Original practice · fully worked
Original variant: infer an array size from silent sensors
An array contains identical independent sensors. The daily alert count from each sensor is Poisson, and one sensor has no alerts on a day with probability 0.82. The expected total number of daily alerts from the array is 29.76764. Calculate the number of sensors in the array.
- A
30 - B
36 - C
150 - D
165 - E
345
Answer and calculation
The zero-alert probability gives a per-sensor mean of -ln(0.82)=0.198451. Dividing the array's expected total by that mean gives 149.999996, so the array contains 150 sensors and choice C.
Setup
Setup
Use the Poisson zero-count identity to determine one sensor's mean alert rate.
0.82=e−λ λ=−ln(0.82)=0.1984509387… Model
Model
For n identical sensors, linearity of expectation makes the array mean n times the individual mean.
29.76764=nλ Compute
Compute
Divide by the recovered individual rate.
n=0.1984509387…29.76764=149.9999959… Answer
Answer
The integer array size is 150 sensors.
150(C)