Statistics and

Probability
Quarter 3 – Module 1:

Random Variable and Probability

Distributions
Mean and Variance of Discrete Random
Variable
 Lesso
n Random Variables and
Probability Distribution
1
Definitions of Random
A random variable is a result of chance event, that you can
measure or count.
A random variable is a numerical quantity that is assigned to the
outcome of an experiment. It is a variable that assumes
numerical values associated with the events of an experiment.
A random variable is a quantitative variable which values
depends on change.

NOTE
We use capital letters to represent a random

Example 1
Suppose two coins are tossed and we are interested to determine the number of
tails that will come out. Let us use T to represent the number of tails that will come out.
Determine the values of the random variable T.
Solution

Step Solution
s
1. List the sample space S = {HH, HT, TH, TT}

2. Count the number of tails

in each outcome and Outcome Number of
assign this number to Tails (Value
this outcome.
of T)
HH 0
HT 1
TH 1
TT 2

3. Conclusion The values of the random variable T (number

of tails) in this experiment are 0, 1 and 2.

Example 2
 Two balls are drawn in succession without replacement from an urn containing 5
orange balls and 6 violet balls. Let V be the random variable representing the number of
violet balls. Find the values of the random variable V.
Solution

Step Solution
s
1. List the sample space S = {OO, OV, VO, VV}

2. Count the number of Outcome Number of Violet

violet balls in each balls (Value of V)
outcome and assign this OO 0
number to this outcome.
OV 1
VO 1
VV 2
3. Conclusion The values of the random variable V
(number of violet balls) in this experiment
are 0, 1, and 2.
Example 3
A basket contains 10 red balls and 4 white balls. If three balls are taken from the
basket one after the other, determine the possible values of the random variable R
representing the number of red balls.
Solution:

Step Solution
s
1. List the sample space S = {RRR, RRW, RWR, WRR, WWR,
WRW, RWW, WWW}
2. Count the number of red
balls in each outcome Outcome Number of Red
and assign this number balls
to this outcome.
(Value of R)
RRR 3
RRW 2
RWR 2
WRR 2
WWR 1
WRW 1
RWW 1
WWW 0
3. Conclusion The values of the random variable R (number
of red balls) in this experiment are 0, 1, 2, and
3.
Discrete and Continuous Random Variable
 A random variable may be classified as discrete and continuous. A discrete
random variable has a countable number of possible values. A continuous random variable
can assume an infinite number of values in one or more intervals.
Examples:

Discrete Random Variable Continuous Random Variable

Number of pens in a box Amount of antibiotics in the vial
Number of ants in a colony Length of electric wires
Number of ripe bananas in a basket Voltage of car batteries
Number of COVID 19 positive cases Weight of newborn in the
in hospital
Hermosa, Bataan
Number of defective batteries Amount of sugar in a cup of
coffee

What is It
In the previous grade levels in studying Mathematics, we have learned how to make a
frequency distribution table given a set of raw data. In this part, you will learn how to
construct a probability distribution.
In the previous part of this module, you already learned how to determine the values of
discrete random variable. Constructing a probability distribution is just a continuation of the
previous part. We just need to include an additional step to illustrate and compute the
probabilities corresponding to a given random variable.
Using Example 1 in the previous page,

Step Solution
s
1. List the sample space S = {HH, HT, TH, TT}

2. Count the number of tails

in each outcome and Outcome Number of
assign this number to
Tails (Value
this outcome.
of T)
HH 0
HT 1
TH 1
TT 2
The values of the random variable T (number
of tails) in this experiment are 0, 1, and 2.
3. Construct the frequency
distribution of the values Number of Number of
of the random variable T. Occurrenc
Tails (Value
e
of T)
(Frequency)
0 1
 1 2
2 1
Tota 4
l
4. Construct the probability
distribution of the random Number of Number of
variable T by getting the Probability Tails
probability of occurrence Occurrence P(T)
of each value of the
(Value of T) (Frequency)
random variable.
0 1 1/4
1 2 2/4 or 1/2
2 1 1/4
Total 4 1
The probability distribution of the random
variable T can be written as follows:

T 2 1 0
P(T 1/4 1/2 1/4
)

Using Example 2 in the previous page,

Step Solutio
s n
1. List the sample space S = {OO, OV, VO, VV}
 Lesso
n Mean of the Discrete
Random Variable
2
Mean of a Discrete Random Variable
The Mean µ of a discrete random variable is the central value
or average of its corresponding probability mass function. It is
also called as the Expected Value. It is computed using the
formula:

µ = ∑ 𝑋𝑃(𝑥)

What is It
Examples:
1. Determine the mean or Expected Value of random variable below.

2. Find the mean of the random variable Y representing the number of

red color chocolates per 160-gram pack of colored chocolate
packages that has the following probability distribution.
 So, the mean of the probability distribution is 5.63. This implies that the average
number of red chocolates per 160-gram is 5.63.

To solve the above problem, we will follow 3 steps below.

STEPS IN FINDING THE MEAN
Step 1: Construct the probability distribution for the random variable X representing the
number of items that the customer will buy.
Step 2: Multiply the value of the random variable X by the corresponding probability.
Step 3: Add the results obtained in Step 2. Results obtained is the mean of the
probability distribution.
Solution:
 So, the mean of the probability distribution is 3.1. This implies that the average number
of items that the customer will buy is 3.1.

Lesso Variance and Standard

n Deviation of the Discrete
3 Random Variable

What is It
Let’s try!
What’s New
Let’s have examples:
1. 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 variance and the
standard deviation of the probability distribution by following the given steps. Write your
answer in your answer sheets.
Number of Cars Sold X Probability P(x)
0 10%
1 20%
2 30%
3 20%
4 20%
In solving the problem, let’s follow the steps below.
STEPS IN FINDING THE VARIANCE AND STANDARD DEVIATION
1. Find the mean of the probability distribution.
2. Subtract the mean from each value of the random variable X.
3. Square the result obtained in Step 2.
4. Multiply the results obtained in Step 3 by the corresponding probability.
5. Get the sum of the results obtained in Step 4. Results obtained is the value of the variance
of probability distribution.
Now let’s solve the problem.

To Solve for Standard Deviation:

So, the variance of the number of cars sold per day is 1.56 and the standard deviation is 1.25.
2. When three coins are tossed once, the probability distribution for the random
variable X representing the number of heads that occur is given below. Compute the variance
and standard deviation of the probability distribution.
Solution:
Follow the steps in finding variance and standard deviation of the probability
distribution.
To solve for Standard Deviation

The mean in tossing 3 coins with probability of Head will show up is 0.86 and the
variance is 0.74, then the standard deviation is 0.86.

What I Can Do: Performance Task#1

Make a study about how many sheets of paper you consumed weekly in answering your Self
Learning Modules. Record the quantity (total number of sheets) per subject, then construct a
probability distribution. Compute the mean, variance, and the standard deviation of the
probability distribution you made. Interpret the result, then find out how many weeks you will
consume 50 sheets of pad paper.