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The number of cars crossing over a small bridge located in a small village in Zimbabwe is 7 per hour. What is the probability that no car crosses the bridge in 30 minutes?

User Mttrb
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Final answer:

To find the probability that no car crosses the bridge in 30 minutes, you can use the Poisson distribution formula. Since the average number of cars crossing the bridge is 7 per hour, the probability is approximately 0.8904.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the probability that no car crosses the bridge in 30 minutes, we can use the Poisson distribution formula. Since the average number of cars crossing the bridge is 7 per hour, we can calculate the rate parameter lambda by dividing the average by the number of minutes in an hour, which is 60. Lambda = 7/60 = 0.1167 cars per minute. The probability of no cars crossing the bridge in 30 minutes can be calculated using the Poisson distribution formula: P(X = 0) = (e^(-lambda) * lambda^0) / 0!

Substituting lambda = 0.1167 and X = 0:

P(X = 0) = (e^(-0.1167) * 0.1167^0) / 0! = (e^(-0.1167) * 1) / 1 = e^(-0.1167).

So, the probability that no car crosses the bridge in 30 minutes is e^(-0.1167) or approximately 0.8904.

User Spencer Alger
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