Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region V (Bicol)
Schools Division Office of Albay
MALIDONG HIGH SCHOOL
Malidong, Pioduran Albay

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS IN STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY

Content : Random Variables and Probability Distribution ( Mass Function of a Discrete Random Variable)
Learning Competencies:
• Construct the probability mass function of a discrete random variable and its corresponding histogram.
M11/12SP-IIIa-5.
Proper Discussion
Probability Distribution for a discrete random variable.

• The probability distribution of a discrete random variable X is a list of the possible values of X and the
corresponding probabilities of the values. It specifies the probability associated with each possible value
of the random variable. The distribution functions of the discrete random variables are concentrated as a
mass for a particular value, and generally known as Probability Mass Function.
• The discrete probability distribution can be graphed to form Probability histogram.
• Histogram is a bar graph.
Steps in constructing probability
1. List the sample space.
2. Count the number of boys in each outcome in the sample space and assign this number to this outcome,
and get the total number random variable or the frequency.
3. If each of the outcome is equally likely occur, then the probability is:
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕
𝑷(𝑬)
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆

Construct the frequency distribution of the values of the random variable .

4. Construct the probability distribution of the random variable by getting the probability of occurrence of
each value of the random variable.
Properties of Discrete Probability distribution

• The probability of each value of the random variable must be between or equal to 0 and 1. In symbol 0 ≤
𝑃(𝑋) ≤ 1.
• The sum of all the probabilities of all values of the random variable must be equal to 1. In symbol, we
write it as 𝛴𝑃(𝑋) = 1.
Note: 1 signifies that it surely happens, the higher the probability, the higher it gets, the higher the chances that it
will appear, one denotes it will happen 0 denotes it will not happen that’s why the values must be between zero
to one.
Example:

Determine whether the distribution below is a discrete probability distribution.

1.

X 5 6 4 2 8 5 1 3 6 0
P(X) 5 6 4 2 8 5 1 3 6 0
40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
Or Or Or Or Or Or Or Or Or Or
0.125 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.20 0.125 0.025 0.075 0.15 0
Discrete probability distribution
 2. Not Discrete Probability Distribution
X 1 2 3 4 5
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1
4 4 4 4 4

2 1 1 1
3. P(X)= 5, P(X)= 5, P(X)= 5, P(X)= 5 Discrete probability Distribution

Steps in constructing histogram.

1. Plot the values of the random variable along horizontal axis

2. Plot the probabilities P(X) along the vertical axis
Extra tips

1. If you are dealing with fractions, you can convert fractions to decimals for easy plotting.
2. In making the axes, make sure that you have equal intervals/spacing with the numbers.
Example:
Four coins are tossed. Let T be the random variable representing the number of tails that occur. Construct The
mass function of the random variable and construct a histogram.

Steps Solution
1. List the sample S={HHHH, HHHT, HHTH, HHTT, HTHH, HTHT, HTTH, HTTT,
space. THHH, THHT, THTH, THTT, TTHH, TTHT, TTTH, TTTT}
2. Count the number Outcome Value of Tails
of each outcome (Value of T)
and assign this HHHH 0
number to this HHHT 1
outcome, and get HHTH 1
the total number HHTT 2
random variable or
HTHH 1
the frequency.
HTHT 2
HTTH 2
HTTT 3
THHH 1
THHT 2
THTH 2
THTT 3
TTHH 2
TTHT 3
TTTH 3
TTTT 4
The values of the random variable T(number of tails in this
experiment are 0, 1,2,3, and 4.
3. Construct the Number of Number of
frequency Tails Occurrence
distribution of the (Value of T) (Frequency)
random variable. 0 1
1 4
2 6
3 4
4 1
Total 16
 4. Construct the Number of Number of Probability
probability Tails Occurrence P(T)
distribution of the (Value of T) (Frequency)
random variable by 0 1 1
getting the 16
probability of 1 4 4 1
𝑜𝑟
occurrence of each 16 4

value of the random 2 6 6 3

𝑜𝑟
variable. 16 8
3 4 4 1
𝑜𝑟
16 4
4 1 1
16
Total 16
The probability distribution of the random variable T can be written
as follows:
T 0 1 2 3 4
P(T) 1 4 6 4 1
16 16 16 16 16
5. Construct the 0.5625
probability 0.5
histogram 0.4375
0.375
0.3125
0.25
0.1875
0.125
0.0625
0

0 1 2 3 4

Activity 1

Direction: Answer the given activity.

Male

Supposed that two coins are tossed we are interested to determine the number of tails that will come out.
Let use T to represent the number of tails that will come out. Illustrate the probability distribution of a random
variable T.

Female

Two balls are drawn in succession without replacement from an urn containing 5 orange balls and 6 violet balls.
Let V be the random variable representing the number of violet balls. Illustrate the probability distribution of a
random variable V.
Activity 2
Determine whether the distribution represents a probability distribution. Write YES if it is probability
distribution. Otherwise, Write NO. Justify 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 3 5 7
P(X) 0.35 0.25 0.22 0.12
4. P(1) = 0.42, P(2) = 0.31, P(3)= 0.37
9 4 1
5. 𝑃(1) = 14 , 𝑃(1) = 14 , 𝑃(1) = 14

Activity 3

A. Covid- 19 Infected Persons

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered corona virus. Most
people who fall sic with COVID-19 experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment.
Thousands of people not only in the Philippines but in the whole world were tested positive in this virus, and
some of them recovered from the disease. The following table shows the number of infected persons in a remote
town from day 1 to day 10. The table shows the number of infected persons in a remote town from day one to day
10. Illustrate a probability distribution of a random variable X showing the number of infected persons per day
and its corresponding probabilities. Complete the table below.

Day Infected P(X)

Persons(X)
1 5

2 6
3 4

4 2

5 8

6 5

7 1

8 3

9 6

10 0

Total

B. Construct a histogram of the given letter A.