The number of calls to an Internet service provider during the hour between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. is described by a Poisson distribution with mean equal to 15. Given this information, the expected number of calls in the first 30 minutes is 7.5 calls.

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The Poisson distribution is used for counting the number of events in a fixed interval of time or space if these events occur with a known constant mean rate and independently of the time since the last event. If the mean number of calls in an hour is 15, then for any 30-minute interval, the expected number of calls would be half of that, which is 7.5 calls, because the mean rate of calls is assumed to be constant over time.

The Number of Calls to an Internet Service Provider During