Question

The Ball Corporation's beverage can manufacturing plant in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, uses a metal supplier that provides metal with a known thickness standard deviation σ = .000586 mm. Assume a random sample of 59 sheets of metal resulted in an x¯ = .2905 mm. Calculate the 95 percent confidence interval for the true mean metal thickness.

Answer 1

The 95 percent confidence interval for the true mean metal thickness is between 0.2903 mm and 0.2907 mm

Explanation:

We have that to find our
`\alpha` level, that is the subtraction of 1 by the confidence interval divided by 2. So:

`\alpha = (1-0.95)/(2) = 0.025`

Now, we have to find z in the Ztable as such z has a pvalue of
`1-\alpha`.

So it is z with a pvalue of
`1-0.025 = 0.975`, so
`z = 1.96`

Now, find the margin of error M as such

`M = z*(\sigma)/(√(n))`

In which
`\sigma` is the standard deviation of the population and n is the size of the sample.

`M = 1.96(0.000586)/(√(59)) = 0.0002`

The lower end of the interval is the sample mean subtracted by M. So it is 0.2905 - 0.0002 = 0.2903 mm

The upper end of the interval is the sample mean added to M. So it is 0.2905 + 0.0002 = 0.2907 mm

The 95 percent confidence interval for the true mean metal thickness is between 0.2903 mm and 0.2907 mm