RANDOM

VARIABLE
RANDOM VARIABLE
o a set of possible values from a random
experiment.
o a rule that assigns a numerical value to each
outcome of a random event. It is usually
written using a CAPITAL LETTER.
o also called a stochastic variable.
 TWO TYPES OF
RANDOM VARIABLE
1. DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
o a variable that takes on countable number of distinct
values which are whole numbers such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5,…
o the range is finite or countably infinite
o can be determined by counting

Examples:
1.number of heads when you toss a coin
2.number of students present
3.number of people in a community
2. CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLE
o a variable that assumes an infinite number of possible
values including the decimals between two counting
numbers.
o the range is continuous or would (literally) take forever
to count
o can be determined by measuring

Examples:
1. distance from SJH building to STL building
2. weight of students in class
3. a person’s height
Classify the following as either continuous or discrete data.

1. holidays in a year
2. speed of an automobile in km/hr
3. weight of dressed chicken in a supermarket
4. concert tickets sold
5. length of time needed to solve a problem
6. number of building permits issued each month in
a municipality
7. width of a rectangular lot
8. number of text messages sent
9. female faculty in a school
10. a dam’s water level expressed in meters
RANGE SPAC E
RANGE SPACE
- the set of all possible values for a given
random variable.

Example:
When two fair coins are tossed and the
random variable X is defined as the number of
heads that appear, the range space is the set
{0,1,2}.
EXAMPLE 1:
Suppose three coins are tossed. Let Y be the random
variable representing the number of tails that occur. Find the
values of the random variable Y.

Outcomes Y
(number of TAILS)
TTT 3
TTH 2
THT 2
THH 1
HTT 2
HTH 1
HHT 1
HHH 0
EXAMPLE 1:

RANGE SPACE:
Y= {0, 1, 2, 3}
ANOTHER EXAMPLE

A card is drawn from a deck of 20 cards

(i.e., all cards numbered 1 to 5 in a standard
deck) and the random variable W gives the
number on the card. Find the possible
values for the given random variable.

RANGE SPACE:
W= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
EXAMPLE 2:
A pair of dice is thrown and the random variable Z
is defined such that Z gives the sum of the two numbers
that appear. Find the values of the random variable Z.

+ 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Z= {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
 DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
o also known as probability mass
function

o a table that gives a list of probability

values along with their associated
value in the range of a discrete
random variable.
EXAMPLE 1:
Suppose three coins are tossed. Let Y be
the random variable representing the number of
tails that occur. Construct the Probability Mass
Function.

Y
(number of tails) 0 1 2 3
𝟏 𝟑 𝟑 𝟏
P(Y) 𝟖 𝟖 𝟖 𝟖
0.125 0.375 0.375 0.125

What can you observe?

EXAMPLE 2:

A pair of dice is thrown and the

random variable Z is defined such that Z
gives the sum of the two numbers that
appear.

Construct the Discrete Probability

Distribution for the given random variable.
EXAMPLE 2:
A pair of dice is thrown and the random variable Z
is defined such that Z gives the sum of the two numbers
that appear. Find the values of the random variable Y.

+ 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Y= {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
EXAMPLE 2:
A pair of dice is thrown and the random variable Z is defined such that
Z gives the sum of the two numbers that appear.
Construct the Discrete Probability Distribution for the given random
variable.

Z
(sum of two 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
numbers)
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟒 𝟓 𝟔 𝟓 𝟒 𝟑 𝟐 𝟏
P(Z)
𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟑𝟔
0.03 0.06 0.08 0.11 0.14 0.17 0.14 0.11 0.08 0.06 0.03

Sum = = 1
HISTOGRAM
 HISTOGRAM
Just like any other statistical distribution, a
probability mass function may be graphed using a
histogram in which the:

o horizontal axis represents the values of the

random variable X
o vertical axis gives the corresponding
probabilities, P(X).
EXAMPLE 1:
Y
(number of tails) 0 1 2 3
P(Y) P(Y)
𝟏
𝟖
𝟑
𝟖
𝟑
𝟖
𝟏
𝟖

0.125 0.375 0.375 0.125

0.50

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.10

0 Y
0 1 2 3
EXAMPLE 2:

A pair of dice is thrown and the

random variable Z is defined such that Z
gives the sum of the two numbers that
appear.

Construct its corresponding histogram.

 EXAMPLE 2:
P(Z)
0.18

0.15

0.12

0.09

0.06

0.03

0 Z
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
 MEAN
OF A DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
 MEAN
of a Discrete Random Variable

o The mean µ of a discrete random variable is

the central value or average of its
corresponding probability mass function.
o It is computed using the formula:
𝒏
𝝁=∑ 𝒙 𝒊 𝒑(𝒙𝒊 )
𝒊=𝟏
where:
o is the ith outcome
o p() is the probability of the ith outcome.
EXAMPLE 1:
Suppose three coins are tossed.
Let Y be the random variable representing
the number of tails that occur. Solve for
the mean of the discrete probability
function.
0.125 0.375 0.375 0.125

) +) + ) + )
= + 2(0.375)
0(0.125) + 1(0.375) +
= 0 + 0.375 + 0.75 3(0.125)
+
0.375
𝛍=𝟏 .𝟓
EXAMPLE 2:

A pair of dice is thrown and the

random variable Z is defined such that Z
gives the sum of the two numbers that
appear.

Solve for the MEAN.

 EXAMPLE 2:
A pair of dice is thrown and the
random variable Y is defined
such that Y gives the sum of
the two numbers that appear.
Solve for the MEAN.

𝛍=¿ 2(0.03) + 3(0.06) + 4(0.08) + 5(0.11) + 6(0.14) + 7(0.17)

+ 8(0.14) + 9(0.11) + 10(0.08) + 11(0.06) + 12(0.03)

𝛍=𝟕.𝟎𝟕 Since therefore, when you roll 2

dice, you will most likely to get a
sum of 7.
TRY THIS!
Solve for the MEAN of the given distribution.

X 2 4 6 8

P(X) 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25

X 2 4 6 8

P(X) 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.4

 VARIANCE AND
STANDARD DEVIATION
OF A DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
VARIANCE AND STANDARD DEVIATION

o describe how scattered or spread out

the scores are from the mean value of
the random variable.

VARIANCE:

STANDARD
DEVIATION:
EXAMPLE 1:
Suppose three coins are tossed.
Let Y be the random variable representing
the number of tails that occur. Solve for 0.125 0.375 0.375 0.125
the variance and standard deviation.

= [0 + 0.375 + 1.5 + 1.125] –

2.25
= 3 – 2.25
𝟐
𝝈 =𝟎 . 𝟕𝟓 𝝈 =𝟎 .𝟖𝟕
VARIANCE STANDARD DEVIATION
EXAMPLE 2:

A pair of dice is thrown and the

random variable Z is defined such that Z
gives the sum of the two numbers that
appear.

Solve for the VARIANCE AND

STANDARD DEVIATION of the given
random variable.
EXAMPLE 2:

= 55.51 –
49.9849
𝟐
𝝈 =𝟓 . 𝟓𝟑 𝝈 =𝟐 .𝟑𝟓
VARIANCE STANDARD DEVIATION
 Application of
Discrete Random Variables

EXPECTED
VALUE
EXPECTED VALUE
o also known as “expectation or payoff
value”, is the mean of the probability
distribution of the given random variable.
EXAMPLE 1:
Suppose you join a raffle event that will cost you a ticket
worth ₱200 for a chance to win a grand prize of ₱10,000. You
know that there are 500 tickets sold for the event. What will be
your expected value of winning?

Gain (X) ₱9,800 -₱200

1 499
P(X) 500
500
EXAMPLE 1: SOLUTION

Gain (X) ₱9,800 -₱200

1 499
P(X)
500 500

E(X)= (9 800) + (-200)

= 19.6 + (-199.6)
= - ₱180
EXAMPLE 2:
A card is drawn form a deck of 5 cards consisting of cards
numbered 1 to 5. A player wins ₱100 if the number on the card
is even and loses ₱100 if the number of the card is odd. What
is the expected value of his winning?

Gain (X) ₱100 -₱100

2 3
P(X) 5
5
EXAMPLE 2: SOLUTION
Gain (X) ₱100 -₱100
2 3
P(X)
5 5

E(X)= (100) + (-100)

= 40 + (-60)
= - ₱20
EXAMPLE 3:

An employee buys ₱75,000 health

insurance for ₱18,000 good for one year. Based
on his previous health records, the probability that
this employee will be hospitalized in one year is
0.65. Find the payoff value of this policy.
 ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY TITLE: Discrete Random Variable
 
LEARNING TARGET:
•to distinguish between a discrete and a continuous random variable.
•to solve problems involving discrete random variable.
 
Read, analyze, and answer the following problems. Show your clear and
complete solutions.
 
1. Classify the following random variables as discrete or continuous.
a. Time to finish a race d. Number of doubles in a roll of two dice
b. Height of 100 students e. Hours spent answering a test
c. Number of diamonds in a poker hand
 
2. Four patients are treated with a specific medicine. The probabilities for 0, 1, 2, 3,
or 4 successes are 0.24, 0.08, 0.14, 0.31, and 0.23 respectively.
a. Construct the PMF and histogram for the given data.
b. What is the mean of the distribution?
c. What are the variance and standard deviation?

3. A player draws a card at random from a standard deck of 52 cards. If the card
drawn is red, the player wins ₱1, 000 but if it is black, he loses the same
amount. Find the expected value of the game?
 
4. An employee buys a ₱50,000 health insurance for ₱12,000 good for one year.
Based on his previous health records, the probability that this employee will be
hospitalized in one year is 0.6541. Find the payoff value of this policy.