The permeability of a membrane used as a moisture barrier in a biological application depends on the thickness of three integrated layers. Layers 1, 2, and 3 are normally distributed with means of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 millimeters, respectively. The standard deviations of layer thickness are 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3, respectively. Also, the correlation between layers 1 and 2 is 0.7, between layers 2 and 3 is 0.5, and between layers 1 and 3 is 0.3.
(a) Determine the mean and variance of the total thickness of the three layers.
(b) What is the probability that the total thickness is less than 1.5 millimeters?