Random variables

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Lesson objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. illustrate a random variable (discrete and continuous).;
2. distinguish between a discrete and a continuous variable;
3. find the possible values of a random variable; and
4. illustrate a probability distribution for a discrete random
variable and its properties

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 “
A variable is an attribute that describes a person,
place, thing, or idea. The value of
the variable can "vary" from one entity to
another.

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Random variable
 Is a variable whose possible values are
determined by chance.
 A random variable is typically represented by an
uppercase letter, usually X, while x is used to
represent one of its values.

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Random variable

Example a coin is tossed thrice, X represents the

number of heads that result from this experiment. A
random variable is represented by Capital letter X.. The
lowercase x represents the specific values.

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1st Toss 2nd Toss 3rd Toss Final Number of
Outcome Heads ( X )
H HHH 3
H
T HHT 2 S = {HHH, HHT,
H H HTH 2 HTH, HTT, THH,
T THT, TTH, TTT}
T HTT 1

*the value of the

H THH 2
variable x can be
H 0, 1, 2, 3
T THT 1
T H TTH 1
T 0
T TTT

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Discrete random variable
A discrete variable can only take a finite
number of distinct values. The values are
exact and can be represented by a
nonnegative whole numbers.

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 The following are examples of discrete
random variables.
1. Let X = number of the students randomly
selected to be interviewed by a researcher.

2. Let Y = number of left handed teachers

randomly selected in a faculty room.

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 Continuous random variable
 Can assume an infinite number of values in an
interval between two specific values. This means
they can be assume values that can be represented
not only by a nonnegative whole number but also
by fractions and decimals. These are often results
of measurement.

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 The following are examples of continuous
random variables.
1. Let Y = the weight in kilograms of
randomly selected students.

2. Let Z = the hourly temperatures last

Sunday.

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“

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 Determine if the random variable xx and y is
discrete or continuous

1. X = number of points scored in the last season

by a randomly selected basketball player in PBA
2. Y = the height in centimeters of randomly
selected students inside the library
3. X = number of birds in a nest
4. The weight in kg of randomly selected dancers
after taking up aerobics
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 Determine if the random variable xx and y is
discrete or continuous
4. Score of a student in a quiz
5. How long students ate breakfast
6. Time to finish running 100 m
7. Amount of paint utilized in building project
8. The number of deaths per year attributed to lung
cancer.
9. The speed of a car
10. The number of dropout in a school district for a
period of 10 years.
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 The ff. Properties must be satisfied before a
distribution can be considered a discrete
probability distribution:
a. The probability of each value of discrete
random variable is between o and 1
inclusive.
0 ≤ P(x) ≤ 1
b. The sum of all the probabilities is 1.
Σ P(x) = 1
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Example 2. consider the table below

x 0 1 2 3
P(x) 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2

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Example 3. the given spinner is divided into four sections. Let
X be the score where the arrow will stop ( numbered as 1, 2, 3,
4)
a. Find the probability that the arrow will stop at 1,2,3,4
b. Construct the discrete probability distribution of the random variable X.

x 1 2 3 4
1 2
P(x) 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4
3 4

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Example 5. the given spinner is divided into eight sections. Let
X be the score where the arrow will stop ( numbered as 1, 2, 3,
4)
a. Find the probability that the arrow will stop at 1,2,3,4
b. Construct the discrete probability distribution of the random variable X.

1 2
x 1 2 3 4
1 4
P(x) 2/8 1/8 2/8 3/8
4 4
3 3
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Example 5. when two fair dice are thrown simultaneously, the
ff. are the possible outcomes.
(1,1) (1,1) (1,1) (1,1) (1,1) (1,1)

(2,1) (2,2) (2,3) (2,4) (2,5) (2,6)

(3,1) (3,2) (3,3) (3,4) (3,5) (3,6)

(4,1) (4,2) (4,3) (4,4) (4,5) (4,6)

(5,1) (5,2) (5,3) (5,4) (5,5) (5,6)

(6,1) (6,2) (6,3) (6,4) (6,5) (6,6)

We define the random variable X as the sum of the two outcomes in

throwing the two fair dice simultaneously. The possible outcomes are 2,
3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
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The probabilities of each of the possible values P(x) are given
below.
P(2) = P(1,1) = 1/36
P(3) = P(1,2) + P(2,1) = 2/36 = 1/18
P(4) = P(1,3) + P(2,2) + P(3,1) = 3/36 = 1/12
P(5) = P(1,4) + P(2,3) + P(3,2) + P(4,1) = 4/36 = 1/9
P(6) = P(1,5) + P(2,4) + P(3,3)+ P(4,2) + P(5,1) = 5/36
P(7) = P(1,6) + P(2,5) + P(3,4)+ P(4,3) + P(5,2) + P(6,1) = 6/36 = 1/6
P(8) = P(2,6) + P(3,5) + P(4,4)+ P(5,3) + P(6,2) = 5/36
P(9) = P(3,6) + P(4,5) + P(5,4)+ P(6,3) = 4/36 = 1/9
P(10) = P(4,6) + P(5,5) + P(6,4) = 3/36 = 1/12
P(11) = P(5,6) + P(6,5) = 2/36 =1/18
P(12) = P(6,6) = 1/36

x 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
P(x) 1/36 1/18 1/12 1/9 5/36 1/6 5/36 1/9 1/12 1/18 1/36
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Example 6. toss a coin twice and let X be the number of heads
(H) observed.
Construct the discrete probability distribution of X.

1st toss 2nd toss Final Number of

Outcome Heads P(2) = ¼ = 0.25
P(1) = 2/4 = 0.50
H HH 2
P(0) = ¼ = 0.25
H

T HT 1 x 0 1 2
H TH 1
P(x) 1/4 1/2 1/4
T

T TT 0
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Example 7. A discrete random variable X has the following
probability distribution as follows:
x 0 1 2 3 4

P(x) 0.1 0.2 ? 0.2 0.2

a. Determine P(2).

ΣP(x) = P(0) + P(1) + P(2) + P(3) + P(4)

1= 0.1 + 0.2 + P(2) + 0.2 + 0.2
1 = 0.7 + P(2)
P(2) = 0.3

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Example 7. A discrete random variable X has the following
probability distribution as follows:
x 1 2 3 4

P(x) 0.21 29c 0.29 0.21

a. Determine c.
ΣP(x) = P(1) + P(2) + P(3) + P(4)
1= 0.21 + 29c + 0.29 + 0.21
1 = 0.71 + 29c
1 - 0.71 = 29c
0.29 = 29c
0.01 = c
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Example 1. Determine whether the distributions is a discrete
probability distribution.

a.)
x 2 6 8
P(x) -0.3 0.6 0.7

b.)

x 1 2 3 4 5
P(x) 3/10 1/10 1/10 2/10 3/10

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Example 2. box a and b contain 1,2,3,4. write the probability mass
function and draw the histogram of the sum when one number from
each box is taken at a time, with replacement.

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 Probability mass function (pmf)
 The probability distribution of a discrete random
variable.
The pmf of x is denoted by f(x) and satisfies the
following two basic properties:
a. f (x) = P (X = x) ≥ 0 if x ϵ the Support S
b. Σ f (x) = Σ P (X = x) = 1

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EXPEXTED VALUE OF A
DISCRETE RANDOM
VARIABLE

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The expected value of a discrete random
variable X, denoted by E(X), is equal to the
weighted average of the elements x in the
Support S where each element is weighted
by its respective probability.

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