Queue Simulation Project
1) Write a program to simulate the time 30 customers wait in the checkout line at a
grocery store.
Assume that there is only one checkout line, and that it starts empty (the store just
opened!). Assume also that a new customer arrives at the checkout counter every 3.5
minutes and that the checkout process is approximately normally distributed with an
average of 3.7 minutes and a standard deviation of 0.8 minutes. Maple can do this for
you (with the negligible possibility of getting a negative number):
rn:=3.7 + 0.8*stats[random,normald](1)
How long does it take between t=0 and the 30th customer leaving? Repeat the simulation
a few times to get a sense of the variability in the times. Report the average waiting time
and the longest waiting time.
2) Use parts of the program in part 1) as a subroutine and use it in a program that repeats
the simulation n times. Each run should produce an average wait time. Calculate the
mean and the standard deviation of the n average wait times. Run the program for n=20
and n=100. Do the results change much with different values of n?
