A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D.

CELL 0783235483

DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLES

SYLLABUS OBJECTIVES (6046)

 define a random variable

 construct a probability distribution table
 define expectation
 calculate mean, variance and standard deviation

A. RANDOM VARIABLES
 A variable is a characteristic or attribute that can assume different values.
 A random variable is a variable whose values are determined by chance /
depend on a random event.
 For example the outcomes of rolling a die can assume the values 1,2,3,4,5 or 6
 Capital letters such as X, Y , Z etc can be used to represent random variables.
 For a random variable X, x is a particular value of X and for Y, y is a
particular value of Y.
 If a random variable can only take certain numerical values it is called a
discrete random variable.
EXAMPLES
1. Three coins are tossed and the number of times a head appears is noted.
What are the possible values X can take?
SOLUTION
All three can be Heads ie HHH and this is 3 heads or we can have 2 Heads
and a Tail or 1 head and two tails or 0 heads and three Tails.
x = 0 ; 1 ; 2 or 3
2. A die numbered 1 to 6 is rolled and the number it shows is noted. Letting Y
be the outcome of rolling a die. What are the possible values of Y.
SOLUTION
y = 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 or 6
B. PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
 A probability distribution consists of the values a random variable can assume
and the corresponding probabilities of the values.
 The distribution will show x values and P(X = x)
EXAMPLES
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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

1. Three coins are tossed and the number of times a head appears is noted.
Write down the probability distribution of X.
SOLUTION
Let X be the number of times a head can appear. The possible sample space
and the corresponding number of heads is :
HHH; HHT; HTH; THH; TTT; TTH; THT; HTT
3; 2; 2; 2; 0; 1; 1; 1
X can take the values 0; 1; 2; or 3
P(X= 0) = ; P(X=1) = ; P(X=2) = ; P(X=3) =
The probability distribution table is:
x 0 1 2 3
P(X = x)

2. A die numbered 1 to 6 is rolled and the number it shows is noted. Letting Y

be the outcome of rolling a die. What are the possible values of Y.
SOLUTION
Y can take the values 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 or 6 all with equal probabilities of
The probability distribution table is:
y 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(Y = x)

 A discrete random variable can also be specified as a function. For example

a) P(X = x) = for x = 1,2,3,4,5,6 when probabilities are the same as in
example 2

b) P(X = x) = when probabilities are not the same as in

example 1

 The sum of all probabilities of x should be equal to 1 ie = 1 for

all x values.
EXAMPLE
1.A discrete random variable has the following distribution.
x 1 2 3 4
P(X = x)

Find the value of k.

SOLUTION
Remember for all x values

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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

+ =1

=
2. The discrete random variable X has a probability function

P(X = x) = where k is a constant.

Find the value of k.

Solution
+ +

C. PROBABILITIES OF X
 We can calculate probability of X less than or greater a particular value or X
lies between some particular values using a probability distribution table.
EXAMPLE
1. A discrete random variable X has the probability distribution
x 1 2 3 4
P(X = x) 0,4 0,2 0,1 0,3

Find a) P(X>2) b) P(X c) P(X<3) d) P(1<X<4)

Solutions
a) P(X>2) = P(X=3) +P(X=4) = 0,1+0,3= 0,4
b) P(X = P(X=3)+P(X=2) +P(X=1) = 0,1+0,2+0,4= 0,7
c) P(X<3) = P(X=2) +P(X=1) = 0,2+0,3 = 0,5
d) P(1<X<4) = P(X=2)+P(X=3) = 0,2+0,1 = 0,3
D. CUMMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION
 If a particular value of X is x, the probability of X is less than or equal to x is
written F(x).
 F(x) is found by adding together all the probabilities of those outcomes that
are less than or equal to x. F(x) = P(X )
 The cumulative distribution unction can also be written as a table.
EXAMPLE
The probability distribution for a discrete random variable X is:
x 0 1 2 3
P(X = x)

Find the cumulative distribution F(x)

Solution
F(0) = F(1) = F(2) = F(3) =

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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

x 0 1 2 3
F(x)

2. A discrete random variable has a cumulative table below

x 1 2 3 4 5 6
F(x) 0,1 0,2 0,45 0,5 0,9 1
Draw up a probability distribution of X.
Solution
P(X=1) = F(1) = 0,1
P(X=2) = F(2) – F(1) = 0,1
P(X=3) =F(3) − F(2)=0,25 x 1 2 3 4 5 6
F(x) 0,1 0,1 0,25 0,05 0,4 0,1
P(X=4) = F(4) −F(3)=0,05
P(X=5) = F(5)− F(4) = 0,4
P(X=6) = F(6) − F(5) =0,1

E. EXPECTATION OF X
 The expected value of the discrete random variable X is denoted E(X ) and
defined as E(X ) = ΣxP(X = x).
 It is a value that we expect our average to get close to as the number of
observations increase.
 It is a theoretical quantity and is sometimes referred to as the mean
EXAMPLE
1.A discrete random variable has the following distribution.
x 1 2 3 4
P(X = x)

Find the value of the expected value of X E(X)

Solution
E(X ) = ΣxP(X = x).
= 1×
=
= 2,25
F. EXPECTATION OF X2
 Any function of a random variable is also a random variable.
 If X is a discrete random variable, then X 2 is also a discrete random variable.
 The expected value of X 2 can also be found using the formula
E(X 2 ) = Σ x2 P(X = x).

EXAMPLE

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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

1.A discrete random variable has the following distribution.

x 1 2 3 4
P(X = x)

Find the value of the expected value of X2 E(X2)

Solution
E(X2 ) = Σx2P(X = x).
= 1×
=
= 6,42
G. VARIANCE
 Variance of a discrete distribution is written Var(X).
 Variance is sometimes denoted by
 Var(X) = E(X2) –
EXAMPLE
.A discrete random variable has the following distribution.

x 1 2 3 4
P(X = x)

Find the value of the variance of X , Var(X)

Solution
E(X ) = and E(X2 ).= from previous examples
Var(X) = E(X2) –
Var(X) =
Var(X) =
= 1,35 to 3 s.f

H. STANDARD DEVIATION
 Standard deviation of a discrete random variable X is denoted by and is the
square root of the variance.
 To calculate standard deviation, calculate variance of X and then find its
square root.

I. EXPECTED VALUE AND VARIANCE OF ANY FUNCTION OF X

 If X is a discrete random variable, and g is a function, then g(X ) is also a
discrete random variable.

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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

 You can calculate the expected value of g(X ) using the formula:
E(g(X )) = Σ g(x)P(X = x)
 If X is a random variable and a and b are constants, then
E(aX + b) = aE(X ) + b
 If X and Y are random variables, then E(X + Y ) = E(X ) + E(Y )
 If X is a random variable and a and b are constants then
Var(aX + b) = a2 Var(X )
 If X and Y are random variables, then Var(X + Y ) = Var(X ) + Var(Y )
 If X and Y are random variables, then E(aX + bY ) = a2Var(X ) + b2Var(Y )
EXAMPLES
1..A discrete random variable has the following distribution.

x 1 2 3 4
P(X = x)

It is given that Y X and Z X

a) Write down the probability distribution of Y and Z
b) Find E(Y) and Var(Y)
c) E(Z) and Var(Z)
d E Y Z)
Solution
a)
x 1 2 3 4
y 3 5 7 9
P(X = x)

x 1 2 3 4
z 1 -1 -3 -5
P(X = x)

b) E(X) = 1×
=
=2,25
2
E(X ) = 1×
=
= 6,42
Var(X) = E(X2) –
Var(X) =
Var(X) =
= 1,35
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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

b) E(Y) = E(2X+1) Var(Y) = Var(2X+1)

= 2E(X) + 1 = 22Var(X)
=2 +1 =4
= =
= 5,5 = 5,4

c) E(Z) = E(-2X+3) Var(Z) = Var(-2X+3)

E X 2Var(X)

+3 =4
= =
5 = 5,4

d) E Y Z Var Y Z
= 2E(Y) –E(Z) = 22Var(Y)+Var(Z)
= 2(5 5 5 =4 +
= 11+1,5
=12,5 =
= 27,08

REVISION QUESTIONS

1. A tetrahedral die has the numbers 1;2;3 and 4 on its sides. Find the probability
distribution of X the number on which the die lands on a single roll.
2. Two coins are tossed and the number of times a head appears is noted. Write
down the probability distribution of X the number of times a head appears.
3. Two spinners with numbers 1 ; 2 ; 3 on each are spun and the sum of the numbers
from each spinner is noted. Write down the probability distribution of X the sum
of the scores from each spinner.
4. The random variable X has a probability distribution as shown in the table.
x 1 2 3 4 5
P(X= x) 0,1 p 0,3 q 0,2
a) Given that E(X ) = 3, write down two equations involving p and q.
b) Find the value of p and the value of q.
5. The discrete random variable X has probability function

P(X = x) = 5 where a and b are a constants

Fnd a) The value of a and b

b) E(X) and Var(X).

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A LEVEL STATISTICS(6046) TEACHING NOTES COMPILED BY MANYUVIRE D. CELL 0783235483

6. The random variable X has E(X ) = 3 and E(X 2) = 10. Find:

a) E(2X ) b) E(3 − 4X ) c) E(X2 − 4X ) d) Var(X ) e) Var(3X + 2)
7. Given that E(X) = 2; Var(X) = 32 ; E(Y) = 3 and Var(Y) = 8; Find
a) E(3X−Y) b) Var(2X−3Y)

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