Week2 Random Variables
Week2 Random Variables
RANDOM VARIABLES
AND
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
Discrete Continuous
Random Random
Variable Variable
Variable
- is a symbol (A, B, x, y, etc.) that can take on any of a
specified set of values.
A random variable (also called stochastic variable) is a rule
that assigns a numerical value or characteristic to an
outcome of an experiment.
Examples:
Tossing a coin
Rolling a die
Drawing a card from a standard deck of cards
Picking a ball from a box of 20 balls
Examples:
Getting a head when a coin is tossed
Getting an even number when a die is rolled
Getting a heart face card in a standard deck of cards
Getting a white ball from a box of 20 balls
It is a random variable that can take only countable or finite
number of values. It can be obtained through the process
of counting.
H HHH 0
T HHT 1
H
H 1
HTH
T
T HTT 2
H THH 1
H THT 2
T T
TTH 2
H
T TTT 3
T
SAMPLE SPACE: S = {HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, TTH, THT, HTT, TTT} RANGE SPACE: T = {0, 1, 2, 3}
A pair of dice is thrown, and the random
variable Y is defined such that Y gives the
sum of the two numbers that appear.
Determine the following:
A. range space
B. Y(3,2)
C. Y(4,6)
D. Y(1,3)
+ 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
A. Range Space =
B. Y(3,2) =
C. Y(4,6) =
D. Y(1,3) =
A card is drawn from a deck of 20
cards (i.e., all cards numbered 1 to 5 in
a standard deck) and the random
variable W gives the number on the
card. Find the possible values for the
given random variable.
o also known as probability mass
function
Outcome
Number of
Y
(number of tails) 0 1 2 3
tails (Y)
𝟏 𝟑 𝟑 𝟏
HHH 0 P(Y)
𝟖 𝟖 𝟖 𝟖
HHT 1
P(Y)
HTH 1
What can you observe?
THH 1 0.5
HTT 2
0.4
THT 2
TTH 2 0.3
TTT 3
0.2
0.1
0 Y
0 1 2 3
Construct the Probability Mass Function and Histogram.
Y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
P(Y) 1/36 2/36 3/36 4/36 5/36 6/36 5/36 4/36 3/36 2/36 1/36
0.0278 0.0556 0.0833 0.1111 0.1389 0.1667 0.1389 0.1111 0.0833 0.0556 0.0278
Y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
P(Y) 1/36 2/36 3/36 4/36 5/36 6/36 5/36 4/36 3/36 2/36 1/36
0.0278 0.0556 0.0833 0.1111 0.1389 0.1667 0.1389 0.1111 0.0833 0.0556 0.0278
Construct the Probability Mass Function and Histogram.
W 1 2 3 4 5
P(Y) 4/20 4/20 4/20 4/20 4/20
0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20
ACTIVITY
to distinguish a discrete and continuous random
variable.
4. The following are the COVID-19 active cases of Angeles City, Pampanga last July
16, 2022. If X is the random variable to represent, construct the a) probability
mass function, and b) histogram. (6 points)
X 1 2 3 4 7 12