FACULTY OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

CIVIL ENGINEERING STATISTICS

BFC 34303
SEMESTER 1 2017/2018

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

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 THE IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICS IN DAILY LIFE

Firstly, I will explain the meaning of statistics and the importance that it brings in our
daily life. Statistics is a branch of mathematics that mostly deals with the analysis,
interpretation, collection, presentation of masses of numerical data and organ ization of
data.

In short, statistics means the study of data. There are two main methods on how
to use statistics; the first one is descriptive statistics. It is the tools and study of
methods for collecting data and the use of mathematical models to int erpret data. Next
is inferential statistics. It is a technique for making probability-based decisions and
accurate predictions.

There are many examples of how statistics can be used in our daily life, for
example in Predicting Disease. There are many statistics about a disease was reported
lots of times on the news reports but if the reporter only reports the number of people
who either have died from the disease or who might have the disease or it's an
interesting fact, it does not mean much. But when statistics become involved, we can
have a better idea of how that disease may affect us.

For example, studies have shown that 80 to 90 percent of lung cancers are
related to smoking. The statistics can tell us that almost all lung cancers disease are
related to smokers and if you want to avoid getting the lung cancer, you should not
smoke at all.

Here, I will give some examples where variation occurs and statistical method
could be applied in the field of civil engineering. These applications might b e useful
for analyzing and discussing the use of statistics in the practice of civil engineering.

Firstly, in geotechnical engineering, the application of statistics can be used on

four given soil sample from a certain soil and given the results of the lab oratory of
consolidation tests on each sample. These test results can be used to compute the
settlement that will occur if a certain load was placed on this soil. So we can use
statistics to find variations due to the sample locations assuming that the sam pling
method, testing, and analysis introduce no uncertainty and from there we can compute
the probability that the settlement will exceed some specified value.

Also in Hydrology Engineering, the application can be used on a given stream

flow records for the Klang River that flows through Kuala Lumpur. We can use
statistics to find the stream flow (〖ft〗^3/s) that corresponds to a particular recurrence
interval. Then, this flow can be used to design dams, levees, and others.

Next is Environmental Engineering. For example, we were given a series of

groundwater samples obtained at different locations with information about its depths
in an aquifer and the concentration of a certain chemical in each sample. Application
of statistics can be useful to find the probability of the concentration at any point in
the aquifer.

In a nutshell, without the use of statistics, we won’t know what worked and
what didn’t. It helps us to find balance and structure in our daily life. Statistics use
mathematical equations to analyze what is happening in the world around us. When
statistics were used correctly, it can tell us any trends of what happened in the past
and also useful in predicting what may happen in the future. We need to learn the
importance of statistics because it plays a vital role in our daily life activity. I hope I
can at least get 90/100 marks for this essay.

-585 words-
 1. A supplier converts the weights on the cement packages she sends out from ounces to
kilograms (1kg = 35.27oz).

a. How does this affect the mean weight of the packages?

𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 =
35.27

So, the mean weight of the packages will decrease in 35.27.

b. How does this affect the standard deviation of the weights?

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 =
35.27

So, the standard deviation of the packages will decrease in 35.27

2. There are 15 numbers on a list, and the mean is 25. The smallest number on the list is
changed from 12.9 to 1.29.

a. Is it possible to determine by how much the mean changes? If so, by how

much does it change?

Yes. If the mean is 25 then the sum of all the values is 15 × 25 = 375.

To find the new sum 375 − 12.9 + 1.29 = 363.69.

The difference is 375 − 363.39 = 11.61

 b. Is it possible to determine the value of the mean after the change? If so, what
is the value?

Yes. To find the new mean:

363.39
= 24.226
15
The change is 25 − 24.226 = 0.774 .

c. Is it possible to determine by how much the median changes? If so, by how

much does it change?

The median does not change.

d. Is it possible to determine by how much the standard deviation changes? If so,

by how much does it change?

Yes. To find the new standard deviation

(𝟑𝟔𝟑. 𝟑𝟗)𝟐
𝟑𝟔𝟑. 𝟑𝟗𝟐 −
𝑺 = √[ 𝟏𝟓 ]
𝟏𝟓 − 𝟏

= 𝟗𝟑. 𝟖𝟐𝟕

3. For each of the following say whether it can be the graph of a cdf. If it can be, say
whether the variable is discrete or continuous.
 i. DISCRETE
ii. DISCRETE
iii. DISCRETE
iv. DISCRETE
v. CONTINUOUS
vi. CONTINUOUS
vii. CONTINUOUS
viii. CONTINUOUS

4. Founder of modern probability and statistics theory Cardano asserted that if one
throws a die three times the chance that a given number will show at least once is 50
percent. This is now recognized as the wrong answer. What is a probability of at least
one dice showing 6?

Let A be the required event

Let 𝐴𝑖 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦:
𝐴𝑖 = " 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑖 𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 6 "
𝑖 = 0, 1, 2, 3
Then,
𝑃(𝐴) = 𝑃( 𝐴 = 1) ∪ 𝑃( 𝐴 = 2) ∪ 𝑃( 𝐴 = 3) = 1 − 𝑃(𝐴 = 0)
5 5 5 125
𝑃(𝐴 = 0) = × × =
6 6 6 216
So that,
125 91
𝑃(𝐴) = 1 − = = 0.4213
216 216