A random sample of 20 students yielded a mean of ¯x = 72 and a variance of s2 = 16 for scores on a college placement test in mathematics. Assuming the scores to be normally distributed, construct a 98% confidence interval for σ2.

Answer:The 98% confidence interval for the variance in the pounds of impurities would be [tex]8.400 \leq \sigma^2 \leq 39.827[/tex].Step-by-step explanation:1) Data given and notation[tex]s^2 =16[/tex] represent the sample variances=4 represent the sample standard deviation[tex]\bar x[/tex] represent the sample meann=20 the sample sizeConfidence=98% or 0.98A confidence interval is "a range of values that’s likely to include a population value with a certain degree of confidence. It is often expressed a % whereby a population mean or variance lies between an upper and lower interval".  The margin of error is the range of values below and above the sample statistic in a confidence interval.The Chi square distribution is the distribution of the sum of squared standard normal deviates .2) Calculating the confidence intervalThe confidence interval for the population variance is given by the following formula:[tex]\frac{(n-1)s^2}{\chi^2_{\alpha/2}} \leq \sigma^2 \leq \frac{(n-1)s^2}{\chi^2_{1-\alpha/2}}[/tex]On this case the sample variance is given and for the sample deviation is just the square root of the sample variance.The next step would be calculate the critical values. First we need to calculate the degrees of freedom given by:[tex]df=n-1=20-1=19[/tex]Since the Confidence is 0.98 or 98%, the value of [tex]\alpha=0.02[/tex] and [tex]\alpha/2 =0.01[/tex], and we can use excel, a calculator or a table to find the critical values.  The excel commands would be: "=CHISQ.INV(0.01,19)" "=CHISQ.INV(0.99,19)". so for this case the critical values are:[tex]\chi^2_{\alpha/2}=36.191[/tex][tex]\chi^2_{1- \alpha/2}=7.633[/tex]And replacing into the formula for the interval we got:[tex]\frac{(19)(16)}{36.191} \leq \sigma^2 \leq \frac{(19)(16)}{7.633}[/tex][tex] 8.400 \leq \sigma^2 \leq 39.827[/tex]So the 98% confidence interval for the variance in the pounds of impurities would be [tex]8.400 \leq \sigma^2 \leq 39.827[/tex].