Question

Lake contamination. A lake in Texas has been contaminated with arsenic; the contamination leaked into nearby soil. After 40 years of collecting data at 117 lots nearby the lake per year, it was determined that the average number of soil samples near the lake containing arsenic per lot was 0.15. Each sample was taken at a different spot in the lot.

a. Use the Poisson Equation to determine how many lots per year are expected to have 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 contaminated samples. Put this information in a table such as a histogram.

b. Change the probability of contamination in a soil sample per lot to 2.65 and recalculate the table based in the problem a.

c. Discuss how the table changes between case of a. and b. What is the peak number of contaminated soil samples per lot?

d. If you were advising the city council on clean up for this lake, what would you recommend in the a scenario. Would that change under the b scenario?

Answer 1