A MODULE FOR ALL TRACK-STRAND

CONSTRUCTING
PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
Prepared by:
EDGARDO S. BACLIG JR.

LESSON CONSTRUCTING PROBABILITY

2 DISTRIBUTION

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
 Illustrate a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and its
properties;
 Compute probabilities corresponding to a given random variable; and
 Construct the probability mass function of a discrete random variable and its
corresponding histogram.

Starting Point
In your previous study of mathematics, you have learned how to find the probability of an
event. In this lesson, you will learn how to construct a probability distribution of a discrete random
variable. Your knowledge of getting the probability of an event is very important in understanding of
the present lesson. To find out if you are ready to learn this new lesson, do the following activities.
ENTRY CARD
A. Find the probability of the following events.
Event(E) Probability P(E)
1. Getting an even number in a single roll of a die
2. Getting a sum of 6 when two dice are rolled
3. Getting an ace when a card is drawn from a deck
4. The probability that all children are boys if a couple has three children
5. Getting an odd number and a tail when a die is rolled and a coin is
tossed simultaneously
6. Getting a sum of 11 when two dice are rolled
7. Getting a black card and a 10 when a card is drawn from a deck
8. Getting a red queen when a card is drawn from a deck
9. Getting doubles when two dice are rolled
10.Getting a red ball from a box containing 3 red 6 black balls

B. for the given values of x, evaluate P(x).

x 4x 4x
P ( x)= P ( x) =
x +5 x +5
0
1
2
3
4
5
Getting Ready
Decision-making is an important aspect in business, education, insurance, and other real-life
situations. Many decisions are made by assigning probabilities to all possible outcomes pertaining to
the situation and then evaluating the result. For instance, an insurance company might be able to
assign probabilities to the number of vehicles a family owns. This information will help the company
in making decisions regarding future financial situations. This situations requires the use of random
variables and probability distribution.

Example 1: Number of Tails

Suppose three coins are tossed. Let Y be the random variable representing the number of
tails that occur. Find the probability of each of the values of the random variable Y.
Solution:
Steps Solution
1. Determine the sample space. Let H represent the The sample space for this experiment is:
head and T represent tail. S={TTT,TTH,THT,HTT,HHT,HTH,THH,HHH}
2. Count the number of tails in each outcome in the Possible Value of the
sample space and assign this number to this Outcomes Random Variable
outcome. Y
TTT 3
TTH 2
THT 2
HTT 2
HHT 1
HTH 1
THH 1
HHH 0
3. There are four possible values of the random Random Variable Probability P(Y)
variable Y representing the number of tails. These Number of Tails Y
are 0, 1, 2, and 3. Assign probability values P(Y) to 0 1
each value of the random variable. 8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and no tail 1 3
occurs once, so the probability that we shall 8
1 2 3
assign to the random variable 0 is .
8 8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and 1 tails 3 1
occurs three times, so the probability that we 8
3
shall assign to the random variable 1 is .
8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and 2 tails
occur three times, so the probability that we
3
shall assign to the random variable 2 is .
8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and 3 tails
occur once, so the probability that we assign
1
to random variable 3 is .
8

Table 1.1. The Probability Distribution or the Probability

Mass function of Discrete Random Variable Y
Random Variable
0 1 2 3
Number of Tails Y
1 3 3 1
Probability P(Y)
8 8 8 8
 A discrete probability distribution or a probability mass
function consists of the values a random variable can assume and the
corresponding probabilities of the values.
Example 1: Number of Blue Balls
Two balls are drawn in succession without replacement from an urn containing 5 red balls
and 6 blue balls. Let Z be the random variable representing the number of blue balls. Construct the
probability distribution of the random variable Z.
Solution:
Steps Solution
1. Determine the sample space. Let B represent the The sample space for this experiment is:
blue ball and R represent red ball. S={RR, RB, BR, BB}
2. Count the number of blue balls in each outcome in Possible Value of the
the sample space and assign this number to this Outcomes Random Variable
outcome. Z
(number of blue
balls)
RR 0
RB 1
BR 1
BB 2
3. There are four possible values of the random Random Variable Probability P(Z)
variable Y representing the number of tails. These Number of Blue
are 0, 1, and 2. Assign probability values P(Z) to Balls Z
each value of the random variable. 0 1
 There are 4 possible outcomes and no blue 4
balls occurs once, so the probability that we 1 1
1 2
shall assign to the random variable 0 is .
4 2 1
 There are 4 possible outcomes and 1 blue 4
balls occurs two times, so the probability that
we shall assign to the random variable 1 is
2 1
∨
4 2
 There are 4 possible outcomes and 2 blue
balls occur once, so the probability that we
1
shall assign to the random variable 2 is .
4

Table 1.2. The Probability Distribution or the Probability

Mass Function of Discrete Random Variable Z.
Random Variable
0 1 2
Number of Blue Balls Z
1 1 1
Probability P(Z)
4 2 4

Can you make a histogram for this probability distribution? Remember that a histogram is
a bar graph. To construct a histogram for a probability distribution, follow these steps.
 Plot the values of the random variable along the horizontal axis.
 Plot the probabilities along the vertical axis.
Example 3: Number of Defective Cell Phones
Suppose three cell phones are tested at random. Let D represent the defective
cell phone and let N represent the non-defective cell phone. If we let X be the random
variable for the number of defective cell phones, construct the probability distribution
of the random variable X.
Solution:
Steps Solution
1. Determine the sample space. Let D represent the The sample space for this experiment is:
defective cell phones and T represent non-defective S={NNN,NND,NDN,DNN,NDD,DND,DDN,DDD}
cell phones.
2. Count the number of defective cell phones in each Possible Value of the
outcome in the sample space and assign this number Outcomes Random Variable
to this outcome. X
(number of
defective cell
phones)
TTT 3
TTH 2
THT 2
HTT 2
HHT 1
HTH 1
THH 1
HHH 0
3. There are four possible values of the random Random Variable Probability P(X)
variable x representing the number of defective cell Number of Tails X
phones. These are 0, 1, 2, and 3. Assign probability 0 1
values P(x) to each value of the random variable. 8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and no 1 3
defective cell phones occurs once, so the 8
probability that we shall assign to the random 2 3
1 8
variable 0 is .
8 3 1
 There are 8 possible outcomes and 1 8
defective cell phones occurs three times, so
the probability that we shall assign to the
3
random variable 1 is .
8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and 2
defective cell phones occur three times, so
the probability that we shall assign to the
3
random variable 2 is .
8
 There are 8 possible outcomes and 3
defective cell phones occur once, so the
probability that we assign to random variable
1
3 is .
8

Table 1.1. The Probability Distribution or the Probability

Mass function of Discrete Random Variable Y
Number of Defective Cell
0 1 2 3
Phones X
 1 3 3 1
Probability P(X)
8 8 8 8

Mathematical Journal
 In the preceding probability distributions, what do you notice about the probability of each
value of the random variable? Write your conclusion regarding this matter.
 In each of the preceding probability distributions, get the sum of the probabilities of all values
of the random variable. What sum did you get? Write your conclusion regarding this matter.

Properties of a Probability Distribution

1. The probability of each value of the random variable must be between or

equal to 0 and 1. In symbol, we write it as 0≤P(X)≤ 1.
2. The sum of the probabilities of all values of the random variable must be
equal to 1. In symbol, we write it as ∑ P ( X )=1.
 How do you make the histogram for a probability distribution? Give the steps in constructing
the histogram for a probability distribution.
Exercises
A. Determine whether the distribution represents a probability distribution. Explain your answer.
1. X 1 5 8 7 9
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1
3 3 3 3 3

2. X 0 2 4 6 8
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1
6 6 3 6 6

3. X 1 2 3 5
P(X) 1 1 1 1
4 8 4 8

4. X 4 8 12 15 17
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1
5 8 8 5 8

5. X 1 3 5 7
P(X) 0.35 0.25 0.22 0.12

B. Construct the probability distribution for the random variables described in each of the
following situations. Draw the corresponding histogram for each probability distribution.
1. Four coins are tossed. Let Z be the random variable representing the number of heads that
occur. Find the values of the random variable Z.
Value of the Random Variable Z Probability P(Z)
 2. A shipment of five computers contains two that are slightly defective. If retailer receives
three of these computers at random, list the elements of the sample space S using the
letters D and N for defective and non-defective computer, respectively. To each sample
point assign a value x of the random variable X representing the number of computers
purchased by the retailer which are slightly defective.
Value of the Random Variable X Probability P(X)

3. Let T be a random variable giving the number of heads in three tosses of a coin. List the
elements of the sample space S for the three tosses of the coin and assign a value to each
sample point.
Value of the Random Variable T Probability P(T)

Look Back and Reflect

 Why should the sum of the probabilities in a probability distribution always equal to 1?
 What is the shape of most probability distributions? Why do you think so?

Reference:
 Statistics and Probabilty(REX Book Store)