Chapter 5

Discrete Probability
Distributions

1
Chapter 5 Overview

5-1 Random Variables

5-2 Probability Distributions of a Discrete
Random Variable
5-3 The Binomial Probability Distribution

2
Review: Discrete & Continuous
Determine if the following are discrete or continuous random
variables:
The speed of a race car in mph.
The number of cups of coffee that Mrs. Lowery drinks each day.
The number of people that play the SC Lottery each day.
The weight of a rhinoceros.
The time it takes to complete Mrs. Lowery’s midterm.
The number of math majors at USC.
The blood pressures of patients at Lexington Medical Center.
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
We just created what is called a Discrete
Probability Distribution.
Let’s take a closer look at these discrete
probability distributions.
5-1 Random Variables
A random variable is a variable whose values
are determined by chance.
A discrete probability distribution consists of
the values a random variable can assume and
the corresponding probabilities of the values.
The sum of the probabilities of all events in a
sample space add up to 1. Each probability is
between 0 and 1, inclusively.

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5-2 Probability Distributions of a
Discrete Random Variable

Ex.) 1 – Probability Distributions

Construct a probability distribution for rolling a
single die.

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5-2 Discrete Probability
Distributions
You flip four coins. Let X, the random variable, be the
number of heads on all four coins.

List the sample space for the experiment.

What are the possible values for x?
Is the random variable, x, continuous or discrete?
Construct a probability distribution for this experiment.

Construct a histogram for the probability distribution.

Class Activity
Construct a probability distribution for the
data and draw a histogram for the
following:
The probabilities that a patient will have 0,
1, 2, or 3 medical tests performed on
entering a hospital are 6/15, 5/15, 3/15,
and 1/15 respectively.
Class Activity
Construct a probability distribution for the
data and draw a histogram for the
following:
A box contains 3 $1 bills, 2 $5 bills, 1 $10
bill, and 1 $20 bill.
Probability Distributions
Ex.) 2 – Probability Distributions
Determine whether the following is a
discrete probability distribution:

1. Do all events in the sample space sum to 1?

0.3 + 0.5 + 0.7 + (−0.8) = 0.7 ≠ 1

⇒ Not a probability distribution
2. Is each probability between 0 and 1, inclusively?
No, -0.8 is not between 0 & 1
Not a Probability Distribution
Discrete Probability Distributions
Determine if the following is a probability
distribution (if not, state why).
X 3 6 9 12 15
P(X) 4/9 2/9 1/9 1/9 1/9
Class Activity
Determine if the following is a probability
distribution (if not, state why).
X 20 30 40 50
P(X) 1.1 0.2 0.9 0.3
Discrete Probability Distributions
Below is a probability distribution for the
number of math failures of BC students.
X 0 1 2 3 4
P(X) .41 .38 .08 .02

P(X = 2)
P(X < 2)
P(X ≤ 2)
P(X ≤ 1)
P(X > 2)
P(X = 3 or X = 4)
Mean and Variance of a Discrete
Probability Distribution
Probability distributions may be used to represent
theoretical populations, the counterpart to samples.

We use population parameters (mean, variance, and

standard deviation) to describe these probability
distributions just as we use sample statistics to describe
samples.

Notes
1. is the mean of the sample.
2. s2 and s are the variance and standard deviation of the
sample, respectively.
Mean and Variance of a Discrete
Probability Distribution
3. , s2, and s are called sample statistics.

4. µ (lowercase Greek letter mu) is the mean of the

population.
5. σ 2 (sigma squared) is the variance of the population.

6. σ (lowercase Greek letter sigma) is the standard

deviation of the population.
Mean and Variance of a Discrete
Probability Distribution
7. µ, σ2 and σ are called population parameters. (A
parameter is a constant; σ, σ 2, and σ are typically
unknown values in real statistics problems. About the
only time they are known is in a textbook problem setting
for the purposes of learning and understanding.)
Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation

MEAN: µ = ∑ X ⋅ P ( X )

VARIANCE:
σ = ∑  X ⋅ P ( X )  − µ
2 2 2

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Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
Rounding Rule
The mean, variance, and standard deviation
should be rounded to one more decimal place
than the outcome X.

When fractions are used, they should be reduced

to lowest terms.

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 Ex.) 3 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
Find the mean of the number that appears when
a card is drawn from a standard deck.
Outcome X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
.
Probability P(X) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13

µ = ∑ X ⋅P(X )

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Ex.) 3 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
X P(X) X*P(X)
1 1/13 1/13
2 1/13 2/13
3 1/13 3/13
So our expectation, µ, is the Sum of X*P(X)
4 1/13 4/13
which is:
5 1/13 5/13
91
6 1/13 6/13
µ = =7
7 1/13 7/13 13
8 1/13 8/13
9 1/13 9/13
10 1/13 10/13
11 1/13 11/13
12 1/13 12/13
13 1/13 13/13
Sum of X*P(X) 91/13
Ex.) 4 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
A bank vice president feels that each savings
account holder has on average 3 credit cards.
The following represents the distribution of the
number of credit cards owned. Find the mean
number of credit cards owned. Is the vice
president correct?

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Class Activity
The number of suits sold per day at Suit
World is shown in the probability
distribution below.
X 19 20 21 22 23
P(X) 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1
Find the mean of the distribution.
 Ex.) 5 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
Compute the variance and standard deviation
for the probability distribution in Example 4.
Outcome X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
.
Probability P(X) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13

σ 2 = ∑  X 2 ⋅ P ( X )  − µ 2

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Ex.) 5 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
X X2 P(X) X2*P(X)
1 1 1/13 1/13
2 4 1/13 4/13
3 9 1/13 9/13
So our variance, σ2, is the Sum of
4 16 1/13 16/13
X2*P(X) – µ2 which is:
5 25 1/13 25/13
6 36 1/13 36/13 σ 2 = 63 − 7 2 = 63 − 49 = 14
7 49 1/13 49/13
8 64 1/13 64/13
σ = 14 = 3.74
9 81 1/13 81/13
10 100 1/13 100/13
11 121 1/13 121/13
12 144 1/13 144/13
13 169 1/13 169/13
Sum of X2*P(X) 819/13 = 63
Ex.) 6 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
A bank vice president feels that each savings
account holder has on average 3 credit cards. The
following represents the distribution of the number
of credit cards owned. Find the variance &
standard deviation for the number of credit cards
owned.

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Class Activity
The number of suits sold per day at Suit
World is shown in the probability
distribution below.
X 19 20 21 22 23
P(X) 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1
Find the variance and standard
deviation of the distribution.
Expectation
The expected value,
value or expectation,
expectation of
a discrete random variable of a probability
distribution is the theoretical average of
the variable.
The expected value is, by definition, the
mean of the probability distribution.

E (X ) = µ = ∑ X ⋅P (X )

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Ex.) 7 – Expectation

X 1 2 3 4 5 6
Win $0 $0 $1 $2 $3 $4
P(X) 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6
E (X ) = µ = ∑ X ⋅P (X )

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Ex.) 7 – Mean, Variance, Standard
Deviation, and Expectation
We are interested in winnings, so we need to use ‘Win’ as
our X:
X P(X) X*P(X)
So our expectation, E(x)=µ, is the Sum of
0 1/6 0 X*P(X) which is:
0 1/6 0
1 1/6 1/6 $1.667
2 1/6 2/6
3 1/6 3/6 However, we paid $2 to play the game. So we
4 1/6 4/6
must subtract that from our calculation, and
this will give us the true expectation:
Sum of X*P(X) 10/6 = 1.667
E ( X ) = $1.667 − $2 = −$0.33

Since this value is negative, it is not a fair

game.
Expectation
A box contains ten $1 bills, five $2 bills,
three $5 bills, one $10 bill, and one $100
bill. A person is charged $20 to select
one bill. Find the expected value for this
game. Is this game fair?
5-3 The Binomial Distribution
Many types of probability problems have
only two possible outcomes or they can
be reduced to two outcomes.
Examples include: when a coin is tossed
it can land on heads or tails, when a baby
is born it is either a boy or girl, etc.

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The Binomial Distribution
The binomial experiment is a probability
experiment that satisfies these requirements:
1. Each trial can have only two possible
outcomes—success or failure.
2. There must be a fixed number of trials.
3. The outcomes of each trial must be
independent of each other.
4. The probability of success must remain the
same for each trial.
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The Binomial Distribution
Determine in which of the following situations a binomial
distribution can be applied.
Linda is interested in toilet paper pulling preferences.
She takes a simple random sample of 5 people and asks
each whether they always pull from the top or not. The
probability that a person pulls from the top is 0.53, and
X= the number of people who pull from the top.
I roll a fair, 6-sided die until I get a two. X is the number
of rolls it takes before I obtain a roll of two.
You have a bag containing 4 red chips and 6 white chips
and you draw 4 chips. Let random variable Y be the
number of red chips drawn from the bag out of 4 draws
without replacement.
Class Activity
Which of the following are binomial
distributions? Explain each answer.
Asking 100 students if they ate lunch today.
Asking the students in your class how they got to
school today.
Drawing a club from a deck of cards.
Rolling a die to see the outcome.
Eating 3 different brands of hamburgers to find the
favorite one.
Tossing a coin until you get a head.
Surveying 1000 students to see if they have a dog.
Notation for the Binomial Distribution
p The symbol for the probability of success
q The symbol for the probability of failure
n The number of trials
X The number of successes
Note that X = 0, 1, 2, 3,...,n

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The Binomial Distribution
In a binomial experiment, the probability of
exactly X successes in n trials is

n!
P( X ) = ⋅ p ⋅q
X n− X

( n - X )! X !
or
 n  X n− X
P( X ) =   ⋅ p ⋅ q
 x
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The Binomial Probability
Distribution
Notes
1. n! (“n factorial”) is an abbreviation for the product of the
sequence of integers starting with n and ending with one.
For example, 3! = 3 2 1 = 6 and
5! = 5 4 3 2 1 = 120. There is one special case, 0!,
that is defined to be 1. For more information about
factorial notation, see the Student Solutions Manual.

2. The values for n! and can be readily found using

most scientific calculators.
The Binomial Probability
Distribution
3. The binomial coefficient is equivalent to the number
of combinations nCx , the symbol most likely on your
calculator.

4. See the Student Solutions Manual for general

information on the binomial coefficient.
Ex.) 9 – The Binomial Distribution

n!
P( X ) = ⋅ p X ⋅ q n− X
( n - X )! X !

⋅ (0.03) (1 − 0.03)
6!
P(3) =
3 3

3!3!
= 0.0005

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Ex.) 10 – The Binomial Distribution

n!
P( X ) = ⋅ p X ⋅ q n− X
( n - X )! X !

3
n = 7, p = , X = 0,1,2,3
4

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Ex.) 10 – The Binomial Distribution
3 n!
n = 7, p = , X = 0,1,2,3 P( X ) = ⋅ p X ⋅ q n− X
4 ( n - X )! X !
0 7 1 6
7!  3  1 7!  3  1
P(0) = ⋅    = 0.00006 P(1) = ⋅    = 0.00128
7!0!  4  4 6!1!  4  4
2 5
7!  3   1 
P( 2) = ⋅     = 0.01154
5!2!  4   4 
3 4
7!  3  1
P(3) = ⋅    = 0.05768
4!3!  4  4
P( X ≤ 3) = P (0) + P(1) + P( 2) + P (3)
= 0.00006 + 0.00128 + 0.01154 + 0.05768
= 0.071
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The Binomial Distribution
1. Ryan is taking a twenty question true-
false exam and plans to guess on each
problem. Find the probability that he will
get exactly 16 of the twenty questions
correct.
Class Activity
Stephen is taking a twenty question
multiple choice test. Each question has
5 choices, A,B,C,D or E. Only one of the
five is correct. If Stephen guesses on
every problem, what is the probability
that he will get exactly 8 correct?
The Binomial Distribution
Suppose that 30% of the vehicles in a
mall parking lot belong to employees.
Nine vehicles are chosen at random.
Find the probability that:
Exactly 3 belong to mall employees.
At most 3 belong to mall employees.
At least 7 belong to mall employees.
Class Activity
A survey indicates that 23% of US men select
fishing as their favorite leisure activity.
Is this a binomial distribution?
If you randomly select 5 men, find the probability
that exactly two of the men liked fishing.
Again, if you randomly select 5 men, find the
probability that at least 2 of the men liked fishing.
The Binomial Distribution
The mean, variance, and standard deviation
of a variable that has the binomial distribution
can be found by using the following formulas.

Mean: µ = np
Variance: σ = npq 2

Standard Deviation: σ = npq

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Ex.) 11 – The Binomial Distribution

µ = np = 300(0.03) = 9
σ = npq = 300(0.03)(0.97 ) = 8.73
2

σ = σ = 8.73 = 2.95
2

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The Binomial Distribution
Linda is interested in toilet paper pulling
preferences. She takes a simple random
sample of 5 people and asks each
whether they always pull from the top or
not. The probability that a person pulls
from the top is 0.53, and X= the number of
people who pull from the top. Find the
mean and standard deviation of X.
Class Activity
According to United Mileage Plus Visa, 41% of
passengers say they “put on the earphones” to avoid
being bothered by their seatmates during flights. To
show how important, or not important, the earphones are
to people, consider the variable x to be the number of
people in a sample of 12 who say they “put on the
earphones” to avoid their seatmates. Assume the 41% is
true for the whole population of airline travelers and that
a random sample is selected. Find the mean and
standard deviation of x.