This Exam P sample reference tests Poisson Distribution. For N~Poisson(1), the truncated numerator is E[N]-P(N=1)=1-exp(−1) and the conditioning probability is 1-P(N=0)-P(N=1)=1-2 exp(−1). Their ratio is 2.3922, choice B.
These notes identify the calculation error associated with each wrong letter when that error is reproducible.
AThe value 0.63 is approximately P(N≥1)=1-exp(−1). It is a probability, not the expected count after conditioning on at least two.
CUsing a coarsely rounded conditioning probability of 0.25 with the numerator 1-exp(−1) gives about 2.53, near 2.54. The exact conditioning probability is 0.264241.
DThe value 3.00 adds the minimum qualifying count 2 to the unconditional mean 1. A truncated Poisson count does not decompose as the threshold plus an independent Poisson copy.
EThe value 3.78 is approximately 1/P(N≥2)=1/(1-2 exp(−1)). It omits the truncated first-moment numerator.
Original practice · fully worked
Original variant: Poisson count conditional on even parity
The number N of alerts during a shift is Poisson with mean 2. A shift is selected for a parity audit only when N is even, with zero included as an even count. Calculate the expected number of alerts in a selected shift.
A 0.5092
B 0.9817
C 1.9281
D 2.0000
E 2.0746
Variant answer in brief
The even-count probability is (1+exp(−4))/2, while the first moment carried by even counts is 1-exp(−4). Their ratio is 2 tanh(2)=1.9281, choice C.
Setup
Setup
Express the even-count probability using the even terms of the Poisson series.
N∼Poisson(2)
Pr(N even)=e−2cosh(2)=21+e−4
Model
Model
Shift the Poisson first-moment sum: an even positive count becomes an odd count after subtracting one.
E[N1{N even}]=2Pr(N odd)
=2(21−e−4)=1−e−4
Compute
Compute
Normalize the parity-truncated first moment.
E[N∣N even]=(1+e−4)/21−e−4
=2tanh(2)=1.9280552
Answer
Answer
A selected shift has about 1.9281 alerts on average.
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