Chapter 6, Problem 1SE

Directions Determine whether each of the following variables would best be modeled as continuous or discrete.

(Example 1)

a. The height of a high-rise apartment building

b. The number of floors in a high-rise apartment building

To determine

Check whether the following variables are discrete or continuous variables.

a. The height of a high-rise apartment building

b. The number of floors in high-rise apartment building

Answer to Problem 1SE

a. The height of a high-rise apartment building is a continuous variable.

b. The number of floors in high-rise apartment building is a discrete variable.

Explanation of Solution

a.

The height of a high-rise apartment building is a continuous variable because it can take any value between a specified range, that is, the height can be 20.5 meters, 16.7 meters and so on.

b.

The number of floors in a high-rise apartment building is a discrete variable because it can only take finite and discrete values. The number of floors a building can have is $1,2,3,4$ and so on. The number of floors cannot take values like 5.5 or 2.5.