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=1
Histogram is also using in probability mass function in which the horizontal
axis represents the values of the random variable X and the verticle axis
gives the corresponding probabilities, P(X).
Example
Below is the related histogram of the random variable X (showing a
head after tossing four coins.)
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
1 2 3 4 5
Example
A card is drawn from a deck of 20 cards (i.e., all the cards
numbered 1 to 5 in a standard deck) and the random variable W
gives the number on the card. Construct the probability mass
function and its corresponding histogram.
Solution:
The range space is the set (1,2,3,4,5).
P(W= 1) = 4 = 1 =0.2
20 5
P(W= 2) = 4 = 1 =0.2 NUMBERS OF 0 1 2 3 4
20 5 HEADS (X)
P(W= 3) = 4 = 1 =0.2 Probability 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
20 5 (P(X)
P(W= 4) = 4 = 1 =0.2
20 5
P(W= 5) = 4 = 1 =0.2
20 5
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
1 2 3 4 5
The mean u of a discrete random variable is the central value or
average of its corresponding probability mass function.
= ()
=1
Where Xi is the ith outcome and P(Xi) is the probability of the ith
outcome.
Mean
For a discrete random variable, denoted as u, may be
computed similarly with the way a weighted average for requency
distrubution is computed, i.e., you take the summation of all the
products of a particular value or outcome xi and its corresponding
probability Pi.
Example
find the mean of the probability distribution involving the random
variable X that gives the number of heads that appear after
tossing four coins.
NUMBERS OF 0 1 2 3 4
HEADS (X)
Probability (P(X) 0.0625 0.25 0.375 0.25 0.0625
Solutions
Identify the individual products of each outcome and their
corresponding probability, and then, determine the summation.
=
=1
= 1 (1) + 2 (2)+ 3 3 + 4 4 + 5 (5)
=(0)(0.0625)+(1)(0.25)+(2)(0.375)+(3)(0.25)+(4)(0.0625)
=0+0.25+0.75+025
=2
=
=1
2
=
=1
The following steps will simplify the process of
computing the variance and standard deviation:
1.Compute the mean value of the random
variable.
2.Subtract each value from the mean and square
the differences.
3.Multiply the squared differences by the
corresponding probabilities.
4.Add all the products. This gives the variance of
the probability distribution.
Example
4
2
2 =
=1
2 = 9 0.25 + 1 0.25 + 1 0.25 + 9 0.25
2 = 5
= 5 2.24
Random variable also known as expectation or
payoff value, is the mean of the probability
distribution of the given random variable.
E(X)= =1
( )
Example
A card is drawn at random from a deck of cards consisting of cards
numbered 1 through 5. A player wins P100 if the number on the
card is even and loses P100 if the number on the card is odd. What
is the expected value of his winnings?
X 100 -100