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Water specimens are taken from water used for cooling as it is being discharged

ID: 3364150 • Letter: W

Question

Water specimens are taken from water used for cooling as it is being discharged from a power plant into a river. It has been determined that as long as the mean temperature of the discharged water is at most 150°F, there will be no negative effects on the river's ecosystem. To investigate whether the plant is in compliance with regulations that prohibit a mean discharge water temperature above 150°F, a scientist will take 50 water specimens at randomly selected times and will record the water temperature of each specimen. She will then use a z statistic

z =

to decide between the hypotheses

H0: = 150 and Ha: > 150,

where is the mean temperature of discharged water. Assume that is known to be 10.

(A) Explain why use of the z statistic is appropriate in this setting.

We can use z as we know the population mean.

We can use z as we know the sample size.    

We can use z as we know the population standard deviation.

We can use z as we know the population size.

We can use z as we know the sample standard deviation.

(B) Describe Type I and Type II errors in this context. (Select all that apply.)

A Type I error is not obtaining convincing evidence that the mean water temperature is greater than 150°F when in fact it is greater than 150°F.

A Type I error is obtaining convincing evidence that the mean water temperature is greater than 150°F when in fact it is (at most) 150°F.

A Type II error is obtaining convincing evidence that the mean water temperature is greater than 150°F when in fact it is (at most) 150°F.

A Type II error is not obtaining convincing evidence that the mean water temperature is greater than 150°F when in fact it is greater than 150°F.

A Type I error is obtaining convincing evidence that the mean water temperature is greater than 150°F when in fact it is greater than 150°F.

x 150 n

Explanation / Answer

(A)
We can use z as we know the population standard deviation i.e. sigma = 10

(B)
A type I error is the incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis
while a type II error is incorrectly retaining a false null hypothesis

A Type I error is obtaining convincing evidence that the mean water temperature is greater than 150°F when in fact it is (at most) 150°F.