Probability Distribution

Function

Name : Soumen Kundu

Roll NO : 20101103012
Department : Mechanical Engineering
Subject : Math Assignment
Semester : 3rd
 Random variable

 Definition : Let S be a given sample space. Then a real variable X defined on

S is called a random variable. Thus for every point S of a sample space a
unique real value of X i.e. X(s).
 Random variable is two types.
i. Discrete Random Variable
ii. Continuous Random Variable
 Discrete Random variable : If a random variable takes a finite set of values
or countably infinite, it is called Discrete Random Variable.
 Continuous Random Variable : If a random variable assumes an infinite
number of uncountable values, it is called Continuous Random Variable.
 Probability Distribution Function

   X be a random variable ( discrete or continuous). The function F defined for all real
Let
x by
:R

[ for discrete variables]

[ for continuous variable]

then F(x) is called Probability Distribution Function.

 Distribution function is also known as cumulative distribution function.
 Domain of F(x) is (
 Range of F(x) is [0,1]
 Properties of Distribution Function

  

 If F is the distribution function of the random variable X and if ab, then

P(

Proof:
The event ‘and ‘Xare disjoint and their union is the event ‘ .

[ and are mutually

exclusive events]

  F(X) is monotonically non decreasing function.
If then

Proof:

 F(X) is continuous to the right at every point .

 Examples on Distribution Function
  Suppose three coins are thrown. Then the sample space is
S = {HHH, HHT, HTH,THH,HTT,THT,TTH,TTT}
Let X is a random variable and X = number of heads.
X = 0, 1, 2, 3
P(X=0) = p(TTT) =
P(X=1) = P(THT, TTH, HTT) =
P(X=2) = P(HHT, HTH, THH) =
P(X=3) = P(HHH) =

X 0 1 2 3

  Then the probability distribution function is
Necessary & sufficient condition for a function to be
distribution function of a possible random variable :

  Condition:
Any function F(x) with domain R and range a subject of [0,1] is a distribution
function of some random variable X if and only if F(x) be such that,

1.

2. F(x) is monotonically non-decreasing and bounded.

3. F(x) is continuous to the right at all point.

4. F(x) is discontinuous to be the left at every point x=a if P(x=a)>0

 Equivalent set / Equipotent set

 Definition:
Two set X and Y are said to be equipotent if there exist a bijection
between them.
 It is denoted by X~Y.
 Two finite set will be equipotent if they have same no. of elements.
 If X and Y are equivalent sets, then they said to have some cardinality.
  Finite set:
A is said to be a finite set if A is equipotent with a finite subset of N.

 Enumerable set:
A is called an enumerable set if A~N.
Example: Z~N, W~N, Q~N.
If A be an enumerable set then the elements of A can be expressed sequentially as

 At most countable:
A set is called At most countable if the set is either finite or enumerable.

 Uncountable:
An uncountable set is an infinite set that contains too many elements to be
countable. It is also known as uncountably infinite set.
 Probability Mass Function (p.m.f)
   X be a discrete random variable having X =
Let
as the spectrum

Let being a spectrum point of X.

if x is a spectrum point of X, i.e

Define a function by
0 if x is non-spectrum point

then f is called probability mass function of discrete random variable X.

 Necessary & sufficient condition for a
function to be a p.m.f :

  
 [ summation is taken over all the spectrum points ]
  Problem -1 :
Can the following functions be p.m.f ?
a.
2 , x=1/2
f(x) = 1 , x=1/4
0 , elsewhere

Ans :
f(1/2) = 2 but

so f(x) is not p.m.f

b.
0.1 for x =-5
0.5 for x = -1
f(x) = 0.2 for x = 0
0.2 for x = 1
0 elsewhere

Ans:
f(x) ≥ 0 for all values of x

So, f(x) satisfies all the necessary and sufficient conditions. So, f(x) is a p.m.f
 Problem
  -2 :
P.m.f is given by,

X=x 0 1 2 3

P(X=x) k 2k k 3k

Find the value of k ? Also find P(X ≤ 2) and P(1 ≤ X ≤3).

Ans:

or, k+2k+k+3k =1
or, k = 1/7

P(X ≤ 2) = P(0) +P(1) + P(2)

= 1/7 + 2/7 + 1/7
= 4/7

P(1 ≤ X ≤ 3) = P(X ≤ 3) – P(0)

= 1 – 1/7
= 6/7
 Probability density function (p.d.f)

  Let X be a continuous random variable with distribution function

Then a function f(x) is said to be probability density function (pdf) of X if f(x) is

integrable on the interval [a,x] for all a and if

This holds for every real x.

 Properties of p.d.f
   f(x) is a pdf of a random variable X then
If
i. f(x) ≥ 0 ii.

 As F(x) is a continuous function, so we must have

 For a continuous distribution,

Where f is the probability density function.

 If f(x) is continuous, then from definition of pdf, we have f(x) =F`(x)

 In differential notation we have,

Which is known as the probability differential of X.

  Problem :
The Probability density function of a random variable X is given by
f(x) = k(x-1)(x-2) for 1 ≤ x ≤ 2
Determine,
i. The value of k.
ii. The distribution function
iii. P(5/4 ≤ x ≤ 3/2)
 Ans:
i. Since f(x) is a p.d.f, then
 ii.
The distribution function F(x) is defined by
For x<1 ,

The probability distribution function F:R R is given by

F(x) = 0 if x<1
=
=1 if x>2
iii.
  
Some special type of discrete distribution
  Binomial (n,p) Distribution :

Let X be a discrete random variable. Let and .

Let the spectrum of X be

We say that X has a binomial distribution with parameters n and p if its probability
mass function is
  Poisson (µ) distribution :

It is a distribution related to the probabilities of events which are extremely rare,

but which have a large number of independent opportunities for occurrence.

We got this distribution as limiting case of the binomial distribution by making n

very large and p very small.

Normal binomial distribution

For,

A random variable X whose spectrum is {0,1,2……….} i.e an enumerable set is said to

follow Poisson distribution if its p.m.f is given by,
 Some important continuous distribution
 Uniform/Re