DISCRETE AND

CONTINUOUS RANDOM
VARIABLES BY: Love Vill-Cagay
 WHAT IS A VARIABLE?

A characteristic or attribute that can assume different

values.

Variables that are associated with probabilities

RANDOM VARIABLES
 RANDOM VARIABLE
Is a function that associates a real number to each
element in the sample space.
 It is a variable whose values are determined by
chance.
 DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE

A random variable that can take on a finite (or

countably infinite) number of distinct values

Examples:
1. number of heads obtained when tossing a coin
thrice.
2. The number of siblings a person has
3. The number of student’s present in a classroom at a
given time.
 CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLE
A random variable that can take an infinitely
uncountable number of possible values, typically
measurable quantities.
Examples:
1. Time of person can hold/his breathe
2. The height or weight of a person
3. The body temperature
EXAMPLE:
EXPERIMENT RANDOM POSSIBLE
VARIABLE X VALUES OF X
1. Flipping a pair
No. of heads in 4 flips of
of coin 0, 1, 2
a coin.
2. Set of integers
Integers from 2 to 6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Real numbers from 2 to

3. Set of real numbers 2 ≤ X ≤ 6, x ∈R
6
4. Life span of your Time until your iPhone
0≤X≤ ∞
iPhone battery. battery become defective
EXAMPLE:
EXPERIMENT RANDOM POSSIBLE
VARIABLE X VALUES OF X
1. Flipping a pair
No. of heads in 4 flips of
of coin 0, 1, 2
a coin.
2. Set of integers
Integers from 2 to 6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Real numbers from 2 to

3. Set of real numbers 2 ≤ X ≤ 6, x ∈R
6
4. Life span of your Time until your iPhone
0≤X≤ ∞
iPhone battery. battery become defective
EXAMPLE:
EXPERIMENT RANDOM POSSIBLE
VARIABLE X VALUES OF X
1. Flipping a pair
No. of heads in 4 flips of
of coin 0, 1, 2
a coin.
2. Set of integers
Integers from 2 to 6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Real numbers from 2 to

3. Set of real numbers 2 ≤ X ≤ 6, x ∈R
6
4. Life span of your Time until your iPhone
0≤X≤ ∞
iPhone battery. battery become defective
 LET’S TRY!
1. The speed of a tricycle
2. The number of female students
3. The time needed to finish the project
4. The amount of sugar in a cup of coffee
5. The number of defective mobile phones produced
by a manufacturer.
 LET’S TRY!
1. The speed of a tricycle CONTINUOUS
2. The number of female students DISCRETE
3. The time needed to finish the project
CONTINUOUS
4. The amount of sugar in a cup of coffee
CONTINUOS
5. The number of defective mobile phones produced
by a manufacturer. DISCRETE
 ASSESSMENT TIME!
1. Eight students were asked to solve the Rubik’s
cube. The time it took for them to complete the
puzzle is summarized in the table below.

Time Less than 1-2 mins 2-3 mins Greater

(in min) 1 min than 3 mins
No. of
children who
completed
 ASSESSMENT TIME!
2. Suppose a meter-man apprentice was told by
his Superior to measure the voltage of a
certain electric Outlet. The voltage reading
ranges from 118 V ˂ x ˂ 122 V.

3. Average temperature in Baguio City for the

past 5 days.
 ASSESSMENT TIME!
4. Weights of 8 randomly selected Math books.
5. Amount of rainfall (in mm) in different cities in
NCR.
THANK YOU!