Statistics and
Probability
(Week 2, Day 3-4)
Variance and Standard
Deviation of Discrete
Random Variables
Learning Competencies
At the end of this session, the students are able to:
1. illustrate the variance and standard deviation of a discrete
random variable;
2. calculate the variance and standard deviation of a discrete
random variable;
3. interpret the variance and standard deviation of a discrete
random variable; and
4. solve problems involving variance and standard deviation of
probability distributions.
Recall
Two fair dice are thrown simultaneously. Let the random
variable as the sum of the spots in throwing the two fair
dice simultaneously. Find the mean of .
https://c.tenor.com/
R8irsWesoJ8AAAAi/dice.gif
Recall
Two fair dice are thrown simultaneously. Let the random
variable as the sum of the spots in throwing the two fair
dice simultaneously. Find the mean of .
• We already have the probability distribution of from the previous
lesson.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟓 𝟏 𝟓 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝟑𝟔 𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟐 𝟗 𝟑𝟔 𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟗 𝟏𝟐 𝟏𝟖 𝟑𝟔
Recall
• Compute the mean of .
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟓 𝟏 𝟓 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝟑𝟔 𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟐 𝟗 𝟑𝟔 𝟔 𝟑𝟔 𝟗 𝟏𝟐 𝟏𝟖 𝟑𝟔
𝜇=∑ 𝑥∙𝑃(𝑥)
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4
𝜇=¿ 2∙ 36 +3 ∙ 36 +4 ∙ 36 +5∙ 36 +6 ∙ 36 +7 ∙ 36 +8 ∙ 36 +9 ∙ 36
( ) ( ) ( )
3 2 1
+10 ∙ 36 +11 ∙ 36 +12 ∙ 36
2 +6 +12 +20 +30 + 42 + 40 +36 +30 +22 +12 252
𝜇=¿ 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 𝜇=¿ 36 𝜇=¿7
Recall
Two fair dice are thrown simultaneously. Let the random
variable as the sum of the spots in throwing the two fair
dice simultaneously. Find the mean of .
Therefore, the mean of is 7.
For a probability distribution, the mean of the random
variable describes the measure of the so-called long-run
or theoretical average, but it does not tell anything about
the spread of the distribution. To study the variation of
the outcomes, the variance and standard deviation of the
random variable of a probability distribution can be used.
Variance of a Discrete Random Variable
The variance of a discrete random variable is
Subtract the theoretical mean of the random variable
from each outcome and square the difference. Then
multiply each difference by its corresponding
probability and add the products (Bluman, 2009).
Standard Deviation of a Discrete R. V.
The standard deviation of a discrete random variable
is
and of a Discrete Random Variable
ROUNDING RULE: The variance, and
standard deviation should be rounded to
one more decimal place than the outcome .
When fractions are used, they should be
reduced to lowest terms (Bluman, 2009).
and of a Discrete Random Variable
ROUNDING RULE: When variance and
standard deviation problems involve
money, it is customary to round the answer
to the nearest cent (Bluman, 2009).
Example 1
Two coins are tossed. Let be the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur. Find the variance and standard
deviation of the random variable .
Example 1
Two coins are tossed. Let be the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur. Find the variance and standard
deviation of the random variable .
• We already have the probability distribution and the mean of from
the previous lessons.
0
𝟏
𝟒
𝜇=¿ 1
𝟏
1
𝟐
𝟏
2
𝟒
Example 1
Two coins are tossed. Let be the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur. Find the variance and standard
deviation of the random variable .
• Find the variance of .
𝜎 =∑ ( 𝑧−𝜇) ∙𝑃(𝑧)
2 2
𝟏
() ()
0
2 2 1 2 1 𝟒
𝜎 =¿ ( 0 −1 ) ∙ + ( 1− 1 ) ∙ 𝟏
4 2 1
𝟐
( )
𝟏
2 1 2
+ ( 2 −1 ) ∙ 𝟒
4
𝜇=¿ 1
Example 1
Two coins are tossed. Let be the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur. Find the variance and standard
deviation of the random variable .
• Find the variance of .
2
𝜎 =¿ ( 0 −1 ) ∙ ()
2 1
4 ()
+ ( 1− 1 ) ∙
2 1
2 ( )
2 1
+ ( 2 −1 ) ∙
4
2
𝜎 =¿ ( −1 ) 2
∙() () ()
1
4
+( 0 )
2
∙
1
2
2
+( 1 ) ∙
1
4
𝜎 =¿ 1
2
∙
1
4 ( ) ( ) 1( )
+0 ∙
1
2
+1 ∙
1
4
1 +1 2 1
2
𝜎 =¿ 4 +0 4 2
𝜎 =¿ 4 2
𝜎 =¿ 2 𝜎 2=¿ 0.5
2
Example 1
Two coins are tossed. Let be the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur. Find the variance and standard
deviation of the random variable .
• Find the standard deviation of .
𝜎 2=¿ 0.5
𝜎 =√ 𝜎
2
𝜎=¿ √ 0.5
𝜎=¿ 0.7071067812 𝜎 ≈ 0.7
Example 1
Two coins are tossed. Let be the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur. Find the variance and standard
deviation of the random variable .
1
Hence, the variance of is or
2 0.5
square units, and
the standard deviation of is 0.7 units.
Example 2
Consider . Compute the variance and standard deviation of 𝑋.
Example 2
Consider . Compute the variance and standard deviation of 𝑋.
• We already have the mean of from the previous lesson.
𝜇≈ 3.3
Example 2
Consider . Compute the variance and standard deviation of 𝑋.
• Compute the variance of . 𝜇≈ 3.3
𝜎 =∑ ( 𝑥−𝜇) ∙𝑓 (𝑥)
2 2
𝜎 2=¿ ( 1− 3.3 )2∙ 𝑓 (1)+ ( 2 −3.3 )2∙ 𝑓 (2)+ ( 3 −3.3 )2∙ 𝑓 (3)+ ( 4 −3.3 )2∙ 𝑓 (4)
Example 2
Consider . Compute the variance and standard deviation of 𝑋.
• Compute the variance of .
2
𝜎 =¿ ( 1− 3.3 ) 2
∙ 𝑓 (1) + ( 2 −3.3 ) 2
∙ 𝑓 (2)+ ( 3 −3.3 ) 2
∙ 𝑓 (3) + ( 4 −3.3 ) 2
∙ 𝑓 (4)
2
𝜎 =¿ ( 1− 3.3 ) [
2∙ 1
30
2
]
( 1 ) + ( 2 −3.3 ) ∙
2
[1
30
2
]
( 2 ) + ( 3 −3.3 ) ∙
2 1
30[( 3 )2 ]
+ ( 4 −3.3 ) [ ) ]
1 2
2∙ (4
30
Example 2
• Compute the variance of .
2
𝜎 =¿ ( 1− 3.3 ) [ ]
2∙ 1
30 [ ]
( 1 )2 + ( 2 −3.3 )2∙
1
30
( 2 )2 + ( 3 −3.3 )2∙
1
30 [
( 3 )2 ]
+ ( 4 −3.3 ) [ ( ) ]
2∙ 1 2
4
30
𝜎 =¿ ( −2.3 ) [ ]+( −1.3 ) [ ]+( −0.3 ) [ ] [ ]
2 2∙ 1 2∙ 1 2∙ 1 2 1
(1) ( 4) ( 9) + ( 0.7 ) ∙ (16)
30 30 30 30
𝜎 =¿ 5.29 ∙ ( 30 )+1.69 ( )+0.09 ∙ ( 30 ) +0.49 ∙ ( 30 )
1 4 9 16
2 ∙
30
5.29 +6.76 + 0.81 +7.84 20.7
2
𝜎 =¿ 30 30 30 30 2
𝜎 =¿ 30 𝜎 2=¿ 0.69 𝜎 2 ≈ 0.7
Example 2
Consider . Compute the variance and standard deviation of 𝑋.
• Compute the standard deviation of .
𝜎 2 ≈ 0.7
𝜎 =√ 𝜎
2
𝜎=¿ √ 0.7
𝜎=¿ 0.8366600265 𝜎 ≈ 0.8
Example 2
Consider . Compute the variance and standard deviation of 𝑋.
Therefore, the variance of is 0.7 units2, and the
standard deviation of is 0.8 units.
Example 3
The number of televisions per household in a small town is
shown below. Find the variance and standard deviation of the
number of televisions per household.
Televisions 0 1 2 3
Households 26 442 728 1404
Example 3
The number of televisions per household in a small town is
shown below. Find the variance and standard deviation of the
number of televisions per household.
Televisions 0 1 2 3
Households 26 442 728 1404
• Let be the number of televisions per household. We already have
the probability distribution and the mean of from the previous
lesson.
0 1 2 3
𝟐𝟔
¿
𝟏 𝟒𝟒𝟐 𝟏𝟕 𝟕𝟐𝟖 𝟕 𝟏𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝟐𝟕
¿ ¿ ¿ 𝜇≈ 2.4
𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟓𝟎
Example 3
The number of televisions per household in a small town is
shown below. Find the variance and standard deviation of the
number of televisions per household.
Televisions 0 1 2 3
Households 26 442 728 1404
• Find the variance of . 𝜇≈ 2.4
𝜎 =∑ ( 𝑦−𝜇) ∙𝑃(𝑦)
2 2 0 1 2 3
𝟐𝟔 𝟏 𝟒𝟒𝟐 𝟏𝟕 𝟕𝟐𝟖 𝟕 𝟏𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝟐𝟕
¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝟓𝟎
2 2
𝜎 =¿ ( 0 − 2.4 ) ∙( )
26
2600 ( )
2
+ ( 1− 2.4 ) ∙
442
2600
2
+ ( 2 −2.4 ) ∙ ( )
728
2600
2
+ ( 3 −2.4 ) ∙( )
1404
2600
Example 3
• Find the variance of .
2
( )
2
𝜎 =¿ ( 0 − 2.4 ) ∙ ( )
26
2600 ( ) ( ) 2
+ ( 1− 2.4 ) ∙
442
2600
2
+ ( 2 −2.4 ) ∙
728
2600
2
+ ( 3 −2.4 ) ∙
1404
2600
2 2
( )
𝜎 =¿ ( −2.4 ) ∙ ( )
26
2600 ( ) ( )
+ ( −1.4 ) ∙
2 442
2600
+ ( −0.4 ) ∙
2 728
2600
+ ( 0.6 ) ∙
2 1404
2600
𝜎 =¿ 5.76 ∙
2
( ) ( ) ( ) 63 ( )
26
2600
+1.96 ∙ 442
2600
+0.16 ∙ 728
2600
+0.36 ∙ 1404
2600
2 149.76 +866.32 +116.48 +505.44 1638 63
𝜎 =¿ 2600 2600 2600 2600
2
𝜎 =¿ 2600 2
𝜎 =¿ 100
100
𝜎 2=¿ 0.63 𝜎 2 ≈ 0.6
Example 3
The number of televisions per household in a small town is
shown below. Find the variance and standard deviation of the
number of televisions per household.
Televisions 0 1 2 3
Households 26 442 728 1404
• Find the standard deviation of .
𝜎 2 ≈ 0.6
𝜎 =√ 𝜎
2
𝜎=¿ √ 0.6
𝜎=¿ 0.7745966692 𝜎 ≈ 0.8
Example 3
The number of televisions per household in a small town is
shown below. Find the variance and standard deviation of the
number of televisions per household.
Televisions 0 1 2 3
Households 26 442 728 1404
Thus, the variance is 0.6 square televisions per
household, and the standard deviation is 0.8
televisions per household.
Example 4
At a raffle, 1500 tickets are sold at P20 for four prizes of P5000,
P2500, P1500, and P750. You buy one ticket. What is the
variance and standard deviation of the gain/loss?
Example 4
At a raffle, 1500 tickets are sold at P20 for four prizes of P5000,
P2500, P1500, and P750. You buy one ticket. What is the
variance and standard deviation of the gain/loss?
• Let be the gain/loss for each prize in pesos. We already have the
probability distribution and the expected value of from the previous
lesson.
4980 2480 1480 730 -20
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏𝟒𝟗𝟔
𝐸( 𝑋 )=¿ −13.5
𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎
Example 4
• Find the variance of .
4980 2480 1480 730 -20
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏𝟒𝟗𝟔 𝐸( 𝑋 )=¿ −13.5
𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝟏 𝟓𝟎𝟎
𝜎 =∑ ( 𝑥− 𝐸(𝑋)) ∙𝑃(𝑥)
2 2
𝜎 =¿ ( 4980 − −13.5 )
2 ( ) ∙
2 1
( )
150 0
+ ( 2480 − − 13.5 )
( ) 2
∙( ) 1
150 0
+ ( 1480 − −13.5 ) ∙
( ) 2
( )
1
150 0
+ ( 730 − −13.5 )
( ) 2
∙( )1
150 0
+ ( −20 − −13.5 ) ∙
( ) 2
( )
1496
150 0
Example 4
• Find the variance of .
𝜎 =¿ ( 4980 − ( −13.5 ) ) ∙
2
( )
2 1
150 0 ( )
2
+ ( 2480 − ( − 13.5 ) ) ∙
1
150 0
+ ( 1480 − ( −13.5 ) ) ∙( )
2 1
150 0 ( )
2
+ ( 730 − ( −13.5 ) ) ∙
1
150 0
+ ( −20 − −13.5 )
( ) ( )
2
∙
1496
150 0
( )
𝜎 2=¿ ( 4993.5 )2 ∙
1
150 0
2
( )
+ ( 2493.5 ) ∙
1
150 0 ( )
2
+ ( 1493.5 ) ∙
1
150 0 ( )
2
+ ( 743.5 ) ∙
1
150 0
2
+ ( −6.5 ) ∙
( )1496
150 0
𝜎 2=¿ 22666.0833 𝜎 2 ≈ 22666.08
Example 4
At a raffle, 1500 tickets are sold at P20 for four prizes of P5000,
P2500, P1500, and P750. You buy one ticket. What is the
variance and standard deviation of the gain/loss?
• Find the standard deviation of .
𝜎 2 ≈ 22666.08
𝜎 =√ 𝜎
2
𝜎=¿ √ 22666.08
𝜎=¿ 150.5525822 𝜎 ≈ 150.55
Example 4
At a raffle, 1500 tickets are sold at P20 for four prizes of P5000,
P2500, P1500, and P750. You buy one ticket. What is the
variance and standard deviation of the gain/loss?
Therefore, the variance is 22,666.08 pesos2, and the
standard deviation is P150.55.
Exercise 1
The table below is a probability distribution of a discrete random
variable . Find the variance and standard deviation.
