You are outside a well known restaurant, waiting in queue, with 18 couples in front of you. You know there are forty tables inside, and you think an average meal will take one hour.
How long will you have to wait, on average?
PS. This problem comes from queueing theory, but you don't have to know anything about it to find the answer!
(In reply to
re: a thought by Charlie)
"This doesn't correctly characterize what is being said in the problem."
I know, and agree.
This is why I further wrote:
"(We can make similar extreme distributions with the meals already having started, but I wish to make the point clear.)"
That being said, here's another extreme distribution:
Of every 40 meals eaten, 39 meals will take ten minutes to finish, and 1 meal will take 2010 minutes.
In this case, it is almost a certainty that you will be seated in 10
minutes or less, and if the meals have already started (before the
problem begins), then 10 minutes is probably far too high a number.
So, I still maintain there is not enough information to solve this problem.
____________
As an aside, Charlie, your "random starting times" reference raises the
issue of what random distribution you are using for the meal starting
times.
Edited on August 9, 2004, 5:06 pm
re(2): a thought
