A one metre stick is broken into two pieces at random.What is the length of the shorter piece and average

Question

Anyone pls answer.Only this is the question

 

Answer 1

L represents the length of the longer piece

1 - L represents the length of the shorter piece.

 

The average length of the two pieces is:

 

[L + (1 - L)] / 2

1 / 2 

Answer 2

Does the question actually ask "What is the length of the shorter piece ON average?"

 

If that is the case then the random variable x (length of the shorter piece) goes from 0 to .5 meters.

 

Since the break is random the distribution of x is uniform over the interval (0,.5).

 

That makes the "average" length = .25 meters.

 

 

Joe, what course (grade level) is this from? I am not sure if my explanation will match what you learned in class.