A rule that assigns a number to each outcome of an experiment is called a random variable.

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1 Math 1313 Section 8.1 Section 8.1: Distributions of Random Variables A rule that assigns a number to each outcome of an experiment is called a random variable. We can construct the probability distribution associated with a random variable If x 1, x 2, x 3,, x n are values assumed by the random variable X with associated probabilities P(X= x 1 ), P(X= x 2 ),, P(X= x n ), respectively, then the probability distribution of X may be expressed in the following way. x P(X=x) x 1 P(X= x 1 )=p 1 x 2 P(X= x 2 )=p x n P(X= x n )=p n We can also graphically represent the probability distribution of a R.V. A bar graph which represents the probability distribution of a random variable is called a histogram. EX: Example 1: The probability distribution of the random variable X is shown in the accompanying table: x P(X=x) Find: a. P(X = -2) b. P(-1 < X < 1) c. P(X > 0) 1

2 Math 1313 Section 8.1 Example 2: A survey was conducted by the Public Housing Authority in a certain community among 920 families to determine the distribution of families by size. The results follow: Family Size Frequency of Occurrence a. Let X denote the number of persons in a randomly chosen family. Find the probability distribution for this experiment. b. Draw the histogram corresponding to the probability distribution in part a. c. What is the P(3 < X < 5)? d. What is the P( X > 2)? e. What is the P(2 < X < 5)? 2

3 Math 1313 Section 8.1 Example 3: A coin is tossed twice. Let the random variable X denote the number of tails that occur in the two tosses. Find the probability distribution for X and then draw the histogram corresponding to the probability distribution of X. Popper 1: Using the information from the above problem, Find the P(X < 1) a b c d

4 Section 8.2: Expected Value The average (mean) of n numbers, x 1, x 2, x 3,, x n is x. Formula: x = x1 + x2 + K + n x n Expected Value of a Random Variable X Let X denote a random variable that assumes the values x 1, x 2, x 3,, x n with associated probabilities p 1 p 2,, p n, respectively. The expected value of X, E(X), is given by = Example 1: In this Finite Math class each of the 4 tests are worth 12%, the quiz average is worth 12%, the homework average is worth 8%, the popper average is worth 8%, and the final exam is worth 24%. If your grades are as follows: Test 1 82, Test 2 76, Test 3 87, Test 4 90, Quiz Average 100, Homework Average 91, Popper Average 100, and Final Exam 95. What is your class average (expected value)? Example 2: A box contains 15 quarters, 7 dimes, 5 nickels, and 8 pennies. A coin is drawn at random from the box. What is the mean of the value of the draw? 1

5 Example 3: An investor is interested in purchasing an apartment building containing six apartments. The current owner provides the following probability distribution indicating the probability that the given number of apartments will be rented during a given month. Number of Rented Apt Probability a. Find the number of apartments the investor could expect to be rented during a given month? b. If the monthly rent for each apartment is $799, how much could the investor expect to collect in rent for the whole building during a given month? Popper 2: An investor is interested in purchasing an apartment building containing six apartments. The current owner provides the following probability distribution indicating the probability that the given number of apartments will be rented during a given month. Number of Rented Apartments Probability 4/41 6/41 5/41 1/41 8/41 7/41 10/41 Find the number of apartments the investor could expect to be rented during a given month. a b c d

6 Popper 3: A box contains 17 nickels, 11 dimes and 19 pennies. You pick a coin at random from the box, what is the average value of the draw? a b c d Odds in Favor of and Odds Against If P(E) is the probability of an even E occurring, then 1. The odds in favor of E occurring are 2. The odds against E occurring are Note: Odds are expressed as ratios of whole numbers. Probability of an Event (Given the Odds) If the odds in favor of an event E occurring are a to b, then the probability of E occurring is = + Example 4: The probability that the race horse Galloping Genny will win a race is 0.7. a. What are the odds in favor of Genny winning? 3

7 b. What are the odds against Genny winning? c. What is the probability that Genny will lose? Example 5: The odds against Laura winning a certain raffle are 99:1. What is the probability that Laura will not win the raffle? Example 6: The odds that it will rain on Thursday are 3 to 5. What is the probability that it will rain? Example 7: The probability that I will not finish my paper this week is 75%. What are the odds I will finish my paper? Popper 4: The odds of choosing one black ball from an urn are 7 to 13. What is the probability of getting a black ball? a b c d

8 Popper 5: The odds that a child entering a convenience store with her parents will not get a package of cupcakes are 1 to 11. What is the probability she will get a package of cupcakes? a b c d