RANDOM VARIABLE

Random experiment – an experiment that can

be repeated numerous times under the same
conditions. It result must be independent of one
another.

EXAMPLE: Rolling a die and tossing a coin

Rolling two dice
Rolling a die and tossing a coin
1 1
2 2
3 3

H 6
4
5 T 6
4
5
Rolling two dice

2ND 1ST DIGIT

DIGIT 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6

2 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6
3 3,1 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5 3,6
4 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 4,6
5 5,4 5,6
5,1 5,2 5,3 5,5
6
6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6
 PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION – is a list, a table, a
graph, or formula of probabilities associated
with each of its possible values.
PROPERTIES OF PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION

• The probability of each outcome is

between 0 and 1
• The sum of all the probabilities of the
random variable is equal to 1 or 100%
Consider the random experiment of tossing four coins. Construct
a probability distribution for a random variable x that pertains to
number of tails in each possible.
H

H T

H T H T

H T H T H T H T

S = HHHH, HHHT, HHTH, HHTT,HTHH, HTHT, HTTH, HTTT,

 T

H T

H T H T

H T H T H T H T

S = THHH, THHT, THTH, THTT, TTHH, TTHT, TTTH, TTTT,

 X 0 1 2 3 4
P(X) 1 4 6 4 1
16 16 16 16 16

 
16
= 1
16
HHHH, HHHT, HHTH, HHTT,HTHH, HTHT, HTTH, HTTT,
THHH, THHT, THTH, THTT, TTHH, TTHT, TTTH, TTTT,
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF TOSSING FOUR COINS
If X is a random variable defined by the number of
heads in three tosses of a coin. Find the probability
of distribution. H

H T

H T H T

S = HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT,

 T

H T

H T H T

S = THH, THT, TTH, TTT

 X 0 1 2 3
P(X) 1 3 3 1
8 8 8 8

  8
= 1
8
An information officer recorded the number of visitors of
a certain museum for 20 consecutive days. The following
are his observations:
NO. OF 50 30 100 80 60
VISITORS
NO. OF 3 6 2 5 4
DAYS

NO. OF 50 30 100 80 60
VISITORS
SOLUTION  𝟒 𝟐𝟎
NO. OF  𝟑  𝟔  𝟐  𝟓  
DAYS 𝟐𝟎
=1
𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟎
 SOLVING RANDOM VARIABLES
Discrete Random Variable - is a random variable with a
finite number of possible values or an infinite number of
values that can be counted

Example:
The number of pupils, number of pencils, cards in
a standard deck are examples of a discrete
random variable since it can be counted as 0, 1, 2,
3, and so on. It has an infinite number of values
that can be counted.
Given the probability distribution of a discrete random
variable X below, find P(X = 3).

X 1 2 3 4
P(X) 0.10 0.21 ? 0.5

∑P(X) = 1
P(X = 1) + P(X = 2) + P(X = 3) + P(X = 4) = 1
0.10 + 0.21 + ? + 0.5 = 1
0.81 + P(X = 3) = 1
P(X = 3) = 1 - 0.81 = 0.19
Find P(X ≥ 20) in the given probability distribution of a
discrete random variable X.
X 13 18 20 24 27
P(X) 0.22 0.25 ? 0.17 0.16

P(X = 13) + P(X = 18) + P(X = 20) + P(X = 24) + P(X = 27) = 1
0.22 + 0.25 + P(X = 20) + 0.17 + 0.16 =1

0.80 + P(X = 20) = 1

P(X = 20) = 1 - 0.80
P(X = 20) = .20
Given the probability distribution of a discrete random
variable X below, find P(X < 3).

X 1 2 3 4
P(X) 1/10 3/10 2/10 4/10

P(X < 3) = P(X = 1) + P(X = 2)

1
   
3
P(X < 3) = +
10 10
  4   2

P(X < 3) = 10 5