Chapter 1

RANDOM VARIABLES AND

PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
Lesson 3: COMPUTING THE
MEAN OF A DISCRETE
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
LESSON OBJECTIVES
les s o n y o u sh o u ld
At the end of this
be able to:
lc u la te th e m e a n o f
• illustrate and ca
a discrete ra n d o m v a ria ble ;
e m e a n of a d is cr e t e
• interpret th
random variable; and
v o lv in g m e an o f a
• solve problems in
prob a bility d istr ib u t io n .
*STARTING POINT
 

-thesum
-the centralof the
Where:
value of a
MEAN
values
the
x=the values by
discrete
divided
number
n=the set of
number of
of values
numbers.
values.
*STARTING POINT
ENTRY CARD

A. Given the values of the variables X and Y,

evaluate the following summations.
*STARTING POINT
ENTRY CARD
B. The following are the scores of 40 students in a
test. Compute the mean score.
Score Number of Students
42 8
50 12
53 9
38 7
46 4
*ACTIVITY NO. 1 (NUMBER OF SPOTS)

Consider r o ll i n g a
die. What i s th e
average n u m b er o f
spots th a t w ou l d
appear?
 *ACTIVITY NO. 1 (NUMBER OF SPOTS)
Solution:
1. Assign probability Number of Spots Probability
values to each value (X) P(X)
of the random
variable. 1 1/6
2 1/6
3 1/6
4 1/6
5 1/6
6 1/6
 *ACTIVITY NO. 1 (NUMBER OF SPOTS)
2. Multiply the Number of
value of the Probability
Spots
random P(X)
(X)
variable X by
the 1
corresponding
probability. 2
3
4
5
6
 *ACTIVITY NO. 1 (NUMBER OF SPOTS)
3. Add Number of Spots Probability
the (X) P(X)
results
obtained
1
in Step 2
2.
3
4
5
6
 p 3 i s c a lle d t h e
o b ta in e d in S te
• Th e v a lu e I A B L E X
R A N D O M V A R
MEAN OF T H E T Y
H E P R O B A B I L I
N O F T
or the MEA
T I O N O F X
DISTRIBU
WHAT DOES THE MEAN TELL US?
u s th e A V E R A G E
• The ME A N t e ll
t ha t w ill o cc ur in
f s p ot s
NUMBER o
a ro ll of a d ie .
•  FORMULA FOR THE MEAN OF THE
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
The mean of a random variable with a
discrete probability distribution is:
or

where:
are the values of the random variable X; and
are the corresponding probabilities
*ACTIVITY NO. 2 (GROCERY ITEMS)
probabili t ie s t h a t a
The
• 

u y 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , o r 5
customer will b
g r oc e r y s t o r e
items in a
are , , , , a nd , r e s p e c t iv e ly .
a g e n u m b e r o f
What is the aver
cu st o m e r w i ll b uy ?
items that a
 *ACTIVITY NO. 2 (GROCERY ITEMS)
Solution:
1. Construct the
Number of Items Probability
Probability Distribution
(X) P(X)
for the random
variable X
representing the 1
number of items that
the customer will buy. 2
3
4
5
 *ACTIVITY NO. 1 (NUMBER OF SPOTS)
2. Multiply the
Number of
value of the Probability
Items
random P(X)
(X)
variable X by
the   3
corresponding 1 10
probability.   2
2 10
  3
3 10
  8
4 10
  15
5 10
 *ACTIVITY NO. 2 (GROCERY ITEMS)
3. Add Number of Items Probability
the (X) P(X)
results
obtained
1
in Step 2
2
2.
3
3
4
4
5
5
 
31 
10
¿ 3.1
*ACTIVITY NO. 3 (SURGERY PATIENTS)
t h a t a su r g e o n
The probabilities
operates on 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , o r 7
patients in a n y d a y a r e 0 . 1 5 ,
0.10, 0.20 , 0 .2 5 , a n d 0 . 3 0 ,
ly . F in d t h e a v e r a g e
respective
number of p a t ie n t s th a t a
surgeon o p e r a te s o n a d a y .
 *ACTIVITY NO. 3 (SURGERY PATIENTS)
Solution:
1. Construct the
Number of Patients Probability
Probability Distribution
(X) P(X)
for the random
variable X
representing the 3
number of patients
that a surgeon 4
operates on a day.
5
6
7
 *ACTIVITY NO. 3 (SURGERY PATIENTS)
2. Multiply the
Number of
value of the Probability
Patients
random P(X)
(X)
variable X by
the
corresponding 3 0 .45
 

probability.
4 0 .40
 

5 1.00
 

6 1.50
 

7 2 .10
 
 *ACTIVITY NO. 3 (SURGERY PATIENTS)
3. Add Number of Patients Probability
the (X) P(X)
results
obtained 3
in Step
2. 4
5
6
7

5 .45
 
 Solve for the mean:
The Probability Distribution or the Probability Mass
Function of Discrete Random Variable Z

Number of Tails Z 0 1 2 3 4

Probability P(Z) 1/16 1/4 3/8 1/4 1/16

 Solve for the mean:
The Probability Distribution or the Probability Mass
Function of Discrete Random Variable Y

Number of Tails Y 0 1 2 3

Probability P(Y) 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8

Solve for the mean:
Number of Copies
Probability P(X)
X
0 0.06
1 0.14
2 0.16
3 0.14
4 0.12
5 0.10
6 0.08
7 0.07
8 0.06
9 0.04
10 0.03
ASSESSMENT:

Directions: Solve for

the mean of each
probability distribution.
 (X) P(X)
1.
3
6
8
10
 (X) P(X)
2.
2
4
6
8
10
3. The probabilities of a machine
manufacturing 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
defective parts in one day are
0.75, 0.17, 0.04, 0.025, 0.01,
and 0.005, respectively. Find the
mean of the probability
distribution.