BINOMIAL DISTRIBUTION

Definition:
A discrete random variable X is said to follow binomial distribution with parameters n
and p if it assumes only a finite number of non-negative integer values and its
probability mass function is given by

where, n is the number of independent trials,

is the number of successes in n trials,

p is the probability of success in each trial, and
q = 1 – p is the probability of failure in each trial.

Remark 1:
i) The binomial distribution is the probability distribution of sum of n independent
Bernoulli variates.
ii) If X is binomially distributed r.v. with parameters n and p, then we may write it as
X ~ B(n, p).
iii) If X and Y are two binomially distributed independent random variables with
parameters (n1, p) and (n2, p) respectively then their sum also follows a binomial

distribution with parameters and p. But, if the probability of success is not

same for the two random variables then this property does not hold.
Example 1: An unbiased coin is tossed six times. Find the probability of obtaining
(i) exactly 3 heads
(ii) less than 3 heads
(iii) more than 3 heads
(iv) at most 3 heads
(v) at least 3 heads
(vi) more than 6 heads

Solution: Let p be the probability of getting head (success) in a toss of the coin and n
be the number of trials.

 n = 6, p = and hence q = 1 – p = 1 – .

Let X be the number of successes in n trials,

 by binomial distribution, we have

 .

Therefore,

(i) P[exactly 3 heads] = P [X = 3]

(ii) P[less than 3 heads] = P[X < 3]

= .

(iii) P[more than 3 heads] = P[X > 3]

= P[X = 4 or X = 5 or X = 6]

= .
(iv) P[at most 3 heads] = P [3 or less than 3 heads]

=
 =

(v) P[at least 3 heads] = P[3 or more heads]

or

(vi) P [more than 6 heads] = P [7 or more heads]

= P [an impossible event]

=0

Example 2: The chances of catching cold by workers working in an ice factory during
winter are 25%. What is the probability that out of 5 workers 4 or more will catch
cold?
Solution: Let catching cold be the success and p be the probability of success for each
worker.
 Here, n = 5, p = 0.25, q = 0.75 and by binomial distribution

Therefore, the required probability = P[X  4]

=
 =

Example 3: Let X and Y be two independent random variables such that X ~ B(4,
0.7) and Y ~ B(3, 0.7). Find P[X + Y 1].

Solution: We know that if X and Y are independent random variables each

following binomial distribution with parameters (n1, p) and (n2, p), then

X + Y ~ B( , p).
Therefore, here X + Y follows binomial distribution with parameters 4 + 3 and 0.7,
i.e. 7 and 0.7. So, here, n = 7 and p = 0.7.

Thus, the required probability = [X + Y 1]

= P[X + Y=1] + P[X + Y= 0]

Now, we are sure that you can try the following exercises:

E1) The probability of a man hitting a target . He fires 5 times. What is the
probability of his hitting the target at least twice?

E2) A policeman fires 6 bullets on a dacoit. The probability that the dacoit will be
killed by a bullet is 0.6. What is the probability that the dacoit is still alive?

MEAN AND VARIANCE OF BINOMIAL DISTRIBUTION

Mean = np Variance = npq

Remark 2:
(i) As 0 < q < 1
q<1

 npq < np [Multiplying both sides by np > 0]

 Variance < Mean

Hence, for binomial distribution

 Mean > Variance

(ii) As variance of X  B(n, p) is npq,

 its standard deviation is

Example 4: For a binomial distribution with and n = 10, find mean and
variance.

Solution: As q=1

Mean = np = 10 ,

Variance = npq = 10  = .

Example 5: The mean and standard deviation of binomial distribution are 4 and
respectively. Find P[X  1].

Solution: Let X  B(n, p), then

Mean = np = 4

and variance = npq = [ S.D. = and variance is square of S.D.]

Dividing second equation by the first equation, we have

 q=

Putting p = in the equation of mean, we have

n=6

 by binomial distribution,

P[X = x] =
 x = 0, 1, 2, …, 6.

Thus, the required probability

= .
Example 6: If X  B (n, p). Find p if n = 6 and 9P[X = 4] = P[X = 2].

Solution: As X  B(n, p) and n = 6,

Now,

But p = rejected [ probability can never be negative]

Hence, p =
Now, you can try the following exercises:

E3) Comment on the following:

The mean of a binomial distribution is 3 and variance is 4.

E4) Find the binomial distribution when sum of mean and variance of 5 trails is 4.8.

E5) The mean of a binomial distribution is 30 and standard deviation is 5. Find the
values of n, p and q,
E6) Out of 800 families with 4 children each, how many families would you expect to
have 3 boys and 1 girl, assuming equal probability of boys and girls?

SOLUTIONS/ANSWERS
E1) Let p be the probability of hitting the target (success) in a trial.

 n = 5, p = ,
and hence by binomial distribution, we have

 Required probability =

=
E2) Let p be the probability that the dacoit will be killed (success) by a bullet.
 n = 6, p = 0.6, q = 1 – p = 1 – 0.6 = 0.4, and hence by binomial distribution, we
have

.
 The required probability = P[The dacoit is still alive]
= P[No bullet kills the dacoit]
= P[Number of successes is zero]
 = P[X = 0] =

=
E3) Mean = np = 3 ... (1)
Variance = npq = 4 ... (2)
 Dividing (2) by (1), we have

and hence not possible

[ q, being probability, cannot be greater than 1]

E4) Let  B(n, p), then

n = 5 and

np + npq = 4.8 [ given that Mean + Variance = 4.8]

 5p + 5pq = 4.8
 5[p + p (1–p)] = 4.8
 5[p + p – p2] = 4.8
 5p2 – 10p + 4.8 = 0
 25p2 – 50p + 24 = 0 [Multiplying by 5]
 25p2 – 30 p – 20 p + 24 = 0
 5p(5p – 6) – 4 (5p – 6) = 0

 (5p 6) (5p 4) = 0

p=

The first value p = is rejected [ probability can never exceed 1]

p= and hence q = 1 – p = .

Thus, the binomial distribution is

The binomial distribution in tabular form is given as

X p(x)
 0

=
1

=
3

=
4

E5) Given that Mean = 30 and S.D. = 5

Thus, np = 30,
 np = 30, npq = 25

E6) Here, probability (p) to have a boy is and the probability (q) to have

a girl is , n = 4, N = 800.

Let X be the number of boys in a family.

 by binomial distribution, the probability of having 3 boys in a family
of 4 children

= P[X = 3] [ ]

=
Hence, the expected number of families having 3 boys and 1 girl

= = 800 = 200