper: 1
Question Number: 14
Course: LFM Stats And Pure
Section: Continuous Probability Distributions and Random Variables
No solution available for this problem.
Difficulty Rating: 1500.0
Difficulty Comparisons: 0
Banger Rating: 1505.6
Banger Comparisons: 2
When he sets out on a drive Mr Toad selects a speed $V$ kilometres
per minute where $V$ is a random variable with probability density
\[
\alpha v^{-2}\mathrm{e}^{-\alpha v^{-1}}
\]
and $\alpha$ is a strictly
positive constant. He then drives at constant speed, regardless of
other drivers, road conditions and the Highway Code. The traffic lights
at the Wild Wood cross-roads change from red to green when Mr Toad
is exactly 1 kilometre away in his journey towards them. If the traffic
light is green for $g$ minutes, then red for $r$ minutes, then green
for $g$ minutes, and so on, show that the probability that he passes
them after $n(g+r)$ minutes but before $n(g+r)+g$ minutes, where
$n$ is a positive integer, is
\[
\mathrm{e}^{-\alpha n(g+r)}-\mathrm{e}^{-\alpha\left(n(g+r)\right)+g}.
\]
Find the probability $\mathrm{P}(\alpha)$ that he passes the traffic
lights when they are green.
Show that $\mathrm{P}(\alpha)\rightarrow1$ as $\alpha\rightarrow\infty$
and, by noting that $(\mathrm{e}^{x}-1)/x\rightarrow1$ as $x\rightarrow0$,
or otherwise, show that
\[
\mathrm{P}(\alpha)\rightarrow\frac{g}{r+g}\quad\mbox{ as }\alpha\rightarrow0.
\]
{[}NB: the traffic light show only green and red - not amber.{]}