Discrete Uniform Distribution

In probability theory and statistics, the discrete uniform distribution is a

symmetric probability distribution whereby a finite number of values are equally
likely to be observed; every one of n values has equal probability 1/n. Another way of
saying "discrete uniform distribution" would be "a known, finite number of outcomes
equally likely to happen".

Definition

The discrete uniform distribution itself is inherently non-parametric. It is

convenient, however, to represent its values generally by all integers in an interval
[𝑎, 𝑏], so that a and b become the main parameters of the distribution (often one
simply considers the interval [1, 𝑛]with the single parameter n). With these
conventions, the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the discrete uniform
distribution can be expressed, for any k ∈ [𝑎, 𝑏], as

[𝑘]−𝑎+1
𝐹(𝑘; 𝑎, 𝑏) = 𝑏−𝑎+1

Example

Fix a real number 𝑝 with 0 < 𝑝 < 1. Now let 𝑋 be the discrete random variable
with probability function 𝑝𝑥(𝑥)𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦

𝑝(1 − 𝑝) 𝑥
𝑝𝑥(𝑥) = Pr(𝑋 = 𝑥) = { } 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 = 0, 1, 2, ⋯,
0

We will confirm that 𝑝𝑋(𝑥) has the two requisite properties of a probability
function. First, we have 𝑝𝑋(𝑥) ≥ 0, since 𝑝 > 0 and 1 − 𝑝 > 0. Second, we will have

∑ 𝑝𝑋(𝑥) = 𝑝 + 𝑝(1 − 𝑝) + 𝑝(1 − 𝑝)2 + ⋯

= 𝑝(1 + (1 − 𝑝)+(1 − 𝑝)2 + ⋯ )

1
= 𝑝( )
1 − (1 − 𝑝

=1
Exercises 1.

A telephone number is selected at random from a directory. Suppose 𝑋 denote

the last digit of selected telephone number. Find the probability that the last digit of
the selected number is.

a. 6

b. less than 3

c. greater than or equal to 8

Exercise 2.

Roll a six faced fair die. Suppose 𝑋 denote the number appear on the top of a
die.

a. Find the probability that an even number appear on the top.

b. Find the probability that the number appear on the top is less than.
c. Compute mean and variance of 𝑋.