A medical test will be positive for 0.05% of people and negative for everyone else. Suppose a hospital will test 4000 patients each day. Use an appropriate approximation to find the probability that 5 people test positive tomorrow. (5SF)

Note that we have a constant probability, fixed number of tests, independent patients and only two outcomes, so we can write a binomial distribution X~Bin(4000,0.0005) where X is the random variable representing the number of patients who test positive.Use a Poisson approximation with L=np=2, so P(X=5) = ~(e^(-2)2^5)/5! = 0.036089

JM
Answered by John M. Maths tutor

2989 Views

See similar Maths A Level tutors

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

Solve 2sin2θ = 1 + cos2θ for 0° ≤ θ ≤ 180°


Integrate e^x sinx


What is a stationary point on a curve? How do I calculate the co-ordinates of a stationary point?


When dealing with trigonometric functions such as sin, cos or tan, how do you solve the trigonometric equation when the argument of the function(s) is nx, where n is a real number not equal to 1.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning