COMPUTING THE MEAN OF

DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the period, 80% of the learners are

expected to:

a. define discrete random variable

b. calculate the mean of a discrete random
variable
REVIEW
MOTIVATION

“Consider a box with 10 light bulbs inside.

Construct a probability distribution for the
random variable X representing the
number of defective light bulbs in a box of
10.”
ACTIVITY
ANALYSIS

Value of X 2 1 0

Probability 1/4 2/4 1/4

of X
ABSTRACTION

DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE

• one which may take only a countable numbers

of distinct values such as 0, 1, 2, 3,4, ...
• it can take only a finite number of distinct
values
Example of Discrete Random Variable

• the number of defective light bulbs in a box of ten

• the number of children in a family
• the number of patients in a doctor’s surgery
• etc.
In Activity 1, let us discuss the steps in finding the mean.
The value obtained in Step 3
is called the mean of
random variable X or mean
of the probability
distribution X.
In activity 1, the mean tells us the average
number of spots that would appear in a roll of
a die. So, the average number of spots that
would appear is 3.5.
Although the die will never show a number
which is 3.5, this implies that rolling the die
many times, the theoretical mean would be
3.5.
APPLICATION
The number of cars sold per day at a local car
dealership, along with its corresponding probabilities
is shown in the succeeding table. Compute the mean
of the probability distribution and interpret its result.
Number of Cars Sold X ProbabilityP(X)
0 2/10
1 2/10
2 3/10
3 2/10
4 2/10

RUBRICS
Criteria Score
Content 20
Presentation 15
Delivery 15
Total 50
ASSIGNMENT

Go back to activity 1, find the variance

and standard deviation of the given
probability distribution. write your
answers in a whole sheet of yellow
paper.