1.

illustrate random variable (discrete and continuous),

2. distinguish between a discrete and a continuous random variable,
3. find the possible values of a random variable, and
4. illustrate a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and its properties.

Read and answer each question. Write your answer in capital letters before the number.
1. Which of the following situations represents a random variable?
A. The career choices of randomly selected SHS students
B. The SHS program offered by randomly selected schools
C. The number of siblings of randomly selected SHS students
D. The highest educational attainment of parents of randomly selected SHS students
For numbers 2 and 3, refer to the following numbered statements.
I. The average age of a class of SHS students
II. The number of printing errors in an edition of a book
III. The combined monthly salary of parents of SHS students
IV. The number of viewers for a particular showing of a television soap
2. Which of these are discrete random variables?
A. I and II B. III and IV C. I and III D. II and IV
3. Which of these are continuous random variables?
A. I and II B. III and IV C. I and III D. II and IV
For numbers 4 to 8, refer to the following situation.

Two dice are thrown. Let represent the sum of the numbers shown when the dice come to rest.

4. How many sample space will there be for the random variable, ?
A. 6 B. 9 C. 11 D. 12

5. Which of the following is NOT a possible outcome of the random variable, ?

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4
6. What is the probability of getting a sum of 7?
A. B. C. D.
7. Find the probability of getting a sum of 11.
A. B. C. D.
8. Compute the probability of getting a sum of 5.
A. B. C. D.
For numbers t 9
15, refer to given experiment
Three coins are tossed simultaneously.
�represent
Let the number of tails that
appear when the coins come to rest.

9. How many outcomes are possible for the random variable, X?

A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 8

10. What is the probability that 2 tails will appear?

 A. 0 B. 0.125 C. 0.375 D. 1

11. Compute the probability that 1 tail will appear.

A. 0 B. 0.125 C. 0.375 D. 1

12. Determine the probability that no tail will appear.

A. 0 B. 0.125 C. 0.375 D. 1
13. What is the probability that 3 tails will appear.

A. 0 B. 0.125 C. 0.375 D. 1

C.
0 0 0.375
1 0.25 2 0.375
2 0.50 3 0.125
3 0.25 4 0

LESSON 1: RANDOM VARIABLES AND PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION

In general, when all the outcomes are equally likely, the probability of a particular event occurs is

.
Example:
Suppose a fair coin is tossed, there are two possible outcomes which are head and tail. It is assumed that the
outcomes are equally likely because the coin is fair. Therefore, the probability of tossing a head is

When outcomes are not equally likely, the relative frequency of historic data is used and the probability of an
event occuring is

.
Example:
Suppose that one wants to calculate the probability that an electronic chip produced by a machine is
defective. If records show that out of 8000 electronic chips already produced by the machine only 80 were
defective then an estimate of the probability of a defective chip is

The outcome of the probability experiments is a numerical value. When this occurs, the outcome is called a
random variable. Informally, a random variable is a variable whose numerical value is determined by the
outcome of a random procedure. What makes it random is that the observed value of the random variable
cannot be determined until a random procedure is carried out. A random variable is associated to observations
in the real world where uncertainty is involved.

The following are examples of random variables because the outcomes are numbers.

Values of
Random Variable
Random Variable
The number of boys in a family of 3 children 0, 1, 2, or 3
The temperature in Baguio City on a particular day From 8.5 oC to 29 oC
The percentage of SHS students infected by COVID
From 0 % to 100 %
19 in CAR
The age of a child selected at random From 1 to 17 years
old
The number of phone calls received by a food
0, 1, 2, 3, …,
delivery service crew in a day

ACTIVITY
Decide whether the following situations are random variables or not. Write YES if it is a random variable and
NO if it is not on the space provided.

Situation Answer
1. The color of the next car to go past my house

2. The height of a school building selected at random

3. The number of attempts a student needs to pass
his or her NC II assessment
4. The brand of COVID-19 vaccines authorized and
recommended by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) of the Philippines
5. The price of a particular face mask

Are you able to answer all the problems? If yes, you may now check your answers in the Answer Key Section

at the end of the module.

Random Variables
A random experiment is a process by which we observe something uncertain. A sample space is a collection
of all possible outcomes of a random experiment. A sample space may be finite or infinite. Infinite sample
spaces may be discrete or continuous. A random variable is a function defined on a sample space. It takes
specific values and can be thought as a variable whose value depends on the outcome of an uncertain event.

We usually denote random variables by capital letters of the English Alphabet like and its values can
be denoted by its corresponding small letters.

The word “random” in the term “random variable” simply means that the value is uncertain.

Illustrative Example:

Random Experiment
Tossing of a coin

Sample Space
or

Random Variables
(below are two examples from tossing a coin)

Let be the number of heads Let be the number of tails

Values Values

Discrete and Continuous Random Variables

Random variables fall into two distinct types – discrete and continuous. A discrete random variable can only
take some values within a range whereas a continuous random variable can take any value within a range.
The following illustrations show the difference between discrete and continuous variables.
Discrete random variables are countable while continuous random variables are measurable.

The result of throwing a die is a discrete random variable because it can only take some of the values from 1 to
6. On the other hand, the temperature in Baguio City on a particular day is a continuous random variable
because it can take any value within the range 8.5oC to 30oC.

It is usual to give a random variable a label. The probability that takes a particular value, say can then be
written . For instance, the probability that takes a value of can be written .

Consider another example of a random variable: A fair coin is turned vertically on a flat surface. Here are two
related random variables.

• Let be the time between the commencement of the spin and the coin coming to rest, measured
in seconds.
 • Let be the number of tails showing when the coin comes to rest. Then, takes the value if the
coin finishes up „heads‟, or if the coin finishes up „tails‟.

Here, is continuous and is discrete.

Example 1
Decide whether the following random variables are discrete or continuous.

Random Variable Write Discrete or

Continuous
1. The depth of the sea at a randomly chosen
Continuous
point
2. The number of text messages received by
a Toyota service maintenance crew in an Discrete
hour
3. The number of attempts a dart player can
Discrete
hit the target
4. The price of mobile phones in the market Continuous
5. The number of students to graduate from
Discrete
senior high school
6. The percentage of children who received
Continuous
the COVID-19 vaccine
7. The time taken for an athlete to run 1500
Continuous
meters
8. The number of heads when a coin is
Discrete
tossed 10 times in succession

Discrete Random Probability Distribution

Each value of a discrete random variable can be assigned a probability. By listing each value of the random

The probability distribution of a discrete random variable, is a list of all possible values of 𝑋 can take and the
variable with its corresponding probability, a discrete probability distribution is formed.

associated probabilities.

As the probability distribution includes all possible outcomes for , and these outcomes are mutually exclusive
(only one can occur at once) the probability of each value of the discrete random variable is from to . In
notatotion, . The sum of all the probabilities in the probability distribution is . In notation,
. The capital Greek letter sigma denotes summation.

Because probabilities represent relative frequencies, a discrete probability distribution can be graphed with a
relative frequency histogram.

Guidelines in Constructing a Discrete Probability Distribution

 Let be a discrete random variable with possible outcomes
. 1. Make a frequency distribution for the possible
outcomes 2. Find the sum of the frequencies.
3. Find the probability of each possible outcome by dividing its
frequency by the sum of the frequencies.
4. Check that each probability is from to and that the sum of
all probabilities is .

Example 2
A coin is tossed twice. Let be the number of heads observed in tossing of the coin. Construct a probability
distribution of the random variable .

Solution

Frequency Distribution
No. of Frequency of
Heads Outcome

Computing the probability of each outcome

1. Sum of frequencies of outcomes is .
2. Probability of each outcome
a. Probability of getting no head:
Since there is outcome of getting no head and the sum of
frequencies is , then
.

b. Probability of getting head:

There are two outcomes of getting head and the sum of
frequencies is ; thus, the probability of getting head is
 .

c. Probability of getting heads:

The outcome of getting heads is and the sum of frequencies is ; thus, the probability of getting heads is
.

3. Observed that , and .

Also, when and are added, the sum is 1. That is,

Notice that the probabilities of all outcomes are between and ; and the sum of the probabilities of all
outcomes is . Thus, if is the outcome (Number of heads) and is the probability, then the probability
distribution of , the number of heads observed is

Probability Distribution

Relative Frequency Histrogram

of the Probability Distribution
of Example 2

Depending on what is given, the guidelines in constructing a discrete probability distribution may not always be
followed – some steps may be skipped.
Example 3
A survey about mobile phone ownership reports that of the surveyed individuals own at least mobile
phone. Of these, own mobile phones, own mobile phones, own mobile phones and none
owns or more mobile phones. Let be the number of mobile phones owned by an individual. Construct a
probability distribution.

Solution
Probability of each outcome:
a. Probability of no mobile phone
Since the percentage of individuals who own at least mobile phone is 96%, then the precentage of individuals
with no mobile phone is Thus, the probability of no phone is .
Before one can find the probability of owning mobile phone, the probabilities of owning , and mobile
phones shall be computed first. The probability of owning mobile phone is equal to the probability of owning
at least phone minus the probabilities of owning , and mobile phones.

b. Probability of owning mobile phones

To get the probability of owning mobile phones, get the of which is . Thus, the probability
of owning mobile phones is
.
c. Probability of owning mobile phones
The percentage of individuals who own mobile phones is of 96%. Thus, the probability of owning
mobile phones is times , which is or .

d. Probability of owning mobile phones

Of the indviduals who own at least mobile phone, of these own mobile phones. Thus, to get the
probability of owning mobile phones is to multiply by . The answer is or .

e. Probability of owning mobile phones

Because none owns or more mobile phones, the probability of owning mobile phones is or .

f. Probability of owning mobile phone

The sum of the probabilities of owning , and mobile phones is because the probability of owning at
least mobile phone is . The probability of owning mobile phones is minus . The difference is
or .

Observed that , ,
, , , and .
If these probabilities are added the sum is . That is,

The probability distribution of , which is the number of mobile phones owned by an individual is
 Relative Frequency Histrogram of the Probability Distribution
of Example 3

Example 4
At a school fair, there is a spinner with 12 equal sectors. If you spin the spinner and lands on a specific sector,
the number on that sector corresponds to the number of tokens you will win. What is the probability distribution
of X, the number of tokens you will win?

0 4
3 1
1 0

0 2
2 3
1 0

Solution
1. Let be the number of tokens you will win.

From the spinner, the possible outcomes of spinning or the possible values of are and .
Frequency Distribution
No. of Frequency of
Tokens Outcome

2. The sum of frequencies of outcomes is .

3. Probability of each outcome

a. Probability of winning no token
To get the probability of winning no token, get the frequency of outcomes corresponding to which is

then divide it by the sum of frequencies which is . Thus, the probability of winning no token is or

b. Probability of winning token

There are frequencies of winning token and the sum of frequencies is . Thus, the probability of winning

token is or or

c. Probability of winning tokens

From the frequency distribution, there are frequencies of winning tokens. Since the sum of frequencies is

, the probability of winning tokens is .

d. Probability of winning tokens

To get the probability of winning tokens, divide the frequency by the sum of frequencies. Thus, the probability

of of winning tokens is or

e. Probability of winning tokens

Since there is one outcome or frequency of winning tokens and the sum of frequencies is then the

probability of winning tokens is or

4. Looking at the probabilities of each outcome, we see that the probabilities of winning and tokens

are all from to . The sum of these probabilities is .

Probability Distribution

0
1
2
3
4
 Relative Frequency Histrogram of the Probability Distribution
of Example 4

Example 5:
Decide whether the distribution is a probability distribution or not. State your reason.

Solution:
There are two properties to be checked in deciding whether a distribution is a probability distribution. These
are: (1) the probability of each value of the discrete random variable is from to or and (2) the
sum of all probabilities in the probability distribution is or . If one or both of these two properties are
not satisfied, then the distribution is NOT a probability distribution.

a. Check if the probability of each value of the discrete random probability is from to , or it is equal to
or .
Is the probability of from to ?
Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Because is not from and , the first property of a probability distribution is not satisfied.

b. Check if the sum of all probabilities in the distribution is 1.

 .

The sum of the probabilities is not equal to 1. Thus, the second property of the probability distribution is not
also satisfied.

c. Because the two properties of a probability distribution are not satisfied, the distribution is NOT a
probability distribution.

Example 6:
Find the value of to make the distribution a probability distribution.

Solution:
The probability of each value of the random variable and the sum of all probabilities in the distribution must
satisfy the properties of a probability distribution.

a. From the given distribution, is missing. We know that the sum of all probababilities shall be for
the distribution to be a probability distribution. Thus, if we add all probabilities in the distribution the
sum should be . That is,

b. All the probabilities are between to . Thus, the value of

What’s More
Now, it is your turn to apply all the knowledge and skills you have learned on random variables and probability
distribution.
Activity 1
Write Discrete if the random variable can take some values within a range or Continuous if it can take any
value within the range.
Random Variable Answer
1. The number of problems answered correctly in a
test
2. The time taken to serve a customer at a restaurant
3. The price of gasoline at the end of each month
4. The annual rate of return of investment
5. The number of cars parked in the school’s parking
area on each day

Activity 2
Solve the given problem.
In a children‟s game, the die has two faces marked with , two faces marked with , and two faces marked
with .

a. Write down all the possible outcomes that will be shown by throwing two dice then find their
sums.
First Die Second Die Sum
b. Let be the sum
of the numbers.
Construct a
probability
distribution.

c. Construct a frequency histogram of the probability distribution.

Activity 3
Write whether the distribution is a probability distribution or not. State your reason.

Are you able to answer all the problems? If yes, you may now check your answers in the Answer Key Section
at the end of the module.

What I Have Learned

To summarize what you have learned from the discussions on random variables and probability distributions,
accomplish this activity.
1. From the given situation above, give two examples of a random variable that can be done as
experiments.

a.

b.

2. From your examples of a random variable, classify each if it is a discrete or continuous then identify
the possible outcomes of the random variable.
Type of Random Values
Random Variable Variable of the Random
(Discrete or Continuous) Variable

a.

b.
Do any experiments related to
spinning a fair spinner.
 What I Can Do
Conduct an experiment on the following random variables by interviewing 30 households in your community.
Make a summary of your findings by constructing a frequency distribution and a probability distribution for each
of the random variables.

Let be the number of dogs per household

a. Frequency Distribution

b. Probability Distribution

Post
-Assessment

Read and answer each question. Write your answer in capital letters before the number.

1. Which of the following situations represents a random variable? A. The color of

uniforms of a randomly selected basketball team
B. The number of athletes per team who participated in the CARAA
C. The winning teams in the different games in the CARAA
D. The names of the technical working committees for the CARAA

For numbers 2 and 3, refer to the following numbered statements. I. The scores in a 20-
item test of randomly selected SHS students
II. The quarterly average grade of randomly selected SHS students
III. The number of school clubs joined by randomly selected SHS students
IV. The time spent by randomly selected SHS students in accomplishing the test

2. Which of these are discrete random variables?

 A. I and II B. III and IV C. I and III D. II and
IV
3. Which of these are continuous random variables?
A. I and II B. III and IV C. I and III D. II and
IV

For numbers 4 to 10, refer to the following situation.

� dice come to rest.

A fair die has faces marked with , two faces marked with and one face marked with . Two dice of
such are thrown. Let represent the sum of the numbers shown when the
�
4. How many sample space will there be for the random variable, ?
A. 3 B. 5 C. 6 D. 12

5. Which of the following is NOT a sample space of the random variable, ?

A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 7

6. What is the probability of getting a sum of 6?

A. B. C. D.

7. Find the probability of getting a sum of 3.

A. B. C. D.

8. Compute the probability of getting a sum of 5.

A. B. C. D.

9. Which of the following represents the probability distribution of the random variable? A.
C.

B.
D.

10. Which of the following graphs represents the probability distribution of the random
 11. How many outcomes are possible for the random variable, ?
A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3

12. What is the probability that 2 tails will appear?

A. 0 B. 0.25 C. 0.5 D. 1

13. Compute the probability that 1 tail will appear.

A. 0 B. 0.25 C. 0.5 D. 1
14. Determine the probability that no tail will appear.
A. 0 B. 0.25 C. 0.5 D. 1

15. Which of the following represents the probability distribution of the random variable? A.
C.

B.
D.

Additional Activities
 Apply the knowledge and skills that you have learned on random variables and
probability distribution by answering the following questions.

Activity 1
Confirm if the relative frequency histogram represents a probability distribution. State
your reason.

Activity 2
Answer the problem below.
Students are given chances to pass a professional examination. A student who passed is selected at
random. The probability distribution of , the attempt at which this student passed, is given as

a. Write the probability distribution of ?

b. What proportion of the students who passed at the third and final attempt