Faculty of Business Academic Year: 2021/2022

université Course: Statistics for Business

Administration Antonine

Chapter 3
Random Variables and Probability Distributions

4.1. Concept of a Random Variable

Statistics is concerned with making inferences about populations and population
characteristics. Experiments are conducted with results that are subject to
chance.

The testing of a number of electronic components is an example of a statistical

experiment, a term that is used to describe any process by which several chance
observations are generated. It is often important to allocate a numerical
description to the outcome.

Example: Let (𝛺, ℱ, ℙ) be the probability space for rolling a pair of dice, and let
X: 𝛺 → ℤ be the random variable that gives the sum of the numbers on the two
dice. So

X [(1;2)] = 3 ; X [(4 ; 4)] = 8 ; X [(6;5)] =11.

Definition: A random variable is a function that associates a real number with

each element in the sample space.

4.2. Discrete Probability Distributions

A discrete random variable is one which may take on only a countable number of
distinct values such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ... Discrete random variables are usually (but
not necessarily) counts. If a random variable can take only a finite number of
distinct values, then it must be discrete. Examples of discrete random variables
include the number of children in a family.
Definition: The set of ordered pairs (x, f(x)) is a probability function, probability
mass function, or probability distribution of the discrete random variable X if, for
each possible outcome x,

1. f(x) ≥ 0

2. ∑𝒙 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟏

3. P(X = x) = f(x)

Definition: The cumulative distribution function F(x) of a discrete random

variable X with probability distribution f(x) is (CDF): F(X) = P (X ≤ x).

Example (Rolling 2 Dice (Red/Green)):

Y = Sum of the up faces of the two die. Table gives value of y for all elements in S

Red\Green 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

Rolling 2 Dice – Probability Mass Function & CDF

y p(y) F(y)
2 1/36 1/36
3 2/36 3/36
4 3/36 6/36 # of ways 2 die can sum to y
p( y ) =
5 4/36 10/36 # of ways 2 die can result in
6 5/36 15/36 y
7 6/36 21/36 F ( y) =  p(t)
8 5/36 26/36 t =2
9 4/36 30/36
10 3/36 33/36
11 2/36 35/36
12 1/36 36/36
 0,2 Dice Rolling Probability Function

0,1

p(y)
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
y

1 Dice Rolling - CDF

0,75
F(y)

0,5

0,25

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
y

4.3. Continuous Probability Distributions

A continuous random variable is one which takes an infinite number of possible

values. Continuous random variables are usually measurements. Examples
include height, weight, the amount of sugar in an orange, the time required to
run a mile.

Definition: The function f(x) is a probability density function (pdf) for the
continuous random variable X, defined over the set of real numbers, if

1. f(x) ≥ 0, for all x ∈ ℝ

+∞
2. ∫−∞ 𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙 = 𝟏

𝒃
3. P(a < X <b) = ∫𝒂 𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙

Definition: The cumulative distribution function F(x) of a continuous random

variable X with density function f(x) is:

𝒙
F(X) = P(X ≤ x) =∫−∞ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕
Definition: Let X be a random variable with probability distribution f(x). The
mean, or expected value, of X is:

𝑬(𝑿) = ∑𝒙 𝒙 𝒇(𝑿) if X is discrete,

And
+∞
𝑬(𝑿) = ∫−∞ 𝒙 𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙 if X is continuous.

Variance: 𝑬(𝑿) = 𝑬(𝑿𝟐 ) − (𝑬(𝑿))𝟐

 Faculty of Business Academic Year: 2020/2021
université Course: Statistics for Business
Administration Antonine

Worksheet 3
Exercise 1-

The number of daily failures of a machine in a factory is a random variable X

whose probability distribution is:

X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
PX 0. 40 0.15 0.15 0.10 0.10 0.05 0.05

1) Show that the data in this table define a probability distribution

2) Calculate E(X) and Var (X).

Exercise 2-

The number of random typing errors in a file is a random variable X whose

probability distribution is given by:

X 0 1 2 3
Px A B C D
1) Determine A, B, C and D if:

p(X<1)=0.2

p(X>2)=0.6

p(X=1) = p(X=2)

3) Calculate E(X), Var (X) and F(X)

Exercise 3-

A biased die with six faces is rolled. The discrete random variable X represents
the score on the uppermost face. The probability distribution of X is shown in the
table below.

x 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(X=x) a a a b b 0.3
a) Given that E(X) = 4.2. Find the value of a and the value of b.
 b) Show that E(X2) = 20.4
c) Find Var(5-3X)

A biased die with five faces is rolled. The discrete random variable Y represents
the score which is uppermost. The cumulative distribution function of Y is shown
in the table below.

y 1 2 3 4 5
F(y) 1/10 2/10 3k 4k 5k

d) Find the value of k.

e) Find the probability distribution of Y.
Each die is rolled once. The scores on the two dice are independent.
f) Find the probability that the sum of the two scores equals 2

Exercise 4-

The discrete random variable X has the probability function

𝒌𝒙 𝒙 = 𝟐, 𝟒, 𝟔
𝒑(𝑿 = 𝒙) = {𝒌(𝒙 − 𝟐) 𝒙=𝟖
𝟎 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆

where k is constant.

a) Show that k = 1/18

b) Find the exact value of F(5)
c) Find the exact value of E(X)
d) Find the exact value of E(X2)
e) Calculate Var(3-4X).
Exercise 5-
A fair blue die has faces numbered 1, 1, 3, 3, 5 and 5. The random variable B
represents the score when the blue die is rolled.
a) Write down the probability distribution for B
b) State the name of this probability distribution
c) Write down the value of E(B)
A second die is red and the random variable R represents the score when the red
die is rolled.

The probability of R is

r 2 4 6
P(R=r) 2/3 1/6 1/6

d) Find E(R)
e) Find Var(R)

Exercise 6-

The discrete random variable Y has probability distribution

y 1 2 3 4
P(Y=y) a b 0.3 c

Where a, b and c are constants.

The cumulative distribution function F(y) of Y is given in the following table

y 1 2 3 4
F(y) 0.1 0.5 d 1.0

Where d is a constant

a) Find the value of a, the value of b the value of c and the value of d.
b) Find p(3Y+2≥8)