Chapter 3

Discrete Random Variables

and Probability Distributions

3.3 Expected Values

Definition
Let X be a discrete rv with set of possible values D
and pmf p (x). The expected value or mean value of
X, denoted by E(X) or X or just , is
E(X) = X =

Exercise 1:
Find the expected value for a Bernoulli rv with p as
its parameter.
Exercise 2:
The number of buses I take to get to work is a
random variable with the following distribution:
x
0
1
2
3
4
p(x) 0.01 0.80 0.15 0.03 0.01
Find E(X).
3

The expected Value of a Function

If the rv X has a set of possible values D and pmf
p(x), then the expected value of any function h (X),
denoted by E [h (X)] or h(X), is computed by
E[h(X)] = h(X) =
Exercise 3:
Refer to Exercise 2. Let Y = 5X+2. Find E(Y).

Rules of Expected Value

E(b) = b
E(aX) = aE(X)
Hence, E(aX+b) = aE(X)+b
Exercise 4:
Verify the rules above using the random variable in
Exercise 3.

The Variance of X
Definition
Let X have pmf p (x) and expected value . Then the
2
2
variance of X, denoted by V(X) or X , or just , is
V(X) = X2 =

= E[(X - )2]

The standard deviation (SD) of X is

X =

Note:
An easier formula to compute the variance of X is:
X2 =

- 2 = E(X)2 -[E(X)]2

Exercise 5:
Find the variance for the random variable in Exercise
2.

Rules of Variance:
V(a) = 0
2 2
V(bX) = b , bX = |b|
V(a+bX) = b22, a+bX = |b|
Exercise 6:
Find the variance for the random variable in Exercise
3.