Ch. 5

Discrete Probability
Distributions
1
Discrete Probability Distributions
A Variable: is characteristic or attribute that
can assume different values.
Various letters of the alphabet, such as X,Y, or
Z, are used to represent variables.
Since the variables here are associated with
probability, they are called random variables.
A random variable is a variable whose
values are determined by chance
Discrete Variables: assume values that can
be counted
2
For example: number of children in a family ,
number of student in classroom……etc.
Continuous Variables: assume an infinite
number of values between any two specific
values.
For example: Temperature , Time …..etc.
Example: State whether the variable is
discrete or continuous.
1-The speed of a jet airplane. Continuous
2-The number of mathematics curses in your major

Discrete
3- The time it takes to have a statistics exam. Continuous

3
Example1: When three coins are tossed,
1-what is the sample space
2- If X is the random variable for the number
of heads, give the values of X
Solution:
1- S= {TTT, TTH, THT, HTT, HHT, HTH, THH, HHH}
2- X= 0,1,2,3
4
Probabilities for the values of X can be determined as follows:
From these values, a probability distribution can be constructed

by listing the outcomes and assigning the probability of each
outcome, as shown here.
Probability distributions can be shown graphically by representing
the values of X on the x axis and the probabilities P(X) on the y
axis.
The graph of Probability distributions in Example 1

Definition: A discrete probability distribution consists of the
values a random variable can assume and the corresponding
probabilities of the values.
Example 2: Construct a probability distribution for rolling a
single die.
Solution
Since the sample space is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and each outcome
has a probability of 1\6, the distribution is as shown
Example 3
Exercises
Construct a probability distribution for the
data and draw a graph for the distribution.
1-
2-
Write the distribution for the formula and determine

whether it is a probability distribution
1-
2-
Expectation,Variance and Standard
Deviation
Definition:
Let X 1 , X 2 , X 3 , , X n be the values of a discrete
random variable and P  X 1  , P  X 2  , P  X 3  , , P  X n 
are the corresponding probabilities, then
1- the expected value is denoted by  or E  X  and
given by
  E (X)   X P X 
All X
2- the variance is denoted by  2 and given by

 
    X P  X    2
2 2
 All X    2
3- the standard deviation is       X P  X   
2 2
 All X 
Example: When a die is tossed
1- construct a probability distribution
2- Calculate the expected value an the
variance
Solution:
1- X 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(X) 1\6 1\6 1\6 1\6 1\6 1\6
2-
21
   E (X)   X P  X    3.5
All X 6
  91 441 546  441 105

    X P  X     
2 2 2
   2.92
 All X  6 36 36 36
   2.92  1.71
Example
A box contains 5 balls. Two are numbered 3, one is numbered
4, and two are numbered 5. The balls are mixed and one is
selected at random. After a ball is selected, its number is
recorded. Then it is replaced. If the experiment is repeated
many times, find the variance and standard deviation of the
numbers on the balls.
Solution
and
Example
A special six-sided die is made in which 3 sides have 6
spots, 2 sides have 4 spots, and 1 side has 1 spot. If the die
is rolled, find the expected value of the number of spots that
Solution
will occur.
Exercises: Evaluate the variance and the standard

deviation
The Binomial Distribution
Many types of probability problems have only
two outcomes or can be reduced to two
outcomes.
For example,
when a coin is tossed, it can land heads or tails.
When a baby is born, it will be either male or
female.
In a basketball game, a team either wins or loses.
A true/false item can be answered in only two
ways, true or false.
Other situations can be reduced to two outcomes.
For example, a medical treatment can be classified as
effective or ineffective, depending on the results.
A person can be classified as having normal or
abnormal blood pressure, depending on the measure
of the blood pressure gauge.
A multiple-choice question, even though there are
four or five answer choices, can be classified as
correct or incorrect. Situations like these are called
binomial experiments.
A binomial experiment is a probability experiment
that satisfies the following four requirements:
1. There must be a fixed number of trials.
2. Each trial can have only two outcomes or outcomes
that can be reduced to two outcomes. These
outcomes can be considered as either success or
failure.
3. The outcomes of each trial must be independent of
one another.
4. The probability of a success must remain the same
for each trial.
The outcomes of a binomial experiment and the corresponding
probabilities of these outcomes are called a binomial
distribution.
The probability of a success in a binomial experiment can be

computed with this formula.
Where,
The combination formula

Example 1: A coin is tossed 3 times. Find the
probability of getting exactly two heads.
Solution:
This problem can be solved by looking at the sample
space.
S={HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, TTH, THT, HTT, TTT}
There are three ways to get two heads. Then,
3
P(getting exactly two heads)   0.375
8
Another solution by using binomial experiment
which is the same answer obtained by using the sample space

Example 2: A survey from Teenage Research Unlimited
(Northbrook, Illinois) found that 30% of teenage consumers
receive their spending money from part-time jobs. If 5
teenagers are selected at random, find the probability that at
least 3 of them will have part-time jobs.
Solution
To find the probability that at least 3 have part-time jobs, it is
necessary to find the individual probabilities for 3, or 4, or 5
and then add them to get the total probability.
Hence,
Example 2: Public Opinion reported that 5% of
Americans are afraid of being alone in a house at
night. If a random sample of 20 Americans is selected,
find these probabilities by using the binomial table.
a. There are exactly 5 people in the sample who are
afraid of being alone at night.
b. There are at most 3 people in the sample who are
c. There are at least 3 people in the sample who are
Solution:
a. n=20, x=5, p=0.05, then P(x=5)=0.002
b. n=20, x= 0, 1,2,3 , then
P(x=0)+P(x=1)+P(x=2)+P(x=3)=0.358+0.377+0.189
+0.060=0.984
c. n=20, x= 3, 4, …,20, p=0.05
This problem can best be solved by finding
P(0)+P(1)+P(2) and subtracting from 1.
then the probability equals 1-(P(0)+P(1)+P(2))
=1- (0.358 + 0.377 +0.189)=1- 0.924= 0.076
Example 1: A coin is tossed 4 times. Find the mean,
variance, and standard deviation of the number of heads
that will be obtained.
Solution
The previously example can be solved by using the formulas for
expected value. The distribution is shown.
Which are the same results

Example 2: A die is rolled 480 times. Find the mean, variance,
and standard deviation of the number of 3s that will be rolled.
Solution
This is a binomial experiment since getting a 3 is a success and
not getting a 3 is considered a failure.
Example 3: The Statistical Bulletin published by Metropolitan
Life Insurance Co. reported that 2% of all American births result
in twins. If a random sample of 8000 births is taken, find the
mean, variance, and standard deviation of the number of births
that would result in twins.
Solution
This is a binomial situation, since a birth can result in either
twins or not twins (i.e., two outcomes).
For the sample, the average number of births that would result in
twins is 160, the variance is 156.8, or 157, and the standard
deviation is 12.5, or 13 if rounded.

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Discrete Probability

2-The number of mathematics curses in your major

3- The time it takes to have a statistics exam. Continuous

From these values, a probability distribution can be constructed

The graph of Probability distributions in Example 1

Write the distribution for the formula and determine

2- the variance is denoted by  2 and given by

  91 441 546  441 105

Exercises: Evaluate the variance and the standard

The probability of a success in a binomial experiment can be

The combination formula

which is the same answer obtained by using the sample space

Which are the same results

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