LESSON 4:

COMPUTING
THE VARIANCE
OF A DISCRETE
PROBABILITY
LESSON 4 DISTRIBUTION
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
 illustrate and calculate the variance of
discrete random variable;
 interpret the variance of a discrete random
variable; and
 solve problems involving variance of
probability distribution.
Alternative Procedure in Finding the
Variance and Standard Deviation of a
Probability Distribution

1. Find the mean of the probability distribution.

2. Multiply the square of the random variable 𝑿
by its corresponding probability.
3. Get the sum of the results obtained in Step 2.
4. Subtract the mean from the results obtained
in Step 3.
 Alternative Formula in Finding the
Variance and Standard Deviation of a
Probability Distribution
The variance of discrete probability distribution is given by the formula:
𝝈𝟐 = 𝜮𝑿𝟐 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁𝟐
The standard deviation of discrete probability distribution is given by the
formula:
𝝈= 𝜮𝑿𝟐 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁𝟐
where:
𝑿 = value of random variable
𝑷 𝑿 = probability of the random variable 𝑿
𝝁 =probability distribution
Example 1: Number of Cars Sold
Number of Cars Sold Probability
The number of cars sold per 𝑿 𝑷(𝑿)
𝟏
day at a local car leadership, 0 𝟏𝟎
along with its corresponding 𝟐
probabilities, is shown in the
1 𝟏𝟎
𝟑
succeeding table. Compute 2 𝟏𝟎
the variance and the 𝟐
3 𝟏𝟎
standard deviation. 𝟐
4 𝟏𝟎
 𝑿 𝐏(𝐗) 𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝟐
𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿)
𝟏 𝟏
0 𝟏𝟎 𝟎
𝟐
𝟎 ∙
𝟏𝟎
=0

𝟐
1 𝟏𝟎
𝟐
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟐 ∙
𝟐
=
𝟐
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟑 6 𝟑 𝟏𝟐
2 𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟐𝟐 ∙ =
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟐 6 𝟐 𝟏𝟖
3 𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟑𝟐 ∙ =
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟐 8 𝟐 𝟑𝟐
4 𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟒𝟐 ∙ =
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
𝟐𝟐 𝟔𝟒
𝝁 = ∑𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 = = 𝟐. 𝟐 ∑𝑿𝟐 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) = = 𝟔. 𝟒
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎
 The variance is :
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝝈 = 𝜮𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁
= 𝟔. 𝟒 − (𝟐. 𝟐) 𝟐

= 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔

The standard deviation is:

𝟐
𝝈 = 𝜮𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁 𝟐

= 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔
= 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓
Example 2: Number of Heads
When three coins are tossed, Number of Heads Probability
𝑿 𝑷(𝑿)
the probability distribution
𝟏
for random variable X 0 8
representing the number of 3
heads that occur is given in 1 8
the preceding table. 2 6
Compute the variance and 8
3
the standard deviation. 3 8
 𝑿 𝐏(𝐗) 𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝟐
𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿)
𝟏 𝟏
0 𝟖 𝟎 𝟐
𝟎 ∙ =𝟎
𝟖
𝟑 𝟑
1 𝟖 𝟖
𝟏𝟐
𝟑 𝟑
∙ =
𝟖 𝟖
𝟑 𝟔 𝟑 𝟏𝟐
2 𝟖 𝟐𝟐 ∙ =
𝟖 𝟖 𝟖
𝟏 𝟑 𝟏 𝟗
3 𝟖 𝟖 𝟑𝟐 ∙ =
𝟖 𝟖
𝟏𝟐 𝟐 𝟐𝟒
𝝁 = ∑𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 = = 𝟏. 𝟓 ∑𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) = =𝟑
𝟖 𝟖
 The variance is :
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝝈 = 𝜮𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁
= 𝟑 − (𝟏. 𝟓) 𝟐

= 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓

The standard deviation is:

𝟐
𝝈 = 𝜮𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁 𝟐

= 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓
= 𝟎. 𝟖𝟕
Example 3: Number of Items Sold
Number of Items Sold Probability
The number of items sold per 𝑿 𝑷(𝑿)

day at a retail store, with its 19 0.20

corresponding probabilities,
20 0.20
is shown in the table. Find
the variance and the 21 0.30
standard deviation of the 22 0.20
probability distribution
23 0.10
 𝑿 𝐏(𝐗) 𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝟐
𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿)
19 0.20 3.80 𝟏𝟗 𝟐 (𝟎. 𝟐𝟎) = 𝟕𝟐. 𝟐𝟎
20 0.20 4.00 𝟐𝟎 𝟐
𝟎. 𝟐𝟎 = 𝟖𝟎. 𝟎𝟎

21 0.30 𝟔. 𝟑𝟎 𝟐𝟏 𝟐
𝟎. 𝟑𝟎 = 𝟏𝟑𝟐. 𝟑𝟎

22 0.20 𝟒. 𝟒𝟎 𝟐𝟐 𝟐
𝟎. 𝟐𝟎 = 𝟗𝟔. 𝟖𝟎

23 0.10 2.30 𝟐𝟑 𝟐
𝟎. 𝟏𝟎 = 𝟓𝟐. 𝟗𝟎
𝝁 = ∑𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 = 𝟐𝟎. 𝟖𝟎 ∑𝑿𝟐 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) = 𝟒𝟑𝟒. 𝟐𝟎
 The variance is :
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝝈 = 𝜮𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁
= 𝟒𝟑𝟒. 𝟐𝟎 − (𝟐𝟎. 𝟖𝟎) 𝟐

= 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔

The standard deviation is:

𝟐
𝝈 = 𝜮𝑿 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁 𝟐

= 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔
= 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓