STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY

Module 3: Week 3: Third Quarter

Title of the Activity:

Problems Involving Mean and Variance of a Probability

Distribution

ENTRY BEHAVIOUR

Brief Introduction

This module will discuss the process on how to solve problems involving mean and
variance of a probability distribution, and interpret the mean and variance of a discrete
random variable. Analyzing the given examples will guide you in solving problems involving
mean and variance. Following the steps in solving will make you overcome the difficulties
in solving.

Learning Competencies

At the end of this module, the learner should be able to;

1. Interprets the mean and variance of a discrete random variable; and
2. Solves problems involving mean and variance of probability
distributions.

Objectives

The main objective of this module is for the students to solve problems and
interpret the mean and variance of a probability distribution.

Let’s Recall

What is mean? Mean refers to the theoretical expected value. How about
standard deviation? This is the distance of the values in the population set with respect
to the expected value, it also answers the question how far are the values in the data set
from the expected value?
 To compute for the expected value, variance, and standard deviation refers to the

formula below:
µ = Ʃx · P(x)
µ = read as “mu”
σ2 = read as “sigma squared”
σ2 = Ʃx2 · P(x) - µ2 σ = read as “sigma”

σ = √ Ʃx2 · P(x) - µ2

Let’s Understand

The mean of a discrete random variable is called the expected value. It simply refers
to the average, which is the expected result when a random experiment is repeated
continuously. It is the sum of the product of values of a random variable (x) and its
corresponding probability P(x).
Study the example below.

Example 1

One of the activities of Sinag Sipnayan of PNHS is the lottery to generate income
to support the other activities. 250 tickets will be sold to the students. One ticket will win
P1 000 price and the other tickets will win nothing. If you will buy one ticket, what will be
your expected gain?

SOLUTION:
1
Since only one ticket will win P1 000.00, so its probability will be or
250

249
0.004. Then the remaining tickets will win P0, and the probability will be or
250

0.996.

x P(x) x·P(x)
1 000 0.004 4
0 0.996 0
Ʃ[x·P(x)] = 4

Therefore, the expected gain is Php 4.00

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Example 2
The officers of the PNHS Cooperative are planning to sell 200 tickets to be
raffled during Teacher’s Day. One ticket will win P5 000 and the other tickets will win
nothing. If you are a faculty member of PNHS and you want to buy one ticket, what
will be the expected value and variance of your gain?

will be your expected gain?

SOLUTION:
1
Since only one ticket will win P5 000, so its probability will be or 0.005.
200

199
Then the remaining tickets will win P0,and the probability will be or 0.995.
200

x P(x) x·P(x) x2·P(x)

5 000 0.005 25 125 000

0 0.995 0 0

Ʃ[x·P(x)] = 25 Ʃ[x2·P(x)] = 125 000

a. The expected value of gain is: b. The variance of the gain is:
Ʃ[x•P(x)] = 25 σ2 = Ʃ[x2•P(x)] - µ2 = 125 000 – (25)2 = 124 375

The variance of the gain is 124 375, which indicates how spread out

the values of x around the mean. It shows that the values are too far from

each other.

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 Let’s Apply

Direction: Fill in the blanks with the correct value to find the mean, variance,
and standard deviation of the given probability distribution.
1. 2.
x P(x) x · P(x) x2 · P(x) .
x P(x) x · P(x) x2 · P(x)
0 0.1 0 0 1 0.25 0.25 ____
1 0.3 0.3 0.3 2 0.25 0.50 ____
2 0.4 0.8 1.6 3 0.25 0.75 ____
3 0.2 0.6 1.8 4 0.25 1.00 ____

ƩP(x) = 1 Ʃ x · P(x) Ʃ x2 · P(x)

ƩP(x) Ʃ x · P(x) Ʃ x2 · P(x)
=1.7 =3.7
=1 =____ =____

µ = Ʃx · P(x) = _____ µ = Ʃx · P(x) = _____

σ2 = Ʃx2 · P(x) - µ2 = 3.7 – (1.4)2

σ2 = Ʃx2 · P(x) - µ2 = ____ – ____
= _____
= _____

3. 4.
x P(x) x · P(x) x2 · P(x) x P(x) x · P(x) x2 · P(x)
1 0.18 ____ ____ 1 0.10 ____ ____
2 0.23 ____ ____ 2 0.20 ____ ____
3 0.24 ____ ____ 3 0.50 ____ ____

4 0.35 ____ ____ 4 0.15 ____ ____

5 0.05 ____ ____

ƩP(x) Ʃ x · P(x) Ʃ x2 · P(x)
= ____ = ____ = ____
ƩP(x) Ʃ x · P(x) Ʃ x2 · P(x)
= ____ = ____ = ____

µ = _____
σ2 = _____ µ = _____
σ = _____ σ2 = _____
σ = _____

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 Let’s Analyze

Direction: Given the probability experiment, tossing four unbiased coin

simultaneously. Construct the probability distribution where random variable x refers to the
number of tails, then find the mean, variance, and standard deviation. Interpret the result.

Possible Number Possible Number

Outcomes of Tails Outcomes of Tails
(x) (x)

x P(x) x · P(x) 𝒙𝟐 · 𝑷(𝒙)

µ = _____

𝜎 2 = _______

σ = ______

Interpretation:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.

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 Let’s Evaluate

A. Direction: Solve the following problems.

1. The DSWD researcher surveyed the households in a Sitio Libjo, Sto. Nino,
Paranaque City. The random variable x represents the number of workers who are
qualified in the social amelioration program. The probability distribution of x is
shown below.

Find the expected value and variance of x.

X 1 2 3 4

P(x) 0.20 0.32 0.28 0.20

2. The random variable x represents the number of vehicles encountered by the

student on his way to the school. The probability distribution of x is shown below.

X 2 3 4 5 6

P(x) 0.2 0.05 0.30 0.15 0.30

Find the expected value and variance of x.

3. The following are the results of the study of the number of students failed in
statistics and probability in stem class. Use the data and associated probabilities
to compute for the expected number of students failed in the subject, and its
variance.

X 1 3 4 5 6

P(x) 0.08 0.15 0.28 0.27 0.22

Let’s Create

Direction: Answer the following problems below.

1. Dan tossed unbiased coin, on each toss, he wins P50 if head appears, and loses P40 if
tail appears. What will be the expected value and variance of his gain?
2. A research teacher conducted a survey regarding households in a remote area. The
random variable x represents the number of senior high school graduates in the
households. The probability distribution of x is shown below:
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

P(x) 0.03 0.17 0.28 0.02 0.18 0.18 0.14

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 Compute the value of mean and variance of x.

3. The random variable x represents the number of passengers encountered by a jeepney

driver in a week during quarantine period. The probability distribution of x is given in the
distribution below.
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

P(x) 0.13 0.27 0.18 0.09 0.18 0.10 0.05

Find the expected value, variance, and standard deviation for the distribution.
4. The following distribution shows the number of times (x) Francis visited the internet café
to open his google classroom.
X 0 1 2 3 4

P(x) 0.15 0.20 0.38 0.09 0.18

Find the mean, variance, and standard deviation for the distribution.