In semiconductor manufacturing, wet chemical etching is often used to remove silicon from the backs of wafers prior to metalization. The etch rate is an important characteristic of this process. Two different etching solutions are being evaluated. Eight randomly selected wafers have been etched in each solution, and the observed etch rates (in mils/min) are as follows.

Solution 1 Solution 2 9.9 10.6 10.2 10.6 9.4 10.3 10.0 10.2 10.0 9.3 10.7 10.4 10.3 9.8 10.5 10.3

(a) Do the data indicate that the claim that both solutions have the same mean etch rate is valid? Use ???? = 0.05 and assume equal variances.

(b) Find a 95 percent confidence interval on the difference in mean etch rates.

(c) Use normal probability plots to investigate the adequacy of the assumptions of normality and equal variances.