Molten salt is used in an electro-refiner to treat nuclear fuel waste. Eventually, the salt needs to be purified (for reuse) or disposed of. A promising method of purification involves oxidation. Such a method was investigated in Chemical Engineering Research and Design (March. 2013). An important aspect of the purification process is the rising velocity of oxygen bubbles in the molten salt. An experiment was conducted in which oxygen was inserted (at a designated sparging rate) into molten salt and photographic images of the bubbles were taken. A random sample of 25 images yielded the data on bubble velocity (measured in meters per second) shown in the table.

a. Use statistical software to find a 95% confidence interval for the mean bubble rising velocity of the population. Interpret the result.
b. The researchers discovered that the mean bubble rising velocity is μ = .338 when the sparging rate of oxygen is 3.33 × 10-6. Do you believe that the data in the table were generated at this sparging rate? Explain.

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0.275 0.261 0.209 0.266 0.265 0.312 0.285 0.317 0.229 0.251 0.256 0.339 0.213 0.178 0.217 0.307 0.264 0.319 0.298 0.169 0.342 0.270 0.262 0.228 0.220