Mean of a Random Variables

Random variables are a process for choosing a random number.

The Mean of a random variables weight each outcome 𝑥𝑖 according to its

probability, 𝑝𝑖 . The common symbol for the mean (also known as the expected value
of 𝑋) is 𝜇 for formally defined by:

𝜇𝑥 = 𝑥1 𝑝1 + 𝑥2 𝑝2 + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑘 𝑝𝑘

= ∑ 𝑥𝑖 𝑝𝑖

Mean or Expected Value: 𝜇

When we know the probability p of every x we can calculate the Expected

value(mean) of X.

𝜇= ∑ 𝑥𝑝

Note:

∑ is Sigma Notation, and means to sum up.

Example 1.

Tossing a single unfair die.

For fun, imagine a weighted die (cheating!) so we have these probabilities

1 2 3 4 5 6
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5
To calculate the Expected Value:

 Multiply each value by its probability

 Sum them up
𝑥 1 2 3 4 5 6
𝑝 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5
𝑥𝑝 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 3
 𝜇 = 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 + 0.5 + 3

𝜇 = 4.5

Note: this is a weighted mean: values with higher probability have higher
contribution to the mean.

Example 2.

In a recent tittle league softball game, each player went to bat 4 times. The
number of hits made by each player is described by the following probability
distribution,

Number of hits, x Probability, P(x)

0 0.10

1 0.20

2 0.30

3 0.25

4 0.15

Solution:

The mean of the probability distribution is 2.15, as defined by the following

equation.

𝐸(𝑋) = 0 ∗ 0.10 + 1 ∗ 0.20 + 2 ∗ 0.30 + 3 ∗ 0.25 + 4 ∗ 0.15 = 2.15

Exercises 1.

A roulette wheel consists of 18 black slots, 18/38 red slots and green slots. If
a gambler bets 10 USB on red what is the gambler expected gain or loss?
Exercise 2.

Suppose that 15 people, chosen at random from a target population, are asked
if they are in favour of a certain proposal. If 43.75% of the target population are in
favour the proposal, calculate the probability that at least 5 of the 15 polled favour
the proposal.