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Expected area of a field with measurement errors

Question

A pitch is supposed to measure 300300 ft by 200200 ft. In practice the length is 300+X300+X and the width is 200+Y200+Y, where the errors X∼Unif(−15,15)X\sim\text{Unif}(-15,15) and Y∼Unif(−5,15)Y\sim\text{Unif}(-5,15) are independent. What is the expected area of the pitch in square feet?

Short answer

61,50061{,}500. By independence, E[(300+X)(200+Y)]=(300+EX)(200+EY)=300×205=61,500\mathbb{E}[(300+X)(200+Y)]=(300+\mathbb{E}X)(200+\mathbb{E}Y)=300\times205=61{,}500, since EX=0\mathbb{E}X=0 and EY=5\mathbb{E}Y=5.

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