RANDOM VARIABLE

AND PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
ALFREDO M. GRINO
SUBJECT TEACHER
Lessons Outline

 Lesson 1 – The Concept of Random Variables mankind.”

Lesson 2 – Probability Distribution of
Discrete Random Variables
Lesson 3 – Solving for the Mean, Variance, and
Standard Deviation of Discrete
Probability Distributions
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
 MODULE 1: LESSON
1

The Concept of
Random Variables
- NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
LESSON 1
 The Concept of Random
Variables
Variable Random Variable
written in small written in capital letter
letter
give value to equations a random variable could
like 𝑥 + 2 = 9 be 𝑋 = the number of dots
facing up after rolling a
- NEIL ARMSTRONG die

MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 The Concept of Random
Variables
A random variable is a variable whose value is
unknown or a function that assigns values to each
of an experiment's outcomes.
A random variable may also be used to quantify
unquantifiable processes. For example, in the
random variable 𝑌 = sex of college student
applicants.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES: MALE OR FEMALE
CHARACTERISTIC: CATEGORICAL (NON-NUMERICAL)
MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 Examples of Random Variables
 Number of defective cell phones produced in a
manufacturing factory daily
 Amount of paint needed to repaint a room
 Amount of time needed to walk from home to
school
 Gender of students taking up BS Criminology
 -Height of applicants for the Miss Universe
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pageant
MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 The Concept of Random
Variables
Random Variables

DISCRETE CONTINUOUS
RANDOM VARIABLE RANDOM VARIABLE

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 DISCRETE CONTINUOUS
RANDOM VARIABLE RANDOM VARIABLE

Finite or countable infinite or noncountable

number of values number of values

its values are obtained its values are obtained

through counting through measurement

Examples: Examples:
 number of rotten bananas in a bunch of bananas,  growth of tomato seedlings per week,
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 number of honorARMSTRONG
students in a class, and  time needed to finish an exam, and
 number of tiles needed to cover a floor.  weight of pigs after 3 months

MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 ACTIVITY Instruction: Classify the following random
1: variables as DISCRETE or CONTINUOUS.
1.Length of a cell phone charger.
2. Number of gadgets in a household.
3. Count of words encoded per minute.
4. Amount of water consumed per day
5. Sum of burgers sold in a day
6. Amount of time needed to boil a liquid
7. Number
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ARMSTRONG
8. Daily count of visitors in a mall
MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 ACTIVITY Instruction: Classify the following random
1: variables as DISCRETE or CONTINUOUS.
9. Distance between two barangays
10.Total area of a rice field
11.Growth of a child per year
12.Temperature needed to bake bread
13.Number of babies born per day
14.Yearly death due to cancer
15.Number
- NEIL of mistakes in a test
ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 ACTIVITY Instruction: Classify the following random
1: variables as DISCRETE or CONTINUOUS.
1.Length of a cell phone charger. CONTINUOUS
2. Number of gadgets in a household. DISCRETE
3. Count of words encoded per minute. DISCRETE
4. Amount of water consumed per day
CONTINUOUS
5. Sum of burgers sold in a day DISCRETE
6. Amount of time
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needed to boil a liquid
CONTINUOUS
7. Number
MODULE 1: LESSON of channels in a cable TV DISCRETE
1
 ACTIVITY Instruction: Classify the following random
1: variables as DISCRETE or CONTINUOUS.
9. Distance between two barangays CONTINUOUS
10.Total area of a rice field CONTINUOUS
11.Growth of a child per year CONTINUOUS
12.Temperature needed to bake bread
CONTINUOUS
13.Number of babies born per day DISCRETE
14.Yearly death due to cancer DISCRETE
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
15.Number of mistakes in a test DISCRETE
MODULE 1: LESSON
1
 MODULE 1: LESSON
2
Probability Distribution of
Discrete Random Variables

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

LESSON 2
 Probability Distribution of
Discrete Random Variables

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
2
 EXAMPLE
1: Suppose you are to test three random eggplants from a harvest to see if there are
worms in it. You want to find out the number of eggplants attacked by worms. Use W
to represent if there is a worm attack in an eggplant and N if there is none.

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

LESSON 2
 EXAMPLE
2:
Suppose we toss two coins and So the total number of outcomes
want to count the total number of for two tosses is 2 × 2 = 4;
outcomes. they are HH, HT, TH, and TT.
The toss of the first coin has two
possible outcomes: heads (H) or
tails (T). The toss of the second coin
also has two possible outcomes.
The two outcomes for the first coin
can occur with either of the two
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outcomes for the second coin.

LESSON 2
 EXAMPLE
3:
If we toss three coins,
we have a total of 2 × 2
× 2 = 8 possible
outcomes:
HHH, HHT, HTH,
HTT, THH, THT, TTH,
and TTT.

LESSON 2
 ACTIVITY
2:

Suppose we toss four coins

and want to count the total
number of outcomes.
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LESSON 2
 Construct the probability
Looking distribution
back at example 1:

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LESSON 2
 Construct the probability
Looking distribution
back at example 1:

A histogram is like a bar

- NEIL ARMSTRONG graph but has no spaces in
between the bars.
LESSON 2
 In activity
2:

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

LESSON 2
 Consider the given histogram. Answer the
questions below.
1. What is the probability of getting more than
1/16
3 heads?
2. What is the probability of getting less than
2 heads?
3. What is the probability of getting at least
3 heads?

4. What is the probability of getting at most 1 head?

5. What is the probability of getting all heads?
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
6. What is the probability of getting no heads?

LESSON 2
 Consider the given histogram. Answer the
questions below.
1. What is the probability of getting more than
1/16
3 heads?
2. What is the probability of getting less than
5/16
2 heads?
3. What is the probability of getting at least
3 heads?

4. What is the probability of getting at most 1 head?

5. What is the probability of getting all heads?
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
6. What is the probability of getting no heads?

LESSON 2
 Consider the given histogram. Answer the
questions below.
1. What is the probability of getting more than
1/16
3 heads?
2. What is the probability of getting less than
5/16
2 heads?
3. What is the probability of getting at least 5/16
3 heads?

4. What is the probability of getting at most 1 head?

5. What is the probability of getting all heads?
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
6. What is the probability of getting no heads?

LESSON 2
 Consider the given histogram. Answer the
questions below.
1. What is the probability of getting more than
1/16
3 heads?
2. What is the probability of getting less than
5/16
2 heads?
3. What is the probability of getting at least 5/16
3 heads?

4. What is the probability of getting at most 1 head?5/16

5. What is the probability of getting all heads?
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
6. What is the probability of getting no heads?

LESSON 2
 Consider the given histogram. Answer the
questions below.
1. What is the probability of getting more than
1/16
3 heads?
2. What is the probability of getting less than
5/16
2 heads?
3. What is the probability of getting at least 5/16
3 heads?

4. What is the probability of getting at most 1 head?5/16

5. What is the probability of getting all heads? 1/16
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
6. What is the probability of getting no heads?

LESSON 2
 Consider the given histogram. Answer the
questions below.
1. What is the probability of getting more than
1/16
3 heads?
2. What is the probability of getting less than
5/16
2 heads?
3. What is the probability of getting at least 5/16
3 heads?

4. What is the probability of getting at most 1 head?5/16

5. What is the probability of getting all heads? 1/16
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
6. What is the probability of getting no heads? 1/16

LESSON 2
 MODULE 1: LESSON
3
Solving for the Mean, Variance, and
Standard Deviation of Discrete
Probability Distributions

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
 MEAN
The mean is the average of all possible outcomes. It is
otherwise referred to as the “expected value” of a probability
distribution. When we say expected value, it means that if we
repeat any given experiment infinite times, the theoretical
mean would be the “expected value”.

For instance, the mean of rolling a die is theoretically 3.5.

You- will never roll
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a 3.5 no matter how many times you roll
the die because there’s only 3 and 4.
MODULE 1: LESSON
 The variance and standard deviation are
measures of spread or variability.

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
 The variance and standard deviation are
measures of spread or variability.

The first graph you see on the The data in the second graph is more
top has values that are more “closely/tightly” packed together
- NEIL ARMSTRONG
“scattered” than second graph. compared to the first one.
MODULE 1: LESSON
 FORMUL
A:The symbol for mean is the Greek letter 𝜇 (read as “ myu”),
variance 𝜎2(read as sigma squared) and standard
deviation 𝜎(read as sigma) .
To solve for the mean and variance, all we have to do is add
up all the entries of the respective column.
mean 𝜇 = ∑ 𝑋 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)
variance 𝜎2= ∑(𝑋 − 𝜇) 2 . 𝑃(𝑋)
Standard deviation 𝜎=

MODULE 1: LESSON
Note: ∑ (read as summation)
 - NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
 Example 1:
In a 5-item test, the probabilities that a student gets
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 mistakes are 3/20, 5/20, 7/20, 3/20,
1/20, and 1/20, respectively. What is the average
number of mistakes that a student makes in this class?
What is the variance and standard deviation of this
discrete probability distribution?

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋)
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85
MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋) Subtract the computed mean from the value of the random variable.
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85 Since the computed mean is 1.85 then, 0− 1.85 = -1.85

MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋) To find the value of the entry to this column, simply square the
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85 value that you obtained in column 4. So, (-1.85)2 = 3.4225
MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋) Lastly, multiply the value you obtained in column 5 back to the
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85 probability in column 2. So, 3.4225 × 3/20 = 0.513375
MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋) 𝜎2= ∑(𝑋 − 𝜇) 2 . 𝑃(𝑋)
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85 𝜎2= 1.6275
MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋) 𝜎2= ∑(𝑋 − 𝜇) 2 . 𝑃(𝑋) 𝜎=
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85 𝜎2= 1.6275 𝜎 = 1.2757
MODULE 1: LESSON
 Construct a
Table

𝜇 -=NEIL
∑ 𝑋 ARMSTRONG
∙ 𝑃(𝑋) 𝜎2= ∑(𝑋 − 𝜇) 2 . 𝑃(𝑋) 𝜎=
𝜇 = 37/20=1.85 𝜎2= 1.6275
MODULE 1: LESSON
𝜎 = 1.2757