Chapter 6: Probability distributions

Consider tossing two fair coins, where we can obtain 0, 1 or 2 heads.

The number of heads obtained in each trial, X, is a discrete random variable and X ∈{0, 1, 2}.

P( X = 0) = P(tails and tails) = 0.5 × 0.5 = 0.25

P( X = 1) = P(heads and tails) + P(tails and heads) = (0.5 × 0.5) + (0.5 × 0.5) = 0.5

P( X = 2) = P(heads and heads) = 0.5 × 0.5 = 0.25

The probability distribution for X is displayed in the following table.

x 0 1 2
P( X = x ) 0.25 0.5 0.25

The probabilities for the possible values of X are equal to the relative frequencies of the
values. We would expect 25% of the tosses to produce zero heads; 50% to produce one head
and 25% to produce two heads.

WORKED EXAMPLE 6.1

A fair square spinner with sides labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4 is spun twice. The two scores
obtained are added together to give the total, X . Draw up the probability distribution
table for X .

Answer
151
4 5 6 7 8
2nd spin

3 4 5 6 7 The grid shows the 16

equally likely outcomes TIP
2 3 4 5 6
for the discrete random
P( X = x ) is equal to
1 2 3 4 5 variable X , where
the relative frequency
X ∈{2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}.
1 2 3 4 of each particular
value of X .
1st spin

x 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The probability
distribution for TIP
1 2 3 4 3 2 1 X is shown in the
P( X = x ) Sum = 1 Note that ΣP( X = x ) = 1.
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 table.

WORKED EXAMPLE 6.2

The following table shows the probability distribution for the random variable V.

v 2 3 4 5 6

P(V = v ) 0.05 c2 c + 0.1 2c + 0.05 0.16

Find the value of the constant c and find P(V > 4).

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