Independent solution

How to solve this Covariance question

Setup

Setup

For one person, let Z=X+Y be the combined hours. Its mean is 70, and its variance must include the covariance term.

Z=X+YZ=X+Y
E[Z]=50+20=70E[Z]=50+20=70

Model

Model

The per-person variance is 50+30+2(10)=100. Independence across 100 people then gives an aggregate standard deviation of 100.

Var(Z)=50+30+2(10)=100\operatorname{Var}(Z)=50+30+2(10)=100
T=i=1100ZiT=\sum_{i=1}^{100}Z_i

Compute

Compute

The aggregate mean is 7000, so 7100 is exactly one aggregate standard deviation above the mean. The corresponding normal cumulative probability is 0.8413447.

E[T]=7000,SD(T)=100(100)=100E[T]=7000,\quad\operatorname{SD}(T)=\sqrt{100(100)}=100
P(T<7100)Φ(1)=0.8413447P(T<7100)\approx\Phi(1)=0.8413447

Answer

Answer

The approximation rounds to 0.84, corresponding to choice B.

0.84(B)\boxed{0.84\quad\text{(B)}}