Name ________________________________________ Period ______ Date ______________

AP Statistics Notes - Binomial Distributions

The FOUR Conditions for Binomial Probability Experiments

B- ___________________________________________________________________________________________
I- ___________________________________________________________________________________________
N- ___________________________________________________________________________________________
S- ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Define the following variables/notation: 10% condition

n - ________________________________________________________________
When taking a random sample of size
p - ________________________________________________________________ n from a population of size N, we
q - ________________________________________________________________ can treat individual observations as
independent when performing
x- ________________________________________________________________ calculations as long as n < 0.10N

Binomial Probability

Decide whether the experiment is binomial. If it is, define the values of n, p, and q. List all possible values of the random
variable x. If it is not, describe why.

EX 1. The surgery to repair herniated discs in the back has a 87% success rate. A doctor performs this
surgeries on 9 patients. The random variable represents the number of successful surgeries.

EX 2. You randomly select 3 cards from a standard deck of cards without replacement. The random
variable represents the number of clubs chosen.
Large Counts condition
Suppose that a count X of successes has the
Binomial Probability Formula________________________________ binomial distribution with n trials and
success probability p. The Large Counts
condition says that the probability
What are the THREE steps to calculating binomial probability:
distribution of X is approximately Normal if
1. _________________________________________________________ np ≥ 10 and n (1 – p ) ≥ 10
2. _________________________________________________________ That is, the expected numbers (counts) of
3. _________________________________________________________ successes and failures are both at least 10.

Binomial Probability Practice – Given the Exact Number of Successes

1) Mark tosses a coin 25 times. What is the probability that it lands on heads exactly seven times?

2) The spinner below is spun 10 times. What is the probability that it lands on red exactly six
times?

3) Kate took a multiple choice test with four choices for each question. If she guessed last 5 questions, what is
the probability that she got exactly three questions correct?

4) Chad randomly chooses a card from a standard deck 30 times. What is the probability that he gets a
diamond exactly four times?
5) There are 30 balls numbered 1-30 in a bag. One is randomly selected 12 times. What is the
probability of getting a prime number exactly five times?

6) The probability of customers at a store receiving a coupon printed on their receipt is 1 in 8. If 20

customers visit the store today, what is the probability that exactly three of them receive coupons?

7) In a game of chance, the probability of winning is 30%. If 15 games are played, find the probability of
winning exactly six games.

8) A certain traffic light is red for 20 seconds, yellow for 4 seconds, and green for 36 seconds. Find the
probability that of the next 12 cars that randomly arrive at the light, exactly 4 will be stopped by a red light.

At least, at Most, etc.

9) Kyle tosses a coin 10 times. What is the probability that he gets tails at least 8 times?

10) Carol randomly chooses a day of the week six times. What is the probability of choosing Tuesday
or Thursday at most three times?

11) The soda company prints prizes inside their bottle caps. The probability of winning a prize is 1 in 3. Out of
eight bottle caps, what is the probability that at least five are winners?

12) There are 7 boys and 5 girls on the debate team. Each week, one is chosen at random to the lead the
debate. For the next 10 weeks, what is the probability that no more than four girls are chosen to lead?

Creating a Binomial Probability Distribution

There are FOUR steps to create a binomial distribution:

i) ______________________________________________________________________________
ii) ______________________________________________________________________________
iii) ______________________________________________________________________________
iv) ______________________________________________________________________________

EX 3. You select a card from a standard deck and replace it. You repeat this experiment for a total of 5 times.
Create a probability distribution for selecting clubs.
Expected Value (Mean) of a Binomial Distributions

Expected Value = Mean = _____________________ Standard Deviation = _________________________________

EX 4. What is the expected value and standard deviation of the distribution you created in example #3?

EX 5. Interpret the mean and standard deviation of the distribution from example #3.

Expected Value of a Binomial Distribution Practice

1) 60% of households in the U.S. own a video game console. You randomly select 6 households and ask them if they
own a video game console. Construct a probability distribution for the random variable x. Then graph the
distribution.

Expected Value ______________________________

Standard deviation ____________________________
Interpretation

2) 81% of households in the U.S. own a computer. You randomly select 4 households and ask each if they own a
computer. Construct a probability distribution for the random variable x. Then graph the distribution.

Expected Value ______________________________

Standard deviation ____________________________

Interpretation

Binomial Probability using the Graphing Calculator

Recall: If X has a binomial distribution with n observations and probability p of success on each observation, the possible
values of X are 0, 1,2,3,…,n. If r is any one of these values, then
Cr pr ( q )
n −r
P ( X= r=
) n
There are two binomial probability functions on the graphing calculators, binompdf and binomcdf
• binompdf is a probability distribution function and determines P ( X = r )
• binomcdf is a cumulative distribution function and determines P ( X ≤ r )
Now, work the Binomial
Probability Calculator Command Example (assume n = 4, p = .8, r = 3) Probability Practice (Given
P ( X = r ) binompdf(n, p, r) P( X = 3) = binompdf(4, .8, 3) the Exact Number of
Now
P ( X ≤ r ) binomcdf(n, p, r) P( X ≤ 3) = binomcdf(4, .8, 0, 3) Successes and At least, at
P ( X < r ) binomcdf(n, p, r - 1) P( X < 3) = binomcdf(4, .8, 0, 2) Most, etc. ) #s 1-12 using your
P ( X > r ) 1 – binomcdf(n, p, r) P( X > 3) = 1 – binomcdf(4, .8, 0, 3) graphing calculator.
P ( X ≥ r ) 1 – binomcdf(n, p, r - 1) P( X ≥ 3) = 1 – binomcdf(4, .8, 0, 2)