CENTRAL VISAYAN INSTITUTE FOUNDATION – Statistics & Probability (Grade 11)

Activity Title: LAS 1A — Exercises on Random Variables

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Solution
A. The term “fair” here means that there will be no bias in the result of the random experiment
being conducted. It specifically indicates that all the possible outcomes of the random
experiment will have equal chances of becoming the resulting outcome.

B. We construct a random variable for

each random experiment:

1) X ~ the face of a coin after tossing

Remark: A random experiment is
Sample space (Ω) = {ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙}
Variable space (𝑅𝑋 ) = {1, 2} any experiment, process, or

Now, we will do the mapping from procedure wherein there is a

Ω into 𝑅𝑋 : definite number of outcomes that
𝑋(1) = ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑋(2) = 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 are greater than one. Moreover,
Hence, the random variable in tossing each outcome in a random
a fair coin is defined as:
experiment cannot be predicted
1, 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑
𝑋={ with certainty.
2, 𝑖𝑓 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙

2) Y ~ the number of dots of the side facing upon throwing a fair die
Sample space (Ω) = {1 𝑑𝑜𝑡, 2 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 3 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 4 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 5 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 6 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠}
*Our sample space here refers to all possible number of dots of the
side facing up upon throwing a fair die with 6 sides.
Variable space (𝑅𝑌 ) = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Now, we will do the mapping from Ω into 𝑅𝑌 :
𝑌(1) = 1 𝑑𝑜𝑡, 𝑌(3) = 3 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 𝑌(5) = 5 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
𝑌(2) = 2 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 𝑌(4) = 4 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠, 𝑌(6) = 6 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
Hence, the random variable in throwing a fair die with six sides is:

1, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 1 𝑑𝑜𝑡
2, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 2 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
3, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 3 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
𝑌=
4, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 4 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
5, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 5 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
{ 6, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 6 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
 CENTRAL VISAYAN INSTITUTE FOUNDATION – Statistics & Probability (Grade 11)

NOTE:
Always keep in mind that for the variable space, 𝑅, we can randomly choose any
real number to represent the space of our random variable. For instance, in item 1, you
can also choose the value 0 for head and 100 for the tail. But for simplicity, we try to
choose values that can be easily understood and will not cause confusion upon defining
the random variable. In the solution for item 2, we can observe that it is much better to
use values for our variable space 𝑅𝑌 that will best represent the outcomes in our sample
space. Since the random experiment involves throwing a die, that means, we are
interested on the number of dots that will show on the side of the die facing up after
throwing the object. We used the value 1 if the side facing up shows only one dot, 2 for
the result showing 2 dots, 3 if the result shows 3 dots, and so on.

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Activity Title: LAS 2 — Random Variables: Discrete and Continuous

Solution.
continuous 1) Explanation: The possible length of a leaf can take on uncountably infinite
possible values in all measurements that will be used. Suppose we use “inch”
to measure its length that can be as long as 1.5 to 2 inches. The leaf’s length
can have values: 1.5, 1.51, 1.501, 1.5001, …, 1.9, 1.99, 1.9999, …, 2 inches.
Thus, we cannot possibly list all the values between 1.5 and 2 since there are
infinite number of values to include.
continuous 2) Explanation: Time can also take an uncountable infinite possible values.
Suppose, for example, a professional athlete in an international swimming
competition can swim 200 meters in 2-3 minutes. The exact time that the
swimmer can finish can vary depending on how much accuracy is needed to
fairly proclaim the winners. They can measure up to 3 decimal places or more
to measure the accuracy of the speed with respect to time (e.g., 2.341 min.,
2.34 min., 2.3 min., etc.) taken to finish a 200-meter race.
discrete 3) Explanation: In counting the population of any animals/species, the count
should take a distinct value in the form of a whole number. We do not say, “I
found 40.5 tarsiers in this area”, since 0.5 cannot represent a count for a
single tarsier (of course, we do not cut the tarsier in two to get 0.5). The
number of endangered species can be counted distinctly but may increase
through time. Hence, we can list them but there will be no specific end.
discrete 4) Explanation: The same explanation can be applied here from what we have
discussed in item 3. There can be an infinite number of galaxies in the
universe but we do not count any of the galaxy as a portion. There can be
smaller galaxies but there can also be very big ones. And no matter how small
a galaxy is, we always consider its count as one single unit.
continuous 5) Explanation: Temperatures can take on infinite possible values within a range
or interval (e.g., the usual temperature in Baguio is between 13℃ to 20℃
during the wet season).