PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION

BASIC TERMS

 Random Variable – is a variable that contains the outcomes of a chance experiment. For example, suppose an experiment is
to measure the arrivals of automobiles at a parking booth during a 30-second period. The possible outcomes are: 0 cars, 1
car, 2 cars, … , n cars. These numbers (0, 1, 2, … , n) are the values of a random variable.

 Mean or Expected Value – for a discrete distribution, this is the long-run average of occurrences. This mean, or expected,
value is computed as follows:

𝑋̅ 𝑜𝑟 𝜇 = 𝐸[𝑥] = Σ[𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑥)]

 Variance and Standard Deviation

𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝑉𝑎𝑟[𝑥] = 𝐸[𝑥 2 ] − (𝐸[𝑥])2

where 𝐸[𝑥 2 ] = Σ[𝑥 2 ∙ 𝑃(𝑥)]

𝑆𝐷 = √𝑉𝑎𝑟[𝑥]

DISCUSSION PROBLEMS

1) A fair coin is tossed four times. Let x be the number of heads in the result. Construct a probability distribution table for this
and find the probability of the following events:

a) getting exactly 2 heads

b) getting at least 1 head
c) compute for the mean probability

2) In a carnival, there is a game where the player chooses one rubber duck in a small pool. Underneath the ducks, concealed, are
the prizes/penalties for the player. Below are the number of ducks with their corresponding prizes/penalties:

Number of
Type of Duck Amount
Ducks
1 Prize P50,000
5 Prize P500
10 Prize P20
3 Penalty P1,000
15 Penalty P100
40 Penalty P20

a) Construct a probability distribution table. Let the random variable 𝑋 be the amount to be received by the player in
playing this game.
b) What is the probability of getting a prize?
c) What is the probability of not getting the 1,000-penalty duck?
d) What is the expected payout in this game?
e) What is the standard deviation?
3) Below is a probability distribution for the taxi queuing time in a particular establishment:

Queuing Time in minutes Probabilty

x P(x)
1-5 0.15
6 – 10 0.20
11 – 15 0.40
16 - 20 0.15
21 - 25 0.10

a) What is the probability that a passenger will wait for more than 5 minutes for a taxi in the given establishment?
b) What is the probability that a passenger will only wait for 15 minutes or less for a taxi?
c) What is the expected time for a passenger to wait for taxi?
d) Compute for the variance and standard deviation.

4) The following data are the result of a historical study of the number of flaws found in a porcelain cup produced by a
manufacturing firm.
Flaws Probability
0 0.471
1 0.265
2 0.133
3 0.097
4 0.034

Use these data and the associated probabilities to compute for the following:

a) What is the probability of getting at most 2 flaws in a random porcelain cup?

b) What is the expected number of flaws in a porcelain cup?
c) What is the standard deviation?