In: Statistics and Probability
A tool-and-die machine shop produces extremely high-tolerance spindles. The spindles are 18-inch slender rods used in a variety of military equipment. A piece of equipment used in the manufacture of the spindles malfunctions on occasion and places a single gouge somewhere on the spindle. However, if a defective spindle can be cut so that it has 14 consecutive inches without a gouge, then it can be salvaged for other purposes. Assume that the location of the gouge along a defective spindle is random, i.e., the distance of the location of the gouge from one end of the spindle is uniformly distributed over the interval (0, 18).
If a defective spindle is randomly selected, what is the probability that it cannot be salvaged?
If 10 defective spindles are randomly selected, what is the probability that at least 6 cannot be salvaged?