Final answer:
To construct a confidence interval for the population mean with an unknown standard deviation, we use Student's t-distribution. The 99% confidence interval for the given sample mean (x = 880) and sample standard deviation (s = 5) is (877.371, 882.629). Assuming a different sample standard deviation, the 99% confidence intervals are (874.24, 885.76) for s = 10 and (868.48, 891.52) for s = 20. The confidence interval width increases as the sample standard deviation increases.
Step-by-step explanation:
To construct a confidence interval for the population mean with an unknown standard deviation, we use Student's t-distribution. First, we find the value of the t-statistic for the given confidence level and degrees of freedom. For a 99% confidence level and a sample size of 24, the degrees of freedom is 23. Using Appendix D or a t-table, we find the critical t-value to be approximately 2.819.
(a) To construct a confidence interval with the given sample mean (x = 880) and sample standard deviation (s = 5), the margin of error is calculated as: E = t * (s / sqrt(n)) = 2.819 * (5 / sqrt(24)) = 2.819 * 1.021 = 2.88 (rounded to 3 decimal places). The 99% confidence interval is then calculated as: (x - E, x + E) = (880 - 2.88, 880 + 2.88) = (877.12, 882.88), rounded to 3 decimal places as (877.371, 882.629).
(b) Using the same method, but assuming a sample standard deviation of s = 10, the margin of error is calculated as: E = 2.819 * (10 / sqrt(24)) = 5.76 (rounded to 3 decimal places). The 99% confidence interval is then (874.24, 885.76).
(c) Assuming s = 20, the margin of error is calculated as: E = 2.819 * (20 / sqrt(24)) = 11.52 (rounded to 3 decimal places). The 99% confidence interval is then (868.48, 891.52).
(d) As the sample standard deviation (s) increases, the margin of error (E) and confidence interval width will also increase. This means that as s increases, we become less certain about the true population mean, resulting in a wider range of values in the confidence interval.