Final answer:
To find a 95% confidence interval for the true mean height of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) above the Great Basin Desert, we can use the given data. We calculate the sample mean and standard deviation, then determine the margin of error and construct the confidence interval by adding and subtracting the margin of error from the sample mean.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find a 95% confidence interval for the true mean height of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) above the Great Basin Desert, we can use the given data. Firstly, we calculate the sample mean, which is the average of the given heights. Then, we find the standard deviation of the sample, which measures the variability in the data. Using these values, we can calculate the margin of error and construct the confidence interval by adding and subtracting the margin of error from the sample mean.
Step 1: Calculate the sample mean:
Add all the heights and divide by the number of heights.
Sample mean = (1+673+2+664+906+4+956+5+751+6+752+7+654+8+610+9+816+10+667+11+690+12+657+13+920+14+741+15+646+16+682+17+715+18+618) / 30 = 675.13 (rounded to 2 decimal places)
Step 2: Calculate the standard deviation of the sample:
Subtract the sample mean from each height, square the differences, sum them up, divide by (n-1), and take the square root.
s = sqrt(((1-675.13)^2 + (673-675.13)^2 + (2-675.13)^2 + ... + (18-675.13)^2) / (30-1)) = 214.99 (rounded to 2 decimal places)
Step 3: Calculate the margin of error:
Multiply the standard deviation by the appropriate critical value for a 95% confidence interval.
Critical value = 2.045 (obtained from the t-distribution table with 29 degrees of freedom)
Margin of error = 2.045 * (214.99 / sqrt(30)) = 74.89 (rounded to 2 decimal places)
Step 4: Construct the confidence interval:
Subtract the margin of error from the sample mean to find the lower bound of the confidence interval, and add the margin of error to the sample mean to find the upper bound of the confidence interval.
Confidence interval = Sample mean +/- Margin of error
Confidence interval = 675.13 +/- 74.89
Confidence interval = (600.24, 749.02) (rounded to 2 decimal places)