Exercises illustrate a technique from statistics (called the method of maximum likelihood) that estimates a parameter for a probability distribution.

In a production process, a box of fuses is examined and found to contain two defective fuses. Suppose that the probability of having two defective fuses in a box selected at random is (λ²/2) e^-λ for some λ. Take first and second derivatives to determine the value of λ for which the probability has its maximum value.