Two machines, A and B, are used to pack biscuits. A sample of 10 packets was taken from each machine and the mass of each packet, measured to the nearest gram, was noted. Find the standard deviation of the masses of the packets taken in the sample from each machine. Which machine, do you think, is more reliable? Explain your answer.
Machine A (mass in g) 196 198 198 199 200 200 201 201 202 205
Machine B (mass in g) 192 194 195 198 200 201 203 204 206 207
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To find the standard deviation of the masses of the packets taken in the sample from each machine, we can use the formula:
Standard Deviation = √(Σ(xᵢ - ȳ)² / n)
Where xᵢ is the mass of each packet, ȳ is the mean mass, and n is the number of packets in the sample.
For Machine A:
Mean (ȳ) = (196 + 198 + 198 + 199 + 200 + 200 + 201 + 201 + 202 + 205) / 10 = 200.0 g
Calculate the squared differences from the mean for each packet:
(196 - 200)² = 16
(198 - 200)² = 4
(198 - 200)² = 4
(199 - 200)² = 1
(200 - 200)² = 0
(200 - 200)² = 0
(201 - 200)² = 1
(201 - 200)² = 1
(202 - 200)² = 4
(205 - 200)² = 25
Add up the squared differences: 16 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 4 + 25 = 56
Standard Deviation = √(56 / 10) = √5.6 ≈ 2.37 g
For Machine B:
Mean (ȳ) = (192 + 194 + 195 + 198 + 200 + 201 + 203 + 204 + 206 + 207) / 10 = 200.0 g
Calculate the squared differences from the mean for each packet:
(192 - 200)² = 64
(194 - 200)² = 36
(195 - 200)² = 25
(198 - 200)² = 4
(200 - 200)² = 0
(201 - 200)² = 1
(203 - 200)² = 9
(204 - 200)² = 16
(206 - 200)² = 36
(207 - 200)² = 49
Add up the squared differences: 64 + 36 + 25 + 4 + 0 + 1 + 9 + 16 + 36 + 49 = 240
Standard Deviation = √(240 / 10) = √24 ≈ 4.90 g
Therefore, the standard deviation of the masses of the packets taken from Machine A is approximately 2.37 g, while the standard deviation for Machine B is approximately 4.90 g.
Since the standard deviation measures the spread or variation of the data, a smaller standard deviation indicates that the data is more consistent and reliable. Therefore, Machine A, with a smaller standard deviation, is more reliable compared to Machine B. This means that the masses of packets from Machine A are closer to the mean mass and have less variability overall.