Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region I - Pangasinan
MANGATAREM CATHOLIC SCHOOL, INC.
Mabini Street (Poblacion) Mangatarem, Pangasinan
Email Address: [email protected]

Random Variable and Probability

Distribution

Submitted by: Armando Vigilla Jr.

Submitted to: Ms. Judith Idos Famini

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Random Variable
II. Mass Function of a Discrete Random Variable
III. Mean, Variance, and Standard Deviation of a Discrete Random Variable
IV. Problems Involving Mean and Variance of Probability Distribution
V. Other Discrete Probability Distribution

DIFINITION OF TERMS
Random variable
Is a numerical quantity that is generated by a random experiment.

Discrete random variable

It has either a finite or a countable number of possible values.

Continuous random variable

It has an uncountable number or possible outcomes, Represented by the intervals on a number line

Number line
It is a line on which numbers are marked at intervals, used to illustrate simple numerical operations.

Probability mass function (pmf)

It is a function over the sample space of a discrete random variable X which gives the probability
that X is equal to a certain value.

Mean
The average value of a set of data.

Variance
A measure of how spread out the values in a data set are.

Standard Deviation
A measure of the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values.

Sigma notation
Also known as summation notation, is a concise way to represent the sum of a series of terms.

2
 I. Random Variable
Definition:
A random variable is a numerical quantity that is generated by a random experiment. (Malate,
2018)
According to Malate (2018):
 A random variable is called discrete if it has either a finite or a countable number of possible
values.
 A random variable is called continuous if its possible values contain a whole interval of
numbers.
A random variable is discrete if it has a finite or countable number of possible outcomes that can be
listed.
A random variable is continuous if it has an uncountable number or possible outcomes, Represented
by the intervals on a number line

A Number line is a line on which numbers are marked at intervals, used to illustrate simple numerical
operations.

Example:
Discrete Random Variable
1. Number of heads in 4 flips of a coin (possible outcomes are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
2. Number of classes missed from March 2020 to December 2020
3. The number of siblings a person has
4. The number of Covid-19 cases in Negros Oriental in 2020
5. The number of students involve in online classes in Neg Or Division during this pandemic time
Continuous Random Variables
1. Heights of students in class
2. Time to finish a module
3. Hours spent exercising
4. Distance travelled from Dumaguete to Pamplona

A continuous variable is a value that is being acquired by measuring

II. Mass Function of a Discrete Random Variable

Definition:
A probability mass function (pmf) is a function over the sample space of a discrete random
variable X which gives the probability that X is equal to a certain value.

Formula:
Let X be a discrete random variable on a sample space S. Then the probability mass function f(x)
is defined as
f (x)=P [ X=x ].

Each probability mass function satisfies the following two conditions:

(i) f (x)≥ 0 for all xS ,
(ii) ∑ f (x)=1.
x∈ S

i.e. for all x in the sample space, f(x) is never negative and the sum of f(x) over the entire sample
space will always be 1.

3
III. Mean, Variance, and Standard Deviation of a Discrete Random Variable

Definition:
The Mean or expected value, of a discrete random variable X is denoted by E(X) or μ.
The Variance measures the spread or dispersion of the random variable's distribution.
The Standard deviation is the square root of the variance and provides a measure of the
dispersion similar to the original units of the data.
Σ is Sigma Notation, and means to sum up.

Formula:
Mean or Expected Value: μ
μ=Σxp

Variance: σ²
σ ²=Σx ² p−μ ²

Standard Deviation: σ
σ =√ Σx ² p−μ ²

VI. Problems Involving Mean and Variance of Probability Distribution

Definition:
The mean of a discrete random variable is a measure of central tendency of numerical data. It
shows the average of the random variable with their respective probabilities.
The variance of a discrete random variable shows how the data are spread out or scattered from
the mean of the discrete random variable. In other words, it describes the variability of data. Some values
may be close to the mean value while others may be far from it.
The standard deviations of a discrete random variable – Another measure of variability
associated with the variance is standard deviation, denoted as σ. It is simply obtained by getting the
square root of the variance is the square root of the variance or = √σ². We can say that the variance is the
square units of the standard deviation.

Formula:
Mean of a Discrete Random Variable
The mean of a discrete random variable is computed using the formula:
μ=Σxp
Where X is the value of the random variable and P(X) is its corresponding probability.

The expected value of a discrete random variable is denoted as E (X) and it is computed using
the formula:
E(x )=Σxp

Variance of a Discrete Random Variable

To compute for a variance of a discrete random variable, use the formula:
σ ²=Σx ² p−μ ²

Standard Deviations of a Discrete Random Variable

To compute for standard deviation of a discrete random variable, use the formula:
σ =√ Σx ² p−μ ²

V. Other Discrete Probability Distribution

Definition:

4
Bernoulli Distribution
A Bernoulli distribution is a type of a discrete probability distribution where the random variable
can either be equal to 0 (failure) or be equal to 1 (success). The probability of getting a success is p and
that of a failure is 1 - p. It is denoted as X ∼ Bernoulli (p).

Binomial Distribution
A binomial distribution is a discrete probability distribution that gives the success probability in
n Bernoulli trials. The probability of getting a success is given by p. It is represented as X ∼ Binomial (n,
p).

Geometric Distribution
A geometric distribution is another type of discrete probability distribution that represents the
probability of getting a number of successive failures till the first success is obtained. It is given by X ∼
G(p).
where p is the success probability of the trial.

Poisson Distribution
Poisson distribution is a discrete probability distribution that is widely used in the field of
finance. It gives the probability that a given number of events will take place within a fixed time period.
The notation is written as X ∼ Pois(λ), where λ>0.

Formula:
Bernoulli Distribution
The pmf is expressed as follows:

P( X=x)= {1−pp , if,ifx=1

x=0
Binomial Distribution
The pmf is given as follows:
n−x
P( X=x)=( n ) p (1− p)
x

Geometric Distribution
The formula for the pmf is given as follows:

P( X=x)=(1−p) x p ,

Poisson Distribution
The pmf is given by the following formula:

λxe−λ
P(X = x) = x!