Name: Grade & Section: Score:

School: Teacher: Subject: Statistics & Probability

LAS Writer: JANRIE M. RAGUINE, MAT Content Editor: JOHANNAH Y. ACHURRA
Lesson Topic: The Mean Of A Discrete Random Variable (Q3 – Wk. 2, LAS 2)
Learning Targets: Illustrate the mean of a discrete random variable; (M11/12SP–IIIb–1)
Calculate the mean of a discrete random variable; and (M11/12SP–IIIb–2)
Interpret the mean of a discrete random variable. (M11/12SP–IIIb–3)
Reference(s): Walpole, R. and Myers, R., 1993. Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists. 5th ed. New
York: Macmillan Publishing Company, pp.49-56.

THE MEAN OF A DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE

To find the mean (𝜇) or the expected value E(X) of a discrete probability distribution, we use the following formula:
where:
𝜇 = E(X) 𝑋 – value of the random variable
= 𝑋1 . P(𝑋1 ) + 𝑋2 . Pሺ𝑋2 ሻ + 𝑋3 . Pሺ𝑋3 ሻ + … + 𝑋𝑛 . P(𝑋𝑛 ) P(𝑋) – probability of the random variable 𝑋
= ∑[𝑋. P(𝑋)]
𝜇 – mean of the probability distribution

Example:
Suppose four tiles numbered 1, 2, 3 If we rewrite the calculation separating
and 4 are in a jar. A tile is picked and returned the tile number from the probability of each based
in the jar 15 times. The results are as follows: on the results as illustrated below, the
computation would be:
Number of times X 1 2 3 4
Tile
picked
1 2 P(X) 2/15 4/15 8/15 1/15
2 4
3 8 From the results, the average number per
4 1 picked would be computed by:
2 4 8 1
𝜇 = 1( )+2( ) +3( )+4( )
From the results, the average number 15 15 15 15
2 8 24 4
per picked would be computed by: = + + +
15 15 15 15
38
=
15
1ሺ2ሻ + 2ሺ4ሻ + 3ሺ8ሻ + 4ሺ1ሻ
𝑋ത = 𝜇 = 2.53
15
2 + 8 + 24 + 4
= This means that for every tile picked from the
15
38 jar, the number in the tile is in average of 2.53.
=
15
𝑋ത = 2.53
This means that for every tile picked from the
jar, the number in the tile is in average of 2.53.

ACTIVITY:

Answer the following problems.

1 1 1 2 1
1. The probabilities that the customer will buy 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 items in a grocery store are , , , and ,
6 6 6 6 6
respectively. What is the average number of items that a customer will buy?
2. The probabilities that a surgeon operates on 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 patients in any day are 0.15, 0.10, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30,
respectively. Find the average number of patients that a surgeon operates on a day.
3. Find the mean of the probability distribution of the random variable X, which can take only the values 1, 2 and
10 1 12
3, given that P(1) = , P(2) = and P(3) = .
33 3 33
𝑥+1
4. Find the mean of the probability distribution of the random variable Z if P(Z) = , for X = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
20
5. The random variable Y, representing the number of nuts in a chocolate bar has the following probability
distribution. Compute the mean.
K 0 1 2 3 4
P(K) 1/10 3/10 3/10 2/10 1/10