Independent solution

How to solve this Uniform Distribution question

Setup

Setup

Let a be the lower endpoint and let w be the positive width of the uniform support.

XUniform(a,a+w)X\sim\operatorname{Uniform}(a,a+w)
E[X]=a+w2=12\operatorname{E}[X]=a+\frac{w}{2}=12

Model

Model

The 75th percentile is three quarters of the way across the support. Subtracting the midpoint equation removes the unknown lower endpoint.

q0.75=a+3w4=18q_{0.75}=a+\frac{3w}{4}=18
q0.75E[X]=w4q_{0.75}-\operatorname{E}[X]=\frac{w}{4}

Compute

Compute

Recover the support width from the six-unit percentile gap, then apply the continuous-uniform variance formula.

1812=w4w=2418-12=\frac{w}{4}\quad\Longrightarrow\quad w=24
Var(X)=w212=24212=48\operatorname{Var}(X)=\frac{w^2}{12}=\frac{24^2}{12}=48

Answer

Answer

The variance is 48.

48(C)\boxed{48\quad\text{(C)}}