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From Traffic to Chocolate Chip Cookies with the Poisson Distribution

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The Pleasures of Probability

Part of the book series: Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics ((READINMATH))

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Abstract

Imagine that you are sitting at a pleasant café near a quiet country road, sipping cappuccino and enjoying the scenic countryside. After a while, you notice how little traffic there is on the road. The waiter nods sadly, he says only about five vehicles pass per hour during the afternoon—he wishes the traffic were heavier so business would improve. What is the probability that at least one vehicle will pass in the next 15 minutes?

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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Isaac, R. (1995). From Traffic to Chocolate Chip Cookies with the Poisson Distribution. In: The Pleasures of Probability. Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0819-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0819-8_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6912-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-0819-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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