Question

Suppose that the expected number of accidents per week at an industrial plant is 5. Suppose also that the number of workers injured in each accident are independent random variables with a common mean of 2.5. If the number of workers injured in each accident is independent of the number of accidents that occur, what is the expected number of workers injured in a week?

Answer 1

Answer:

12.5

Step-by-step explanation:

If the number of workers injured in each accident is independent of the number of accidents that occur, then the expected number of workers injured in a week equals the expected number of accidents per week times the expected number of workers injured in each accident.

But the expected number of workers injured in each accident is precisely the average or mean, so

Expected number of workers injured in a week = 5*2.5 = 12.5.

Or in other words, in 10 weeks there will probably be 125 workers injured.