K TO 12 BASIC

EDUCATION
CURRICULUM SENIOR
HIGH SCHOOL CORE
SUBJECT
STATISTICS
AND
PROBABILIT
Y
RANDOM VARIABLES AND
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
Topic Outline

1. Discrete and Continuous Random

Variables
2. Probability Distribution of a Discrete
Random Variable
3. Mean and Variance of a Discrete
Random Variable
4. Probability Distribution of a
Continuous Random Variable
RANDOM VARIABLES
Random Variable
A variable whose values are determined by
chance.
A function whose value is a real number
determined by each sample point in the
sample space.
An uppercase letter, say X, will be used
to denote a random variable and its
corresponding lower case letter, x in this
case, will be used to denote one of its
values.
DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS
RANDOM VARIABLES
Discrete Random Variable
have a finite number of possible
values or an infinite number of values
that can be counted

Continuous Random Variable

can assume all values in the interval
between any two given values
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLES-
EXAMPLE
An experiment consists of tossing a
coin 3 times and observing the result.
The possible outcomes and the values
of the random variables X and Y, where
X is the number of heads and Y is the
number of heads minus the number of
tails are
Outcom HH
HHT HTH HTT THH THT TTH TTT
e H

x 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 0
y 3 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 -3
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLES-
EXAMPLE
For a family with 4 children, determine
the values of the discrete variable X,
where X is the number of girls. What
are the possible values of the random
variable X?
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
A discrete probability distribution
consists of the values of a discrete
random variable can assume and the
corresponding probabilities of the
values. The probabilities are
determined theoretically or by
observation.
Also called the probability mass
function (PMF)
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
It can be represented by a table.

x x1 x2 xn
P(X) P(x1) P(x2) P(xn)

Where P(X)=P(X=x)
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
Construct a discrete probability
distribution for the random variables X
and Y, where X is the number of heads
and Y is the number of heads minus the
number of tails are in the experiment of
tossing a coin 3 times and observing
Outcome HHH HHT HTH HTT THH THT TTH TTT
the result.
x 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 0
y 3 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 -3
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
Outcome HHH HHT HTH HTT THH THT TTH TTT
x 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 0
y 3 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 -3

Discrete Probability Distributions

X 0 1 3 4
P(X) 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8

Y -3 -1 1 3
P(Y) 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
Construct a probability distribution for
the variable X, where X is the number
of girls for a family with 4 children.
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
Two Requirements for a
Discrete Probability Distribution

1. The sum of the probabilities of all the

events must be equal to 1. P(X)=1.
2. The probability of each event must be
a value from 0 to 1. 0P(X)1
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
A discrete probability distribution can
also represented by a formula for a
function f(x) where f(x)=P(X=x)
Example:
f(X)=1/X, where X=2,3,6
X 2 3 6

P(X) 1/2 1/3 1/6

DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS
Determine whether each of the following
is a
probability distribution.
1. P(X)=X for X=0.2, 0.3, 0.5
2. P(X)=x+0.1 for X=0.1, 0.02, 0.04
3. P(X)= X/7 for X=1,2,4
4. P(X)=X/(X+2) for X=0,1,2
MEAN AND VARIANCE OF A
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
The mean of a random variable with a
discrete probability distribution given by

=X1P(X1)+ X2P(X2)+ X3P(X3)+

+XnP(Xn)
=XP(X)

where X1, X2, X3,, Xn are the outcomes

and P(X1), P(X2), P(X3),, P(Xn) are the
corresponding probabilities
MEAN AND VARIANCE OF A
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
The variance of a random variable with a
discrete probability distribution is

2= (X2P(X))-2

where X1, X2, X3,, Xn are the outcomes

and P(X1), P(X2), P(X3),, P(Xn) are the
corresponding probabilities.
MEAN AND VARIANCE OF A
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
1. Compute the mean, variance, and
standard deviation for the random
variable X and Y (example under
probability distributions).
2. Compute the mean, variance, and
standard deviation for the number of
girls in a family of 4 children.
CONTINUOUS PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
Definition: The function with values f(x)
is called a probability density function
for the continuous random variable X, if
1) total area under its curve and above
the horizontal axis is equal to 1; and
2) the area under the curve between any
two ordinates x=a and x=b gives the
probability that X lies between a and b
CONTINUOUS PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
CONTINUOUS PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
Remarks:
1. A continuous random variable has a
probability of zero of assuming any of
its values, that is, if X is a continuous
random variable, the P(X=x)=0 for all
real numbers x.
2. The probability density function
cannot be represented in a tabular
form.
CONTINUOUS PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
A continuous random variable X that can assume
values between 0 and 2 has a density function
given by 0.5 for 0 x 2
f ( x)
0 otherwise

Find the following probabilities

1. P(1<X<2)
2. P(X>1.5)
3. P(X<0.75)
4. P(X=0.75)
5. P(X0.75)
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
Topic Outline

1. Properties of the Normal Random

Variable
2. The Standard Normal Random
Variable
3. Application of the Normal Distribution
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
A continuous random variable X is said
to be normally distributed if its
probability density function is given by:
2
1 x )
1
2

y f ( x) e
2

for -<x< and for constants and ,

where -<<, >0 and e2.71828
and 3.14159.
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
Notation: If X follows the above
distribution, we write X~N(, 2).
If X~ N(, 2), then E(X)= and Var(X)=
2.
The graph of the normal distribution is
called the normal curve.
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
Properties
1. The curve is bell-shaped and symmetric
about a vertical axis through the mean .

2. The normal curve approaches the

horizontal axis asymptotically as we proceed
in either direction away from the mean.

3. The total area under the curve and above

the horizontal axis is equal to 1.
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

N(0,1) N(2,1)
N(-2,2)

N(0,2)
THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
THE STANDARD NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION
The distribution of a normal random
variable with mean zero and standard
deviation equal to 1 is called a standard
normal distribution, denoted as
Z~N(0,1)
FIND THE AREA OR PROBABILITY UNDER THE STANDARD NORMAL CURVE

For the standard

normal
distribution, we
have tables of
probabilities
already made for
us!

If Z follows N(0,1):

P(Z < -1.00) =

 STANDARD NORMAL TABLE

If Z has N(0,1):

P(Z > 1.46)

= 1 - P(Z <
1.46)
= 1 - 0.9279
= 0.0721

What if we need to do a probability

calculation for a non-standard Normal
distribution?
 STANDARDIZATION

If we only have a standard normal table,

then we need to transform our non-
standard normal distribution into a
standard one
This process is called standardization

0
STANDARD NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION
If X~ N(, 2), then X can be transformed into a
standard normal random variable through the
following transformation.
X
Z

Hence, whenever X is between the values x 1 and x2,
the random variable Z will fall between the
corresponding values x1 and x2
z1 z2

Thus, P ( x1 X x2 ) P( z1 Z z 2 )
APPLICATIONS OF THE
STANDARD NORMAL
DISTRIBUTION
The standard normal curve can be
used to solve a wide variety of
practical problems.
EXAMPLE
A reader of a column in a newspaper wrote to the columnist:

Dear Abby,
You wrote in your column that a woman is pregnant for 266
days. Who said so? I carried my baby for 10 months and 5
days. My husband is in the Navy and it could not have been
conceived any other time because I only saw him once for
an hour, and I didnt see him again until the day after the
baby was born. I dont drink or run around, and there is no
way the baby isnt his, so please print a retraction about the
266-day carrying time because I am in a lot of trouble!

-San Diego Reader

EXAMPLE
According to well-documented data,
gestation time follows a normal distribution
with mean of 266 days and SD of 16

Let X = gestation time. What percent of babies

have gestation time greater than 310 days (10
months & 5 days) ?
Need to convert X = 310 into standard Z

Z = (X-)/ = (310-266)/16 = 44/16 = 2.75

 EXAMPLE

P(X > 310)

= P(Z > 2.75)
= 1 - P(Z < 2.75)
= 1 - 0.9970
= 0.0030

So, only a 0.3%

chance of a
pregnancy lasting
as long as 310 days!
EXAMPLE
The amount of growth, in a 15-day period, for a
population of sunflower plants was found to follow a
normal distribution with mean 3.18 cm and standard
deviation 0.53 cm. What percentage of plants grow
(a) 4 cm or more?

(b) 3 cm or less?

(c) between 2.5 and 3.5 cm?

(d) what is the 25th percentile?
SAMPLING DISTRIBUTIONS