Probability

Distribution
LESSON 3
 It is a function or rule that assigns
the value of a random variable to
the probability associate with these
values. The probability that the
random variable X will equal x as
Probability P(X=x) or simple P(x), where the
Distribution uppercase letter denote by X
represents the name of the random
variable. The lowercase
counterpart represents the value of
the random variable.
Methods of Presenting
Probability Distribution
 Consider the random experiment of tossing 2 coins. Let
Example 1 X be the number of tails, then construct the probability
distribution of X.

Coin 1 – can fall 2 ways

Coin 2 – can fall 2 ways
Tabular
Thus,
Graphical
2(2) = 4
possible outcomes Formula
 Consider the random experiment of tossing 2 coins. Let
Example 1 X be the number of tails, then construct the probability
distribution of X.

TABULAR
Using the tree diagram, we H – HH P(X = 0) = P(HH) =
can list all these 4 outcomes: P(X =1) = P(HT) + P(TH)
H
T – HT = +
S = {HH, HT, TH, TT} =
H – TH
Let X – be the number of P(X = 2) = P(TT) =
tails T

x = {0, 1, 2} T – TT
 Consider the random experiment of tossing 2 coins. Let
Example 1 X be the number of tails, then construct the probability
distribution of X.

TABULAR
Therefore, the probability distribution of X is the table given below.

Number of Tails,
0 1 2
x

P(X=x) = P(x) = f(x)

 Consider the random experiment of tossing 2 coins. Let
Example 1 X be the number of tails, then construct the probability
distribution of X.

GRAPHICAL
Probability Distribution of X
 Consider the random experiment of tossing 2 coins. Let
Example 1 X be the number of tails, then construct the probability
distribution of X.

FORMULA
P(X=x) = P(x) =

Where X = 0, 1, 2

P(X = 0) =
P(X = 1) =
 Consider the random experiment of rolling 2 dice and
Example 2 construct the probability distribution of Y where Y is the
sum of the outcomes.

TABULAR
The sample space S contains the following outcomes
S = {(1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4),(1,5),(1,6),
(2,1),(2,2),(2,3),(2,4),(2,5),(2,6),
(3,1),(3,2),(3,3),(3,4),(3,5),(3,6),
(4,1),(4,2),(4,3),(4,4),(4,5),(4,6),
(5,1),(5,2),(5,3),(5,4),(5,5),(5,6),
(6,1),(6,2),(6,3),(6,4),(6,5),(6,6),
 Consider the random experiment of rolling 2 dice and
Example 2 construct the probability distribution of Y where Y is the
sum of the outcomes.

TABULAR
Thus, Y = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.

y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

P(Y = y)
 Consider the random experiment of rolling 2 dice and
Example 2 construct the probability distribution of Y where Y is the
sum of the outcomes.

GRAPHICAL
Since every outcome has
probability of in rolling a die,
therefore f(x) =
Remarks

Different values of a random variable

represent mutually exclusive events.

The sum of the probabilities of all

the values of a random variable is
equal to 1.
 A discrete random
Discrete variable for probability
Probability values can be derived by
means of probability tools
Distribution by applying one of the
definitions of probability.
 Discrete
Probability Distribution
The requirements for a distribution of a discrete random variable are as follows:

For any discrete probability distribution, it must be true that

1. P(X = x) = f(x), that is, the probability can be expressed as f(x).

2. 0 ≤ f(x) ≤ 1 for every value of x, that is, the probability of a particular

outcome is between 0 and 1, inclusive.
3. where x assumes all possible values, that is the sum of the probabilities of
all mutually exclusive outcomes is 1.
 A pair of coin is tossed once. If random variable W
represents the number of heads that fall in this experiment,
Example 1 first, list down the elements of the sample space then
identify the values of W.
W P(W = w)
Sample Space W
0
HH 2
HT 1 1
TH 1
TT 0 2

W = no. of heads = {0,1,2}

 Let X be a random variable giving the number of heads
Example 2 multiplied with the number of tails in three tosses of a coin.
Find the probability distribution for random variable X.

Sample Space W x P(X = x)

HHH 0
HTT 2
THT 2 0
TTH 2
HHT 2
THH 2 2
TTT 0
HTH 2

X = no. of heads multiplied with the

number of tails = {0, 2}
 The number of patients seen in the emergency
Example 3 room in any given hour is a random variable
represented by x. The probability distribution for
x is:
x 10 11 12 13 14
P(X=x) 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1

Find the probability that in a given hour:

a. Exactly 14 patients arrive
P(X = 14) = 0.1
b. Atleast 12 patients arrive
P(X ≥ 12) = 0.4
c. At most 11 patients arrive
P(X ≤ 11) = 0.6
Describing the
Population
or
Probability
Distribution
FORMULAS Population Mean:

Population Variance:

Population Standard Deviation:

FORMULAS
Population Mean:
If the probability
distribution of the
random variable is
given, then we may Population Variance:
ought to use the next
set of formulas

Population Standard Deviation:

 For a random experiment of tossing 2 coins, find
Example 1 the expected number of heads.

Solution
x P(X=x)
Let X be the number of heads in
0
the outcome and the probability
distribution is shown in the table
1
below.

2
 For a random experiment of tossing 2 coins, find
Example 1 the expected number of heads.

Solution
𝒏
x P(X=x)
𝝁 𝑿 = 𝑬 ( 𝒙 ) =∑ 𝒙 𝒊 ∙ 𝑷 ( 𝑿 =𝒙 𝒊)
0 𝒊=𝟏

1 =1

2 Therefore, the expected number of heads in

tossing 2 coins is 1.
 For a random experiment of tossing 2 coins, find
Example 1 the

Solution
𝝈 𝒙 =𝑽𝒂𝒓 ( 𝒙 ) =𝑬 ( 𝒙 ) −[ 𝑬 ( 𝒙 ) ]
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
x P(X=x)

0
=
=
1

2
 For a random experiment of tossing 2 coins, find
Example 1 the .

Solution
𝝈 𝒙 =𝑽𝒂𝒓 ( 𝒙 ) =𝑬 ( 𝒙 ) −[ 𝑬 ( 𝒙 ) ]
𝟐
𝝈 𝒙 =√ 𝝈
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙

=
 The Mean and Variance of a Discrete Random Variables

Let x be a discrete random variable with probability distribution f(x).

Mean/Expected Value:

*It is the value that you would expect to observe on the average if the experiment is
repeated over and over again.
Variance:
Example 2
The car sales agent of a car company is assigned at the largest mall of a city. He usually sells
the largest numbers of cars during weekends, particularly on Saturdays. The following
probability distribution shown that follows is the number of cars he expects to sell on a
particular Saturdays.
No. of Cars Sold,
0 1 2 3 4
x
4P(X=x) 0.10 0.20 0.35 0.30 0.05

a. On a typical Saturday, how many cars does a sales agent expect to sell?
Answer:
*On a typical Saturday, a car sales agent can expect to sell on the
average, 2 cars.
Example 2
The car sales agent of a car company is assigned at the largest mall of a city. He usually sells
the largest numbers of cars during weekends, particularly on Saturdays. The following
probability distribution shown that follows is the number of cars he expects to sell on a
particular Saturdays.
No. of Cars Sold,
0 1 2 3 4
x
4P(X=x) 0.10 0.20 0.35 0.30 0.05

b. What is the variance of the probability distribution?

Answer: