Math Problem Statement

A manufacturer of potato chips would like to know whether its bag filling machine works correctly at the 434 gram setting. Based on a 14 bag sample where the mean is 437 grams and the variance is 121, is there sufficient evidence at the 0.05 level that the bags are overfilled? Assume the population distribution is approximately normal. Find the value of the test statistic.

Solution

To determine if there is sufficient evidence at the 0.05 level that the bags are overfilled, we will perform a hypothesis test using the sample data. Specifically, we will conduct a one-sample t-test because we are working with a sample (14 bags) and we do not know the population standard deviation.

Step 1: Define the hypotheses

  • Null Hypothesis (H₀): The mean weight of the bags is 434 grams. μ=434\mu = 434
  • Alternative Hypothesis (H₁): The mean weight of the bags is greater than 434 grams. μ>434\mu > 434 (this is a one-tailed test for overfilling).

Step 2: Set the significance level

  • The significance level α\alpha is 0.05.

Step 3: Calculate the test statistic

We will use the t-test statistic formula:

t=xˉμ0s/nt = \frac{\bar{x} - \mu_0}{s/\sqrt{n}}

Where:

  • xˉ\bar{x} is the sample mean (437 grams),
  • μ0\mu_0 is the hypothesized population mean (434 grams),
  • ss is the sample standard deviation, and
  • nn is the sample size (14 bags).

First, calculate the sample standard deviation:

The variance is given as 121, so the standard deviation ss is:

s=121=11s = \sqrt{121} = 11

Now, calculate the t-statistic:

t=43743411/14=311/14=32.9401.02t = \frac{437 - 434}{11/\sqrt{14}} = \frac{3}{11/\sqrt{14}} = \frac{3}{2.940} \approx 1.02

Step 4: Conclusion

The value of the test statistic is approximately 1.02.

This value would need to be compared against the critical value from the t-distribution with n1=13n - 1 = 13 degrees of freedom for a one-tailed test at the 0.05 significance level.

Would you like to continue with the next step to compare this with the critical value, or do you have any questions?

Related Questions:

  1. What is the critical t-value for a one-tailed test at the 0.05 significance level?
  2. How do we determine whether to reject the null hypothesis using the p-value?
  3. How would this test differ if the sample size were larger?
  4. What assumptions are we making about the population in this test?
  5. How would the conclusion change if we were testing for underfilling rather than overfilling?

Tip: Always check if your sample size is large enough; for small samples, use the t-distribution, but for large samples (n > 30), the z-distribution may be more appropriate.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Statistics
Hypothesis Testing
t-distribution

Formulas

t = (x̄ - μ0) / (s / √n)
s = √variance

Theorems

Central Limit Theorem
t-test for one sample

Suitable Grade Level

Grades 11-12