LECTURE 1

RANDOM VARIABLES

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

• illustrate a random variable;

• classify random variables as discrete or continuous; and

• find the possible values of a random variable.

EXERCISES

Problem 1. Suppose three coins are tossed. Let Z be the random variable representing the number of tails that occur.
Find the values of the random variable Z.
Sample Space = {HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTT}

Possible Outcomes Value of the Random Variable Z (number of tails) HHH 0

HHT 1

HTH 1

HTT 2

THH 1

THT 2

TTH 2

TTT 3

Z = {0,1,2,3)

Problem 2. Two balls are drawn in succession without replacement from an urn containing 5 red balls and 6 blue
balls. Let Y be the random variable representing the number of blue balls. Find the values of the random variable
Y.
 Sample Space = {RR,RB,BR,BB)

Possible Outcomes Value of the Random Variable Y

(number of blue balls)

RR 0

RB 1

BR 1

BB 2

Y = {0,1,2}

Problem 3. Four coins are tossed. Let X be the random variable representing the number of heads that occur. Find
the values of the random variable X.
Sample Space = {HHHH, HHHT, HHTH, HHTT, HTHH, HTHT, HTTH, HTTT,

THHH, THHT, THTH, THTT, TTHH, TTHT, TTTH,TTTT}

Possible Outcomes Value of the Random Variable X

(number of heads)

HHHH 4

HHHT 3

HHTH 3

HHTT 2

HTHH 3

HTHT 2

HTTH 2

HTTT 1

THHH 3

THHT 2

THTH 2

THTT 1

TTHH 2

TTHT 1

TTTH 1

TTTT 0

X = {0,1,2,3,4}
Problem 4. A shipment of five computers contains two that are defective. If a retailer receives three of these
computers at random, list the elements of the sample space S using the letters D and N for defective and non
defective computers, respectively. To each sample point assign a value w of the random variable W representing the
number of computers purchased by the retailer which are defective.
Sample Space = {DDD, DDN, DND, DNN, NDD, NDN, NND, NNN}

Possible Outcomes Value of the Random Variable W

(number of computers which are defective)

DDD
3

(This is not included in the possible outcome because

the problem states that two out of five computers are
defective)

DDN 2

DND 2

DNN 1

NDD 2

NDN 1

NND 1

NNN 0

W = {0,1,2}
Problem 5. Let V be a random variable giving the number of heads plus the number of tails in three tosses of a coin.
List the elements of the sample space S for the three tosses of the coin and assign a value to each sample point.
Sample Space = {HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTT}

Possible Outcomes Value of the Random Variable V (number of tails) HHH 0

HHT 1

HTH 1

HTT 2

THH 1

THT 2

TTH 2

TTT 3

V = {0,1,2,3)

Problem 6. Classify the following random variables as discrete or continuous.

discrete a) the number of defective computers produced by a manufacturer
continuous b) the weight of newborns each year in a hospital
discrete c) the number of siblings in a family of a region
continuous d) the amount of paint utilized in a building project
discrete e) the number of dropout in a school district for a period of 10 years
continuous f) the speed of the car
discrete g) the number of female athletes
continuous h) the time needed to finish the test
continuous i) the amount of sugar in a cup of coffee
discrete j) the number of people who are playing LOTTO each day
discrete k) the number of accidents per year at an intersection
discrete l) the number of voters favoring a candidate
discrete m) the number of patient arrivals per hour at a medical clinic
continuous n) the average amount of electricity consumed per household per month
discrete o) the number of deaths per year attributed to lung cancer

MATH JOURNAL
1. How do you find the values of a random variable?
First I find the sample space of the given problems.
For me to get the values of the random variable:
Step 1: I create a table for me to see it clearly.
Step 2: Next, I put in the table the possible outcome and value of the random variable that the problem gives to me
Example: “the number of heads”.
Step 3: Using the possible outcome I’ll be able to count the “number of heads”
And that’s how I find the values of a random variable. (I’m sorry for my bad explanation)
2. What is the difference between discrete and continuous random variables?
The difference between discrete and continuous random variables are Discrete are a random variable that can
take on a finite or countably infinite number of distinct values, while the Continuous are a random variable that
take an infinitely uncountable number of possible values, typically measurable quantities. 3. Give three examples
of discrete random variable.
∙ number of tails observed when tossing a coin
∙ the number of students attend the class
∙ the number of siblings a person has

4. Give three examples of continuous random variable.

∙ The height or weight of a person
∙ Body temperature
∙ Time of a person can hold his/her breathe