Chapter 1

RANDOM VARIABLES AND

PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
Lesson 1
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LESSON OBJECTIVES
t h is le s s on y o u a r e
At the end of
expected to:
• illustra te a r an d om v a r ia b le;
• classify ra n d o m v a r ia b le s a s
discrete o r c o n tin u o u s ; an d
• find the p o s s ib le va lu e s of a
random variable.
*STARTING POINT
-any
-theactivity
set of
SAMPLE
which can be
all possible
EXPERIMENT
done repeatedly
outcomes of an
SPACE
under similar
experiment
conditions
*STARTING POINT
ENTRY CARD
List the sample space of the following experiments.
EXPERIMENTS SAMPLE SPACE
1. Tossing a coin {T, H}
2. Rolling a die
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
3. Drawing a spade from a deck
{ACE OF SPADE, 2 OF
of cards SPADES,….. KING OF
4. Drawing a red card greater SPADES}
than 7 from a deck of cards {8 OF H,… K OF H, 8
OF D,… KING OF D}
*ACTIVITY NO. 1 (DEFECTIVE CELL PHONES)
e te s te d a t ra n d o m . W e
Suppose three cell phones ar e fe ct iv e c e ll p h o nes
u m b e r o f d
want to find out the n
that occur.
e s a m p le sp a c e w e s h a ll
Thus, to each outcome in th o r 3 . If th e re is n o
, 1 , 2 ,
assign a value. These are 0 e n u m b e r 0 ; if th e re
ig n th
defective cell phone, we ass n th e n u m b e r 1 ; if
n e , w e a ss ig
is a defective cell pho w e a s sig n th e
e ll p h o n e s,
there are 2 defective c e e d e fe c tiv e c e ll
re a re th r
number 2; and 3, if the
phones.
tiv e c e ll p h o n e s is a ra n d o m
The number of defec is ra n d o m v a r ia b le
o f th
variable. The possible values
are 0, 1, 2, and 3.
 *ACTIVITY NO. 1 (DEFECTIVE CELL PHONES)
Illustration:
Steps Solution
Let D represent the DEFECTIVE cell phone, and N
1. Determine the Sample represent the NON-DEFECTIVE cell phone
Space
S = {NNN, NND, NDN, DNN, NDD, DND, DDN,
DDD}
2. Count the possible value Values of the Random
of the Random Variable Possible Outcomes
Variable (X)
Let X be the Random NNN 0
Variable representing the
NND 1
number of defective
cell phones NDN 1
DNN 1
SO, THE POSSIBLE
NDD 2
VALUES OF THE
RANDOM VARIABLE X DND 2
ARE 0, 1, 2, AND 3. DDN 2
DDD 3
 -a variable that
-usually
canRANDOM denoted
take on values
bybased
an uppercase
on the
VARIABLES
letter of the
outcomes of a
alphabet
random
experiment
 Example:
Consider tossing 3 coins at the
same time.
POSIBLE
HHH HHT HTH HTT THH THT TTH TTT
OUTCOMES

Number
of Heads 3 2 2 RANDOM
1 2 1 1 0
Number
of Tails 0 1 1VARIABLES
2 1 2 2 3
 -are variables
CONTINUOUS
DISCRETE
-are variables
whose set of
whose
outcomes
RANDOM set
areof
RANDOM
measured data,
outcomes are such
asVARIABLES
VARIABLES
height, weight
countable
and temperature
*ACTIVITY NO. 2 (TOSSING THREE COINS)

Suppose thre e c o in s a re
tossed. Let Y b e t h e r a nd o m
variable repre s e n ti n g t h e
number of ta il s th a t o cc u r.
Find the va lu e s o f t h e
rando m va ria b le Y .
 *ACTIVITY NO. 2 (TOSSING THREE COINS)
Illustration:
Steps Solution
Let H represent HEAD, and T represent
1. Determine the Sample
TAIL
Space
S = {TTT, TTH, THT, HTT, HHT, HTH, THH, HHH}
2. Count the possible value Values of the Random
of the Random Variable Possible Outcomes
Variable (Y)
Let Y be the Random TTT 3
Variable representing
TTH 2
the NUMBER OF TAILS
THAT OCCUR THT 2
HTT 2
SO, THE POSSIBLE
VALUES OF THE HHT 1
RANDOM VARIABLE Y HTH 1
ARE 0, 1, 2, AND 3. THH 1
HHH 0
*ACTIVITY NO. 3 (DRAWING BALLS FROM AN URN)

balls a r e d r a w n in
Two
o u t r e p la c e m e n t
succession with
o n t a in in g 5 r e d
from an urn c
e b a ll s . L e t Z b e
balls and 6 blu
r an d o m v a r ia b le
the
t h e n u m b e r o f b lu e
representing
t h e v a l u e s o f t h e
balls. Find
ra n d o m v a r ia b le Z .
 *ACTIVITY NO. 3
Illustration:
(DRAWING BALLS FROM AN URN)

Steps Solution
Let B represent the BLUE BALL, and R
1. Determine the Sample
represent the RED BALL
Space
S = {RR, RB, BR, BB}
2. Count the possible value
of the Random Variable Values of the
Possible
Let Z be the Random Random Variable
Variable representing Outcomes
(Z)
the NUMBER OF BLUE
BALLS RR 0
SO, THE POSSIBLE RB 1
VALUES OF THE BR 1
RANDOM VARIABLE Z
ARE 0, 1, AND 2. BB 2
ASSESSMENT
in g r a n d o m v a ri a b le s
A) Classify the follow
as dis c r e te o r c o n tin u o u s .
m a le a th le t e s 1 . D ISC R ETE
1. The number of fe
v o te r s fa v o rin g a
2. The number of
candidate 2. DISCRETE
w b o rn s e a c h y e a r in a
3. The weight of ne
p ita l O NT INU O U S
hos 3 . C
4. CONTINUOUS
4 . Th e s p e e d o f a c a r 5 . C O N TIN U O U S
a r in a c u p o f c o ff e e
5. The amount of sug
ASSESSMENT
B) Suppose th r e e c o in s a r e
tossed. Let C b e t h e r a n d o m
variable repre s e n ti n g t h e
number of he a ds th a t o c c u r .
Find the va lu e s o f t h e
rando m va ria b le C .
0, 1, 2, an d3
ENRICHMENT
A) Suppose FO U R c o i n s a re
tossed. Let K b e t h e r a n d o m
variable repre s e n ti n g t h e
number of he a ds th a t o cc u r.
Find the va lu e s o f t h e
rando m va ria b le K .
0, 1, 2, 3, an d4
ENRICHMENT
F I V E c o m p u t e r s
B) A shipment of Y
A T A R E S L I G H T L
contains TWO TH s
a r e ta il e r r e c e iv e
DEFFECTIVE. If a t
e c o m p u t e rs
three of thes e
t h e v a lu e s o f t h
random, find g
b le A r e p r e s e n t in
random varia e
o f s li g h t l y d e f e c t iv
the number
r e t a il e r s r e c e i v e s .
computers a
0, 1, and 2
ENRICHMENT
o n t a in in g 4 b l a c k
C) From a box c a r e
n b a l ls , 3 b a ll s
balls and 2 gree i s
s io n . E a c h b a ll
drawn in succes N T .
T R E P L A C E M E
drawn WITHOU b le
r a n d o m v a r ia
Let E be a e e n
u m b e r o f g r
representing the n o f
in d t h e v a l u e s
balls that occur. F d 2
le E . 0 , 1 , a n
the random variab