Classroom Management

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Random Variables
and Probability
Distribution
Mrs. Maylene A. Mangurali
November 6, 2019
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
• find the values of a random variable and
• illustrate a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and
its properties.
Before you proceed with this lesson, you should be able to recall
random variables.
In conducting an experiment, each possible result is called an outcome
and listing all of the possible results make up the sample space.
There are two types of random variables, discrete and continuous.
Discrete random variables assume a countable number (integer) of
values while continuous random variables assume an uncountable one
(arises from measurement).
Examples:
Discrete Random Variable
A die is rolled and the score shown on the top face is observed. The
random variable x is the score shown. x could take on the values from 1
to 6, which are the numbers that the die shows.
Continuous Random Variable
Let the lifetime of a cell phone battery be a random variable. If
measured perfectly with decimals and no rounding off, the random
variable can take on different values.
Learn about it!
Consider the experiment of tossing two coins. Let the random
variable x be the number of tails observed upon tossing the two coins at
the same time. Determine the probability of the random variable x and
construct its probability distribution.
Probability Distribution of a Discrete Random Variable
A probability distribution is a distribution of the probabilities associated
with the values of a random variable.
• Note that in a probability distribution, it must exhibit the two
properties of probability.
• The probability P(x) for a random variable must be between zero and
one, that is, 0≤P(x)≤1. This means that the probability must not exceed
one or have a negative value.
• The sum of the probabilities of the random variables in an experiment
should be equal to one, that is,
where:
• xi is the ith random variable in the experiment;
i is an element of the set of integers;
P(xi) is the probability of each random variable; and
n is the total number of random variables in the experiment.
Step 1: Determine the sample space.
The sample space is {HH, HT, TH, TT}. There are four
elements in the sample space.
Step 2: Calculate the probability of the random
variable.
Identify the probability of the random variable to
occur in relation the sample space.
P(x=0)=P(0T)=P(HH)=14=0.25
P(x=1)=P(1T)=P(THorHT)=24=0.5
P(x=2)=P(2T)=P(TT)=14=0.25
Step 3: Construct a table for the probability
distribution.
In an experiment, a five-sided die has been modified to appear one side with
one dot, two sides with two dots, and two sides with three dots. Let the
random variable x be the number of dots seen when this die is rolled once.
Express the probabilities of x in a probability distribution and verify the
properties.
Step 1: Determine the sample space.
The random variable x for this experiment is the number of dots seen when the
die is rolled. Thus, we assign x with the values 1, 2, and 3.
Rolling the modified five-sided die will yield the sample space {1, 2, 2, 3, 3}.
Step 2: Calculate the probability of the random variable.
Based on the sample space, the following probabilities can be established:
1
P(x=1)=P(1dot)= =0.2
5
2
P(x=2)=P(2dots)= =0.4
5
2
P(x=3)=P(3dots)= =0.4
5
Step 3: Construct a table for the probability distribution.
What do you think?
What other ways could you present a probability
distribution of discrete random variables?
Key Points
• Discrete random variables assume countable
number of values or integer values. Examples are
number of male students in a classroom and number
of cellphones owned.
• Continuous random variables assume uncountable
number of values. Examples are body temperature,
life span, and distance.
• Probability distributions are used to represent the
probabilities of random variables in a population