It ‘s has been claimed that if you drop a standard thumbtack from a height of 3 feet or more onto a flat hard surface the proportion of times that it will come to rest with the point up is 0.6. Your mission is to investigate this claim. You will be provided a standard thumbtack.

First you should determine how many times you will need to drop that thumbtack in order to construct a 90% confidence interval estimating the true proportion of times a tack will land point up under the specified conditions with an error of .05. You should carry out the experiment. The record of your experiment should include an explanation of the methodology and the tally sheet with each trial's result. You should use the data to produce the confidence interval estimating the true proportion of times the tack will land point up. You should comment on your confidence interval 's evidence in regard to the claim that the true proportion is 0.6.

Next using the data you have produced, test the claim that the proportion of point up landing is 0.6 at a .02 significance level. You should use the traditional t.=!st with null and alternative hypotheses, a critical value or critical values, a test statistic and a conclusion.

Your write-up of this experiment should include your work to determine the n, your methodology, your record of the experiment, your confidence interval, your interpretation of the confidence interval, your formal hypothesis test and your comments on both results. Make a cop' of the write-up to bringto class the day you give the oral report.

You should give the copy to me to refer to during your presentation. You will orally give a brief outline of your experiment and your conclusions.

This project is entirely optional. If you choose to do it, the grade will replace your lowest test score. It cannot be used to replace the final exam. The object is to provide hands-on statistical experience to help you prepare for the final exam.