ECON2303

Professor Juwon Seo

Answerkey 3: Parametric distribution functions

1. Suppose X is a random variable with the uniform distribution on [0; c], with
some positive constant c. That is, X is a continuous random variable with
Probability Density Function (PDF) given by
fX (x) = 0 for x < 0
1
= for 0 x c
c
= 0 for x > c:

(a) Verify that fX (x) is a valid Probability Density Function (PDF).

1) fX (x) is non-negative for all x.

Z1 Zc
2) fX (x)dx = 1c dx = 1 .
1 0
(b) What is the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of X?

FX (x) = 0 for x < 0

x
= for 0 x < c
c
= 1 for c x

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

Zc
1 c
E(X) = x dx =
c 2
0
Zc
1 c 2 1 2.
V ar(X) = E(X 2 ) E(X)2 = x2 dx = c
c 2 12
0

(d) Calculate the n-th moment of X (for n 2 N ).

Zc
1 1 n
E(X n ) = xn dx = c
c n+1
0

1
 2. Suppose X is a random variable with the uniform distribution on [ c; c], with
some positive constant c. That is, X is a continuous random variable with
Probability Density Function (PDF) given by
1
fX (x) = for c x c
2c
= 0 otherwise :

(a) Verify that fX (x) is a valid Probability Density Function (PDF).

1) fX (x) is non-negative for all x.

Z1 Zc
1
2) fX (x)dx = 2c dx = 1 .
1 c

(b) What is the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of X?

FX (x) = 0 for x < c

x 1
= + for c x<c
2c 2
= 1 for c x

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

E(X) = 0
Zc
1 1
V ar(X) = E(X 2 ) E(X)2 = x2 dx = c2
2c 3
c

(d) Calculate the n-th moment of X (for n 2 N ).

Zc
n 1 1
E(X ) = xn dx = cn+1 ( c)n+1
2c 2c(n + 1)
c

F3. Suppose X is a discrete random variable with Probability Mass Function

(PMF) given by
x
fX (x) = for x = 1; 2; 3
6
= 0 otherwise :

2
 (a) Let Y = X 2 . Find the Probability Mass Function (PMF) of Y .

1
fY (y) = at y = 1
6
2
= at y = 4
6
3
= at y = 9
6
= 0 otherwise
p
(b) Calculate E( X).

p Xp 1 1p 1p
E( X) = xfX (x) = + 2+ 3
x
6 3 2

(c) Calculate the n-th moment of X (for n 2 N ).

X 1 1 1
E(X n ) = xn fX (x) = 1n + 2n + 3n
x
6 3 2

F4. Let the random variable Z0 follow a normal distribution with the mean 0,
and the variance of Z0 is unknown.

(a) Can you …nd P (Z0 = 0)? Why or why not? If you can, what is
P (Z0 = 0)? Yes, it is zero. Z0 follows the normal distribution, so it
is a continuous random variable.
(b) Can you …nd P (Z0 0)? Why or why not? If you can, what is P (Z0
0)? Yes, it is 1=2 (by the symmetry).

Let the random variable Z1 follow a normal distribution with the mean 0 and
the variance 1, and Z2 follow a normal distribution with the mean 1 and the
variance 1.

(c) What is P (Z1 3:11)?

P (Z1 3:11) = 1 P (Z1 3:11) = 1 0:9991 = 0:0009.

(0:9991 is from the standard normal table)
(d) What is P (0 < Z1 < 1)?

P (0 < Z1 < 1) = P (Z1 < 1) P (Z1 < 0) = 0:8431 0:5 = 0:3431

(0:8431 is from the standard normal table)

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 (e) What is P (0 < Z2 < 1)? Note that Z2 = Z1 + 1 and Z1 has the standard
normal distribution.
P (0 < Z2 < 1) = P (0 1 < Z2 1 < 1 1) = P ( 1 < Z2 1 < 0) =
P ( 1 < Z1 < 0) = P (Z1 < 0) P (Z1 < 1) = 0:5 0:1587
From the standard normal table, you may …nd that
P (Z1 < 1) = P (Z1 > 1) = 1 P (Z1 < 1) = 1 0:8413 = 0:1587.

(In this problem, you may want to explore the standard normal table)