Students Arrive Randomly at the Help Desk of the Computer

question 87

Multiple Choice

Students arrive randomly at the help desk of the computer lab. There is only one service agent, and the time required for inquiry varies from student to student. Arrival rates have been found to follow the Poisson distribution, and the service times follow the negative exponential distribution. The average arrival rate is 12 students per hour, and the average service rate is 20 students per hour. How many students, on the average, will be waiting in line at any one time?

• A) 0.9 students
• B) 1.5 students
• C) 3 students
• D) 4 students
• E) 36 students

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Definitions:

Job Loss

The condition of being removed or dismissed from employment, leading to unemployment and potential economic and psychological consequences.

Depression

A mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.

Incarceration

The state of being confined in prison or another facility as a form of punishment following a conviction for a crime.

Slum

Highly populated urban residential area consisting mostly of closely packed, decrepit housing units in a situation of deteriorated or incomplete infrastructure, inhabited primarily by impoverished persons.