QUARTER 1: WEEK 2

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 LET’S LEARN

This module was designed and written to help you understand in calculating
the mean of a discrete random variable and probability distribution Examples are
discussed in step-by-step procedure to guide you in answering the exercises
provided.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. illustrates the mean of a discrete random variable;
2. calculate the mean of a discrete random variable;
3. interpret the mean of a discrete random variable;
4. solve problems on expected values.

LET’S TRY

Directions: Write the letter of the correct answer that best completes the sentence
or answers the question.

1. Let 𝑋 be the number of typographical errors found per page in certain books. The
table below shows a probability distribution of 𝑋.

𝑋 0 1 2 3 4
𝑃(𝑋) 0.65 0.15 0.10 0.09 0.01
Find the mean of X.

A. 0.56 B. 0.66 C. 0.37 D. 0.72

2. Let 𝑋 be the number of boys in a four-child family. The probability distribution
was presented below.

𝑋 0 1 2 3 4
𝑃(𝑋) 3 5 4 3 1
16 16 16 16 16
What is the expected value of 𝑋?
11 12 15 13
A. B. C. D.
4 5 16 8

3. Five pieces of rolled paper, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are place in the box. If
you pick one and the number is noted, then replaced another. If this experiment
repeated many times, what is the mean of the numbers on the paper?

A. 2.5 B. 3 C. 3.5 D. 1.5

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4. Mike and John are playing a game. Mike roll die and John will guess the number
of dots comes up. John will pay Php30 to make a guess, and if he guesses
correctly, Mike will pay Php500. If John makes 3 guesses, how much money is he
expected?

A. Php53.33 B. Php46.78 C. Php120 D. Php160

5. One thousand raffle tickets are sold at Php50 each. The winning are as follows:
one prize of Php10, 000; two prizes of Php5, 000 and 10 prizes of Php1, 000. What
is the expected net gain if a person buys one ticket?
A. Php20 B. Php15 C. Php20 D. Php25

Lesson
The Mean of Discrete Random
1 Variables

You have learned from your previous mathematics subjects on how to

calculate and describe data for the mean of ungroup data.

The mean for a probability distribution is computed differently from the mean
of frequency distribution. This section explains how these measures as well as how
to interpret the mean of probability distributions.

LET’S RECALL

To understand the mean of the discrete random variable let us consider the
given information below.

Direction: Given the values of the variables X and Y, evaluate the following
summations.
X1 = 2 X2 = 2 X3 = 4 X4 = 1
Y1 = 3 Y2 = 1 Y3 = 1 Y4 = 2
1. ∑4𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖
2. ∑4𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖
3. ∑4𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖𝑌𝑖
4. ∑4𝑖=1(𝑋𝑖 − 𝑌𝑖)
5. ∑4𝑖=1 2𝑋𝑖𝑌𝑖

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 LET’S EXPLORE

The mean of the sample or population was computed by adding the values and
dividing by the total number of values, as shown in these formulas:

(a) for sample mean: (b) for the population mean

Ʃ𝑋 (ƩX)
𝑋̅= ( ) μ=
𝑛 ( N)

where: 𝑋̅ is the sample mean 𝑛 is the sample size

μ is the population mean. N is the number of population

Now, how would you compute the mean of the number of spots that show on
top when a die is rolled? You could try rolling the die, say, 10 times, recording the
number of spots, and finding the mean. However, that value would only approximate
the true mean. How about 50 rolls or 100 rolls? Is there any difference between their
computed values as you increase the number of trials? In fact, the more times the
die is rolled, the better the approximation. You might ask, then, how many times
must the die be rolled to get the exact answer? It must be rolled an infinite number
of times. Since this task is impossible, the previous formulas cannot be used because
the denominators would be infinity. Hence, a new method of computing the mean is
necessary. This method gives the exact theoretical value of the mean as if it were
possible to roll the die an infinite number of times

Activity1 “Rolling a Dice’’

In rolling an unbiased die, what is the average number of spots that would
appear? To answer the given queries, let us follow the following steps:

Step 1: Identify all Step 2: Determine the Step 3: Multiply each value
possible outcomes probability of each time its respective probability
possible outcome

Number of Spots (X) Probability P(X) X∙ P(X)

1 1 1
6 6

2 1 2
6 6

3 1 3
6 6

3
 4 1 4
6 6

5 1 5
6 6

6 1 6
6 6

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Step 4: Find the sum of the products. ƩX ∙ P(X) = = 3.5
6

Step 5: Interpret the result.

The value obtained is called the mean of the random variable X or the mean of
the probability distribution of X. The mean tells us that the average number of spots
that would appear when an unbiased die is rolled is 3.5. This is correct interpretation
even though it is impossible to roll a 3.5 on a 6-sided die. This sort of thing often
occurs with expected values.

LET’S ELABORATE

There are five (5) steps to be followed in computing the mean of the probability
distribution.

Step 1: Identify all possible outcomes.

Step 2: Determine the probability of each possible outcome.

Step 3: Multiply each value and its respective probabilities.

Step 4: Find the sum of their products.

Step 5: Interpret the result.

The formula for finding the mean of a discrete random variables is given by

𝜇= P(X1) + X2 ∙ P(X2) + X3 ∙ P(X)3 +…. +Xn ∙ P(Xn)

𝜇= ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 ∙ P(X)

where X1, X2, X3, . . ., Xn are the possible outcomes and

P(X1), P(X2), P (X3) …, P(Xn) are the corresponding probabilities.

The given examples below will lead you to answer the exercises as followed

Example 1

Complete the table below and find the mean of the following probability
distribution. Find the mean of the given probability distribution.

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 X P (X)
3
0
10
3
1
10
2
3
10
1
5
10
1
7
10

Solution

X P (X) X∙ P (X)
3
0 0
10
3 3
1
10 10
2 6
3
10 10
1 5
5
10 10
1 7
7
10 10

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X ∙ P(X) = 10 = 2.10

Example 2: “The 2014 Philippine Census on the Size of the Households”

The table below showed a number of households in a certain community and

their corresponding probabilities. Compute for the mean.

Size of Household 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Probability 24.5% 32.8% 10.2% 7.5% 8.75% 7.25% 9%

Solution
We can find the mean of the given probability distribution by multiplying 𝑋
and its corresponding 𝑃(𝑋) and add their products. We have

X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

P(X) 0.2450 0.3280 0.1020 0.0750 0.0875 0.0725 0.0900 X·P(X)

=3.0095

X ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) 0.2450 0.6560 0.3060 0.3000 0.4375 0.4350 0.6300

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Interpretation:
The computed mean is 3.0095 and we only consider  = 3 since we refer to a
number of people. Hence, in the Philippines we expect an average of 3 households.

Example 3

Puerto vegetable stand has determined that in crates of tomatoes, 15% carry
no rotten tomatoes, 35% carry one rotten tomato, 25% carry two rotten tomatoes,
20% carry three rotten tomatoes and 5% carry four rotten tomatoes. Find the mean
number of rotten tomatoes in the crates.

Solution

Another way to solve the mean of the probability distribution is to use the
formula:

∑4𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 • P(X)= X1•P(X1) + X2•P(X2)+ X3•P(X3)+ X4•P(X4)

= 0(0.15) + 1 (0.35) + 2 (0.25) + 3 (0.20) + 4 (0.05)

= 1. 65

Interpret the result

The mean of the probability distribution is 1.65. This implies that the average
number of rotten tomatoes in Puerto vegetable stand is 1.65 or approximately 2.

Example 4
In a game of tossing two coins, you will receive Php50 it two tails appear.
Otherwise, you pay Php15. Is this game fair? Why?

Solution
Let 𝑋 be the random variable for the gain in this game. The probability
distribution is shown below.

X 50 -15
1 3
P(X=x)
4 4

The table shows that a gain of Php50 (denoted by 50) is a winning amount
when exactly two tails appear in tossing two coins, while a loss of Php15 (denoted by
-15) when getting at most 1 tail. The expected value is
2

𝐸[𝑋] = ∑ 𝑋𝑖 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋𝑖 ) = 𝑋1 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋1 ) + 𝑋2 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋2 )

𝑖=1

1 3
= 50 ( ) + (−15)( )
4 4

= 1.25
Thus, this game is not fair because the expected value of the gain is 1.25
and not zero (Note that the game is fair if the expected value of the gain or loss

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equal to zero). It means that if you play this game several times, the average gain is
Php1.25

LET’S DIG IN

1. Complete the table below and find the mean of the following probability
distribution.

X P (X) X∙ P (X)
0 0.17
1 0.34
2 0.24
3 0.20
4 0.05

2. A traffic engineer is interested in the number of vehicles reaching a particular

crossroads during periods of relatively low traffic low. The engineer finds that the
number of vehicles X reaching the crossroads per minute governed by the probability
distribution, calculate the mean.

X 0 1 2 3 4

P(X) 0.37 0.39 0.19 0.04 0.01

X ∙P(X)

3. In a family with two children, find the mean of the number of children who will
be boys. Use the formula.

4. The Math Club organized a fund-raising activity for the support of the students
who cannot avail cellphone for the online class. They sell 500 raffle tickets worth
Php50 each. The sole lucky winner of this raffle will receive a cash of Php1000.
What is your expected net gain if you buy one raffle ticket?

LET’S REMEMBER

In computing the mean of the discrete random variable, we should follow the
5 steps, namely, (1) identifying all possible outcomes, (2) determining the
probability for each possible outcome, (3) computing the product of the random

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variable and its corresponding probabilities, (4) getting the sum of all the products,
and (5) interpreting the results.

We use the formula below to compute the mean of the discrete random
variable:

𝜇= ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 ∙ P(X)

LET’S APPLY

A. Complete the table below and find the mean of the following probability
distribution.

1.

P (X) X∙ P (X)
X
1
0
5
1
1
5
1
2
5
1
3
5
1
4
5

2.
X P X) X∙ P (X)
0.20
1
0.25
2
0.15
3
0.10
4
0.30
5

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B. Solve the following problem.
1. Find the mean of the probability distribution of the random variable X, which
2 3 1
can take only the values 2, 3, 4, 5, given that P(2) = , P(3)= , P(4) = , and
7 7 7
1
P(5) =
7

2. Find the mean of the probability distribution of the random variable X if P(X)
1
= , for X = 1, 2, 3,….8.
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3. A coin is tossed four times, let X is a random variable which represent number
of tails. Calculate the µ using the formula.

LET’S EVALUATE

Directions: Write the letter of the correct answer that best answers the question.
1. Let 𝑋 be the number of encoding errors a student makes on a given page. The
table below shows a probability distribution of 𝑋.

𝑋 0 1 2 3 4
𝑃(𝑋) 0.55 0.25 0.08 0.10 0.02
What is the mean of the probability distribution?

A. 0.59 B. 0.63 C. 0.79 D. 0.81

2. The table below is the discrete probability distribution of X for the number of
laptops sell for a day.

𝑋 0 1 2 3 4 5
𝑃(𝑋) 0.15 0.25 0.05 0.20 0.10 0.25
What is the expected value of X?

A. 2.4 B. 2.6 C. 2.75 D. 1.9

3. Find the mean of the probability distribution of the random variable X, which can
1 1 1 1
take only the values 1, 3, 5, 7, given that 𝑃(1) = , 𝑃(3) = , 𝑃(5) = , and 𝑃(7) = .
4 8 2 8

A. 3.0 B. 3.5 C. 3.75 D. 4.0

4. A company organized a fund-raising program for the benefit of families in a

certain barangay who affected in a pandemic. Five hundred raffle tickets are sold at
Php100 each. The prizes are as follows: Php15, 000; Php10, 000 and Php5, 000.
What is the expected net gain if a person buys one ticket?
A. Php30.45 B. Php35.62 C. Php40.40 D. Php54.70

5. Mike and John are playing a game. Mike roll die and John will guess the number
of dots comes up. John will pay Php50 to make a guess, and if he guesses

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correctly, Mike will pay Php400. If John makes 6 guesses, how much money is he
expected?
A. Php50 B. Php100 C. Php120 D. Php60

LET’S EXTEND

Solve the following problems.

1. A bakeshop owner determines the number of boxes of hopia that are delivered
each day. Find the mean of the probability distribution shown.

Number of Boxes (X) Probability P (X)

35 0.10
36 0.20
37 0.30
38 0.30
39 0.10

2. The probabilities that a surgeon operates on 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 patients in any day

are 0.10, 0.20, 0.15, 0.30 and 0.25, respectively. Find the mean of the probability
distribution using the formula.

3. Suppose your wallet contains ten P20 bills, five P50 bills, three P100 bills, one
P500 bill, and one P1000 bill. Find the µ of this distribution and interpret the result.

References
Bluman, AG. (2012). “Elementary Statistics: A step by Step Approach’’, 8th ed. New
York: McGraw Hill
McCune, A. (2010) “Statistics: Practice Makes Perfect. United States’’, The McGraw-
Hill Companies, Inc
Mercado del Rosario, A.C. (2010) “Basic Statistics with Probability’’, 3rd ed.
Philippines: Del Ros Publishing House.
Belecina, R.R, Baccay, E.S, Matoe, E.B. (2016) “Statistics and Probability’’, 1st ed.
Philippines: Rex Bookstore, Inc.
Phoenix Publishing House (2016) “Soaring 21st Century Mathematics: Statistics
and Probability’’, Philippines: Phoenix Publishing House.

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 Development Team of the Module

Writer: AMIE D. CANDELARIA

Editors:
CONTENT EVALUATORS: LAMBERT QUESADA

LANGUAGE EVALUATOR: AILEEN GENOSO

Reviewers: MRS. MIRASOL I. RONGAVILLA

ARMANDO V. EROLIN
Illustrators:

Layout Artist: JASPER AGUILAR

Management Team: DR. MARGARITO B. MATERUM, SDS

DR. GEORGE P. TIZON, SGOD-Chief
DR. ELLERY G. QUINTIA, CID Chief
MRS. MIRASOL I. RONGAVILLA, EPS - MATH
DR. DAISY L. MATAAC, EPS – LRMS/ ALS

For inquiries, please write or call:

Schools Division of Taguig city and Pateros Upper Bicutan Taguig City

Telefax: 8384251

Email Address: [email protected]

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