Week2 Random Variables
Week2 Random Variables
RANDOM VARIABLES
AND
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
Discrete Continuous
Random Random
Variable Variable
Variable
- is a symbol (A, B, x, y, etc.) that can take on any of a
Examples:
Tossing a coin
Rolling a die
Drawing a card from a standard deck of cards
Picking a ball from a box of 20 balls
What is an EVENT?
An event is the collection of one or more outcomes considered as a group.
Examples:
Getting a head when a coin is tossed
Getting an even number when a die is rolled
Getting a heart face card in a standard deck of cards
Getting a white ball from a box of 20 balls
TWO TYPES OF
RANDOM VARIABLES
Discrete Random Variable
It is a random variable that can take only countable or finite
number of values. It can be obtained through the process of
counting.
A. range space
B. Y(3,2)
C. Y(4,6)
D. Y(1,3)
Example 2:
+ 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
A. Range Space =
B. Y(3,2) =
C. Y(4,6) =
D. Y(1,3) =
Example 3:
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.
Discrete Probability Distribution
o also known as probability mass
function
Y
Outcome
Number of (number of tails) 0 1 2 3
tails (Y)
𝟏 𝟑 𝟑 𝟏
HHH 0 P(Y)
𝟖 𝟖 𝟖 𝟖
HHT 1
HTH 1 P(Y)
THH 1 What can you observe?
0.5
HTT 2
THT 2 0.4
TTH 2 0.3
TTT 3
0.2
0.1
0 Y
2 3
Using Example 2 (When pair of dice is thrown,
such that Y gives the sum of the two numbers that appear.)
Construct the Probability Mass Function and Histogram.
Y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
P(Y) 1/36 2/36 3/36 4/36 5/36 6/36 5/36 4/36 3/36 2/36 1/36
0.0278 0.0556 0.0833 0.1111 0.1389 0.1667 0.1389 0.1111 0.0833 0.0556 0.0278
Y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
P(Y) 1/36 2/36 3/36 4/36 5/36 6/36 5/36 4/36 3/36 2/36 1/36
0.0278 0.0556 0.0833 0.1111 0.1389 0.1667 0.1389 0.1111 0.0833 0.0556 0.0278
Using Example 3
(When 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.
Construct the Probability Mass Function and Histogram.
W 1 2 3 4 5
P(Y) 4/20 4/20 4/20 4/20 4/20
0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20
ACTIVITY
Learning Targets:
to distinguish a discrete and continuous random
variable.
to find the possible values of a random variable.
4. The following are the COVID-19 active cases of Angeles City, Pampanga last July
16, 2022. If X is the random variable to represent, construct the a) probability
mass function, and b) histogram. (6 points)
X 1 2 3 4 7 12