Discrete

Probability
Distribution
Probability Distribution
O Also known as PROBABILITY
MASS FUNCTION
O A TABLE that gives a list of
probability values along with
their associated value in the
range of a discrete random
variable
 PROPERTIES OF A
PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION:
O The probability of each value of the
random variable must be between
or equal to 0 and 1. In symbol, we
write it as 𝟎 ≤ 𝑷(𝑬) ≤ 𝟏.
O The sum of the probabilities of all
values of the random variable must
be equal to 1. In symbol, we write it
as σ 𝑷 𝒙 = 𝟏.
 EXPERIMENT 1:

ROLLING A DIE
(Refer to you hand-outs)
 EXPERIMENT 1:
O What is the chance that when
a die is rolled, the number 2
will appear? The number 5?
O How can we show graphically
the probability of the
occurrence of an event?
Possible face of the die No. of times the face
after each roll (x) appeared [(x):n]
1 3
2 7
3 4
4 3
5 2
6 1
The probability mass function for
any random variable is given by:

[(𝐱): 𝐧]
𝑃 𝑥 = 𝑜𝑟
𝑁

𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆
𝑷 𝑿 =
𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆
 STEP 1: Fill in the table.
No. of
[(𝐱): 𝐧]
Outcomes (x) Occurrences 𝑃(𝑥)
[(x):n] 𝑁
𝟑
1 3 0.15
𝟐𝟎
𝟕
2 7 0.35
𝟐𝟎
3 4

4 3

5 2
 STEP 2: To represent the
distribution graphically, we
can use a histogram.

(Refer to the hand-outs and try to graph)

 Experiment 2:
A grade 11 class has 45
students. The following records
shows the typical number of
students who were absent on
a particular school day.
 No. of
Days (x) students P(x)
absent
Monday 12
Tuesday 8
Wednesday 5
Thursday 7
Friday 13
 Experiment 3:
Given a discrete random
variable x that assumes six
values, its probability
distribution is shown below as
follows:
 Complete the table

x 5 7 10 15 30 41
P(x) 0.01 0.04 0.14 0.39 0.18
 Experiment 4:
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.