Question

The U.S. government has devoted a considerable amount of funding to missile defense research over past 20 years. The latest development is the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS), which uses satellite imagery to detect and track missiles (Chance, Summer 2005). The probability that an intruding object (i.e. missile) will be detected on a flight track by SBIRS is 0.8. Consider a sample of 20 simulated tracks, each with an intruding object. Let X equal the number of these tracks where SBIRS detects the object. p is defined as the probability of success that SBIRS detects the object . If you use excel, please explain and show the cell formulas.

1. What is the value of p?

2. Find P(X=15)

3. Find P(X<=2)

4. Find E(X) and interpret its meaning.

Answer 1