Final answer:
The null hypotheses 'Upper H 0 : mu 1 equals mu 2' and 'Upper H 0 : mu 1 minus mu 2 equals 0' mean the same thing, representing no difference between two population means, and their equivalence is the result of algebraic manipulation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The null hypothesis Upper H 0 : mu 1 equals mu 2 asserts that there is no difference between the two population means. The alternate hypothesis can be presented as H1: mu 1 does not equals mu 2, which suggests that there is a difference between the population means.
When we state Upper H 0 : mu 1 minus mu 2 equals 0, we are expressing the same concept that there is no difference between the two means, since subtracting two equal values gives a result of zero. This is just another way of saying that the means are the same. The equality of these two hypotheses is a result of algebraic manipulation. Therefore, the correct choice is A: They are equivalent through algebraic manipulation.