On the average, 1.8 customers per minute arrive at any one of the checkout counters of a grocery store. What type of probability distribution can be used to find out the probability that there will be no customer arriving at a checkout counter?
A) Binomial distribution
B) Poisson distribution
C) Hypergeometric distribution
D) None of the above.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Poisson distribution is used to model the number of occurrences of rare events over a fixed interval of time or space. In this case, the arrival of customers can be considered a rare event, and the rate of arrival (1.8 customers per minute) is constant over time. Therefore, the Poisson distribution can be used to find the probability that there will be no customer arriving at a checkout counter in a given minute.

On the Average, 1