DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE:

countable number of distinct

values.

CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLE:

are variables that can have any
values within a continuous range.
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POSSIBLE VALUES OF
DISCRETE RANDOM
VARIABLES
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Objective:
•Find the possible values of a random
variable. (M11/12SP-IIIa-3)

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 DEFINITION OF TERMS
•OUTCOME: a possible result of an experiment
or trial.
•SAMPLE SPACE: set of all possible outcomes
of a random experiment.
•DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE: countable
number of distinct values.
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Example 1:
Suppose two coins are tossed and we are
interested to determine the number of heads
that will come out.

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STEPS
1. List the sample space

S = {HH, HT, TH, TT}

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2. Count the number of heads in each outcome
and assign this number to this outcome.
NUMBER OF HEADS
OUTCOMES
(VALUE OF H)
HH 2

HT 1

TH 1

TT 0
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3. Make a conclusion

The values of the random NUMBER OF

HEADS
variable H (number of OUTCOMES
(VALUE OF
Heads) in this experiment H)
are 2, 1, and 0. HH 2
HT 1
TH 1
Heads: 0,1,2
TT 0
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Example 2:
A basket contains 10 red balls and 4 white
balls. If three balls are taken from the basket
one after the other, determine the possible
values of the random variable R representing
the number of red balls.

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STEPS
1. List the sample space

S = {RRR, RRW, RWR, WRR, WWR, WRW,

RWW, WWW}

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2. Count the number of red balls in each
outcome and assign this number to this
outcome.

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 NUMBER OF RED
OUTCOMES BALLS
(VALUE OF R)
RRR 3
RRW 2
RWR 2
WRR 2
WWR 1
WRW 1
RWW 1
WWW 0 Sir Dawie
3. Make a conclusion
NUMBER OF
RED BALLS
OUTCOMES
The values of the random (VALUE OF
R)
variable R (number of red RRR 3
balls) in this experiment RRW 2

are 0, 1, 2, and 3. RWR 2

WRR 2
WWR 1
WRW 1
Red Balls: 0,1,2,3 RWW 1
WWW 0
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TRY IT!
Four coins are tossed. Let T be the random
variable representing the number of tails that
occur. Find the values of the random variable T.

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 STEPS
1. List the sample space
S = {HHHH, HHHT, HHTH, HHTT, HTHH, HTHT,
HTTH, HTTT, THHH, THHT, THTH, THTT, TTHH,
TTHT, TTTH, TTTT}

2. Count the number of red balls in each

outcome and assign this number to this
outcome. Sir Dawie
 Sir Dawie
NUMBER OF
OUTCOMES TAILS
(VALUE OF T)
HHHH 0 THTH 2
HHHT 1 TTHH 2
HHTH 1 THHT 2
HTHH 1 HTTT 3
THHH 1 THTT 3
HHTT 2 TTHT 3
HTHT 2 TTTH 3
HTTH 2 TTTT 4
 NUMBER OF
OUTCOMES TAILS
3. Make a conclusion HHHH
(VALUE OF T)
0
HHHT 1
HHTH 1

The values of the random HTHH

THHH
1
1
variable T (number of tails) HHTT 2
HTHT 2
in this experiment are 0, 1, HTTH 2

2, 3, and 4. THTH
TTHH
2
2
THHT 2
HTTT 3

Tails: 0,1,2,3,4 THTT 3

TTHT 3
TTTH 3
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HOMEWORK
A pair of dice is rolled. Let X be the random
variable representing the sum of the number of
dots on the top faces. Find the values of the
random variable X.

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