Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

A biologist wishes to estimate the effect of an antibiotic on the growth of a pa

ID: 3153332 • Letter: A

Question

A biologist wishes to estimate the effect of an antibiotic on the growth of a particular bacterium by examining the mean amount of bacteria present per plate of culture when a fixed amount of the antibiotic is applied. Suppose he estimates that s = 11 cm2 and that he has a sample size of 35 with sample mean equal to 110 cm2.

(a) What is the standard error of the sample mean? (Use three decimal places)

(b) What is the the t* value needed to construct a 98% confidence interval for the mean?

(c) Let denote the population mean amount of bacteria present per plate of culture. Calculate the 98% confidence interval for .

Explanation / Answer

a)

Note that

SE = s/sqrt(n)

As

s = sample standard deviation =    11          
n = sample size =    35          

Hence,

SE = 11/sqrt(35) = 1.85933936 [ANSWER]

******************************

b)

As

alpha/2 = (1 - confidence level)/2 =    0.01      
df = n - 1 =    34          
  
Thus, by table/technology,

t(alpha/2) = critical t for the confidence interval =    2.441149628   [ANSWER]      


*****************************

c)

Note that              

Margin of Error E = t(alpha/2) * s / sqrt(n)              
Lower Bound = X - t(alpha/2) * s / sqrt(n)              
Upper Bound = X + t(alpha/2) * s / sqrt(n)              
              
where              
alpha/2 = (1 - confidence level)/2 =    0.01          
X = sample mean =    110          
t(alpha/2) = critical t for the confidence interval =    2.441149628          
s = sample standard deviation =    11          
n = sample size =    35          
df = n - 1 =    34          
Thus,              
Margin of Error E =    4.538925588          
Lower bound =    105.4610744          
Upper bound =    114.5389256          
              
Thus, the confidence interval is              
              
(   105.4610744   ,   114.5389256   ) [ANSWER]

Hire Me For All Your Tutoring Needs
Integrity-first tutoring: clear explanations, guidance, and feedback.
Drop an Email at
drjack9650@gmail.com
Chat Now And Get Quote