JIM 104:

Introduction to Statistics

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noraida Abdul Ghani

School of Distance Education
UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

CHAPTER 5
DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTIONS.
construct

a probability distribution for a

random variable
find

the mean, variance, standard

deviation and expected value for a

discrete random variable.

 find

the exact probability for X successes

in n trials of a binomial experiment.

find

the mean, variance, and standard

deviation for the variable of a binomial

distribution.

 find

probabilities for outcomes of

variables, using the poisson,

hypergeometric, and multinomial

distribution.

RANDOM VARIABLE
A

random variable is a variable whose

values are determined by chance.

A

random variable is usually denoted by

capital letters such as X,Y, Z etc.

Random Variable
Discrete

Continuous

-finite number of
possible values,
i.e.,countable

- infinite number of
possible values, i.e.,
not countable

examples:
- no. of phone calls
received after a TV
commercial,
- no. of joggers at a park

examples:
- height of a person
- weight of products.

DISCRETE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION

Consists of values a random variable can

take & the corresponding probabilities of the
values

Probabilities are determined theoretically or

by observation.

Example of a Random Variable X

Experiment : A die is rolled once

Let X = the outcome
X = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Example
Construct a probability distribution for
rolling a single die
Outcome X

Probability
P(X)

1
6

1
6

1
6

1
6

1
6

1
6

P(x)

1
6
1

3 4

Example

Construct a probability distribution for

tossing 3 coins and let X = number of
heads.

1
2
1
2
1
2

1
2

H
1
2
1
2

T
1
2

1
2

Outcomes

HHH

HHT

HTH

HTT

THH

THT

TTH

1
H
2 1
2
T
1
2 1 H
2
1
2 1
2

TTT

P(x)
1
8
1
8
1
8
1
8
1
8
1
8
1
8
1
8

P(X)

1
8

3
8

3
8

1
8

Properties of a Probability Distribution

1. The sum of the probabilities of all the

events in sample space must equal 1; i.e.,

P X 1
2. The probability of each event in the sample

space must be between or equal to 0 and 1,

i.e., 0 P X 1

Example

Determine whether each distribution is a

probability distribution.
a.

b.

X
P(X)

10

15

20

1
5

1
5

1
5

1
5

1
5

P(X)

-0.1

1.5

0.3

0.2

c.

d.

P(X)

9
16

1
16

1
8

1
4

P(X)

0.5

0.3

0.4

Solution

a. Yes, it is a probability distribution

b. No, it is not a probability

distribution, since P(X) cannot be
1.5 or -1.0.
c. Yes, it is a probability distribution.
d. No, it is not, since P(X) 1.2

Mean of a Probability
Distribution
X1 P X1 X 2 P(X 2 ) (X3 ) P(X3 )

X n P(X n )

X P(X) Xi P(Xi )
i

where X1, X2, X3, , Xn are the outcomes and

P(Xi) are the corresponding probabilities.

Example

In a family with two children, find the

mean of the number of children who will
be girls. Let X = number of girls.
1
2
1
2

B
1
2

1
2

1
2

1
2

B
G
B
G

P(X)

1
4

1
4
1
4
1
4

1
2

Solution
The probability distribution is as follows:

Number of girls X

Probability P(X)

1
4

1
2

1
4

Hence, the mean is

1
1
1
X.P X 0. 1. 2. 1
4
2
4

Example
If three coins are tossed, find the mean
of the number of heads that occur.
Solution

The probability distribution is

Number of heads X

Probability P(X)

1
8

3
8

3
8

1
8

X
Probability P(X)

1
8

3
8

3
8

1
8

X.P X

1
3
3
1
0. 1. 2. 3.
8
8
8
8
12
1

1 or 1.5
8
2
Note: The value 1.5 cannot occur as an outcome. Nevertheless, it is
the long-run or theoretical average.

Example

The probability distribution shown

represents the number of trips of five
nights or more that American adults take
per year. (That is, 6% do not take any
trips lasting five nights or more, 70% take
one trip lasting five nights or more per
year, etc.) Find the mean.
1
2
3
4
Number of trips 0
X
Probability P(X) 0.06 0.70 0.20 0.03 0.01

P(X)

0.06

0.70 0.20 0.03 0.01

Solution

X.P X

0 0.06 1 0.70 2 0.20

3 0.03 4 0.01
0 0.70 0.40 0.09 0.04
1.23 1.2

Hence, the mean of the number of trips lasting five nights or

more per year taken by American adults is 1.2

Variance of a Probability Distribution

X P(X)
2

Standard deviation of a probability

distribution is

X .P(X)
2

Remember that the variance and

standard deviation cannot be negative.

Example

Five balls numbered 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8

are placed in a bag. After the balls

are mixed, one is selected, its number
is noted, and then it is replaced. If this
experiment is repeated many times,
find the variance and standard
deviation of the numbers on the balls.

Solution
Let X be the number on each ball.
The probability distribution is
Number of ball
X

Probability
P(X)

1
5

1
5

1
5

1
5

1
5

P(X)

1
5

2
1
5

4
1
5

8
1
5

1
5

X.P X
1
1
1
1
1
0. 2. 4. 6. 8.
5
5
5
5
5
4.0

X
P(X)

0
1
5

1
5

1
5

1
5

1
5

4.0

2
2

X .P X
2

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
0 . 2 . 4 . 6 . 8 . 4
5
5
5
5
5
24 16
8

8 2.8

P(X)

X.P(X)

X2.P(X)

0
2
4
6
8

0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2

0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6

0
0.8
3.2
7.2
12.8

X.P(X) 4.0
2
2

X .P X
2
24 4 8
2

and

8 2.8

2
X
.P X 24.0

Example
A talk radio station has four telephone

lines. If the host is unable to talk (i.e.,

during a commercial) or is talking to a
person, the other callers are placed on
hold. When all lines are in use, others
who are trying to call in get a busy
signal.

Let X = number of people that get through

with the following probability distribution:

X
P(X)

0.18 0.34 0.23 0.21 0.04

Find the variance and standard

deviation for the distribution.

Should the station have considered

getting more phone lines installed?

P(X)

0.18 0.34 0.23 0.21 0.04

X. P(X)
0.(0.18) 1.(0.34) 2.(0.23)
3.(0.21) 4. 0.04
1.6

P(X)

0.18 0.34 0.23 0.21 0.04

2
2

X P(X)
2
2
2
[0 . (0.18) 1 .(0.34) 2 .(0.23)
2

3 .(0.21) 4 .(0.04)] 1.6

2

1.2

1.2 1.1
2

No. Why?
1.6
The mean number of people calling at any
one time is only 1.6, & there are 4 lines
available
Chebyshevs thm: 75% of data values will
fall within 2 s.d. of the mean of data set

2 1.6 2(1.1) (0.6,3.8)

75% of callers would either get through or
be put on hold since the number of callers
at any given time is in the interval & very
few would get a busy signal

EXPECTED VALUE

E(X) X.P(X)
Expected value is used in various

types of games of chance, in

insurance, and in other areas, such as
decision theory.

Example

One thousand tickets are sold at

$1 each for a colour television

valued at $350. What is the

expected value of the gain if a

person purchases one ticket?

Solution
One thousand tickets are sold at $1 each for
a colour television valued at $350

Gain X
Probability
P(X)

1
1000

Win

Lose

$349

-$1

999
1000

1
999
E X $349.
$1 .
$0.65
1000
1000

1
999
E X $349.
$1 .
$0.65
1000
1000

If a person purchased one ticket each week

over a long time, the average loss would be

$0.65 per ticket, since theoretically, on

average, that person would win the set once

for each 1000 tickets purchased.

Example

One thousand tickets are sold at

$1 each for four prized of $100,
$50, $25, and $10. After each
prize drawing, the winning ticket is
then returned to the pool of tickets.
What is the expected value if a

person purchases two tickets?

One thousand tickets are sold at $1 each for four prized of $100, $50, $25, and $10

Gain X

$98

Probability
P(X)

2
1000

$48 $23
2
1000

$8

-$2

2
2
992
1000 1000 1000

2
2
2
E X $98.
$48.
$23.
1000
1000
1000
2
992
$8.
$2 .
1000
1000
$1.63

An alternate solution is

2
2
E X $100.
$50.
1000
1000
2
2
$25.
$10.
$2
1000
1000
$1.63

BINOMIAL DISTRIBUTION

A binomial experiment is a probability

experiment that satisfies the following
four requirements:
1. There must be fixed number of trials.
2. Each trial can have only two
outcomes or outcomes that can be
reduced to two outcomes. These
outcomes can be considered as either
success or failure.

3. The outcomes of each trial must be

independent of each other.

4. The probability of a success must

remain the same for each trial.

The outcomes of a binomial experiment

and the corresponding probabilities of

these outcomes are called a binomial

distribution.

Notation for the Binomial Distribution

P(S) The symbol for the probability of
success
P(F) The symbol for the probability of
failure
p
The numerical probability of a
success
q
The numerical probability of a
failure
P(S) = p and
P(F) = 1 p = q; p+q=1

n
X

The number of trials

The number of successes in n trials

Note that

0 X n and X 0, 1, 2, 3,...., n

Binomial Distribution
In a binomial experiment, the
probability of exactly X successes in n
trials is

n!
X n X
P X
p q
n X !X!
Alternatively,
we write X

Binomial (n, p)

Example

A survey found that one out of five

Americans say he or she has visited a
doctor in any given month. If 10
people are selected at random, find
the probability that exactly 3 will have
visited a doctor last month.

Solution

Let X = number of people that visited

the doctor last month,

1
4
n 10, X 3, p , and q . Hence,
5
5
3

10!
1 4
P 3
0.201
10 3!3! 5 7

Example

A survey from Teenage Research

Unlimited (Northbrook, Illinois) found
that 30% of teenage consumers
receive their spending money from
part-time jobs. If 5 teenagers are
selected at random, find the probability
that at least 3 of them will have part
time jobs.

Solution
Let X= number of people with parttime jobs
n = 5,
p = 0.3,
q = 0.7
P( least 3 have part-time jobs)
= P(X=3 or X=4 or X=5)
= P(X=3)+P(X=4)+P(X=5)

5!
3
2
P 3
0.3 0.7 0.132
5 3!3!
5!
4
1
P 4
0.3 0.7 0.028
5 4 !4!
5!
5
0
P 5
0.3 0.7 0.002
5 5!5!

Hence,
P (at least three teenagers have

part-time jobs)
= P(X = 3) + P(X = 4) + P(X = 5)
= 0.132 + 0.028 + 0.002
= 0.162

Example

Suppose X

Binomial (3, 0.05).

Find P( X = 2) using Table B.

Solution
Since n = 3, X = 2, and p = 0.5,
the value 0.375 is found as shown:

p= 0.5

p
n

0.05 0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0
1
2
3

0.125

n=3

0.375

0.375

0.125

X=2

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

0.95

Example

Public Opinion reported that 5% of

Americans are afraid of being alone in a

house at night. If a random sample of
20 Americans is selected, find these

probabilities by using the binomial table.

a)P(There are exactly 5 people in the

sample who are afraid of being alone
at night)
n = 20, p = 0.05, and X = 5.
From the table, one gets 0.002

b) P(There are most 3 people in the

sample who are afraid of being alone
at night)
n = 20 and p = 0.05.
At most 3 people means
X = 0, or X = 1, or X = 2, or

X = 3.

P(0) + P(1) + P(2) + P(3)

= 0.358 + 0.377 + 0.189 + 0.060

= 0.984

c) P(There are at least 3 people in the

sample who are afraid of being alone
at night).

P(X 3, 4,5,..., 20)

1 P(X 0,1, 2)
= 1 - {P(0) + P(1) + P(2)}
= 1 - {0.358 + 0.377 + 0.189}

= 1 - 0.924
= 0.076

Mean, Variance, and Standard

Deviation for the Binomial Distribution
B(n,p)

Mean:

n.p

Variance:

n.p.q
2

Standard deviation:

n.p.q
2

Example

A coin is tossed 4 times. Find the mean,

variance, and standard deviation of the
number of heads that will be obtained.
n = 4, p = , and q =
1
n.p 4. 2
2

1 1
n.p.q 4. . 1
2 2
2

and 1 1

Example

A die is rolled 480 times. Find the

mean, variance, and standard

deviation of the number of 2s that

will be rolled.

Solution

n = 480, p =P(getting a 2)=1/6

and q = P(not getting a 2)=5/6

1
n.p 480. 80
6
1 5
2
n.p.q 480. 66.7
6 6
n.p.q 66.7 8.2

OTHER TYPES OF DISTRIBUTIONS

Multinomial Distribution
If X consists of events E1, E2 ,E3, ,
with corresponding probabilities of
occurring, p1, p2,p3, , and X1 is the
number of times E1 will occur, X2 is
the number of times E2 will occur , etc..
then the probability that X will occur is
n!
X1 X 2
Xk
P X
p1 p2 ...pk
X1 ! X 2 ! X3 ! ... X k !

Multinomial Distribution
n!
X1 X 2
Xk
P X
p1 p2 ...pk
X1 ! X 2 ! X3 ! ... X k !

where

X1 X 2 X3 ... X K n
and
p1 p 2 p3 ... p K 1.

Example

In a large city, 50% of the people

choose a movie, 30% choose dinner
and a play, and 20% choose shopping
as a leisure activity. If a sample of five
people is randomly selected, find the
probability that three are planning to go
to a movie, one to a play, and one to a
shopping mall.

Solution

n = 5, X1 = 3, X2 = 1, X3 = 1,
p1 = 0.50, p2 = 0.30, and p3 = 0.20.

P(X) P X1 3, X2 1, X3 1
5!
3
1
1

.(0.50) (0.30) (0.20)

3!.1!.1!
0.15

Example

A box contains four white balls, three

red balls, and three blue balls. A ball is

selected at random, and its color is

written down. It is replaced each time.

Find the probability that if five balls are

selected, two are white, two are red,

and one is blue.

Solution

n = 5, X1 = 2, X2 = 2, X3 = 1;

4
3
3
p1
, p 2 , and p3 ; hence;
10
10
10
2

5! 4 3 3
81
P X

2!2!1! 10 10 10 625

multinomial distribution is similar to the

binomial distribution
but has the advantage of allowing one to
compute probabilities when there are more
than two outcomes for each trial in the
experiment
the multinomial distribution is a general
distribution, and the binomial distribution is
a special case of the multinomial
distribution.

Poisson Distribution
X

e
P(X : )
, x 0,1,2,...
X!
X are occurrences in an interval of time,
volume , area, etc.,

is the mean number of occurrences per

unit (time, volume, area. etc)

e 2.7183

Example

If there are 200 typographical

errors randomly distributed in a

500-page manuscript, find the
probability that a given page
contains exactly three errors.

Solution
Since there are 200 errors distributed
over 500 pages, number of error per
200
2
page is
0.4
500 5

X = 3,

e
P X;
X!

2.7183 0.4

0.4

3!

0.0072

=
X

0.4

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

0
1

2
3
X=
3

0.007
2

Example

A sales firm receives, on the average,

three calls per hour on its toll-free
number. For any given hour, find the
probability that it will receive the
following.
(a) At most three calls
(b) At least three calls

(c) Five or more calls.

Solution:

(a) At most three calls means

X = 0, 1, 2, or 3 calls.
Hence,

P(0;3) + P(1;3) + P(2;3) + P(3;3)

= 0.0498 +0.1494 + 0.2240

+ 0.2240
= 0.6472

(b)P(at least three calls)

=1 - P(0, 1, 2 calls)
=1 - {P(0; 3) + P(1; 3) + P(2; 3)}
=1 - { 0.0498 + 0.1494 + 0.2240
= 1 - 0.4232
= 0.5768

c) P(five or more calls)

= 1- P(0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 calls)
= 1-{P(0;3) + P(1;3) + P(2;3) + P(3;3)+
P(4; 3)}
= 1-{ 0.0498 + 0.1494 + 0.2240 +
0.2240 + 0.1680}
= 1- 0.8152
= 0.1848

NOTE
The Poisson distribution can also be
used to approximate the binomial
distribution when the expected value
is less than 5. (The same is true when

n.q < 5.)

B(n, p)
Poisson( ), where np

Example

If approximately 2% of the

people in a room of 200

people are left-handed, find

the probability that exactly five

people there are left-handed.
X B(200,0.02)
Poisson(4), where np 200(0.02) 4

Solution

n.p, then 200 0.02 4.

Hence,
P X; P 5;4

2.7183 4

5!

0.1563

Hypergeometric Distribution

Given a population with only two

types of objects (female and
males, defective and
nondefective, successes or
failures, etc.), such that there are
a items of one kind and b items of
another kind and a + b equals the
total population,

the probability P(X) of selecting

without replacement a sample of
size n with X items of type a and n
X items of type b is

P(X)

Cx

Cn X
or
a b Cn
b

a b

x n X

P(X)
a b

Example

Ten people apply for a job as

assistant manager of a restaurant.
Five have completed college and
five have not. If the manager
selects three applicants at random,
find the probability that all three are
college graduates.

Solution

a = 5 college graduates
b = 5 non graduates
n = 3
X = 3
n X = 0.

C3 5C0 10 1
P(X 3)

120 12
10 C3
5

Example

A lot of 12 compressor tanks is

checked to see whether there are
any defective tanks. Three tanks
are checked for leaks. If one or
more of the three is defective, the
lot is rejected. Find the probability
that the lot will be rejected if there
are actually three defective tanks
in the lot.

Solution

Since the lot is rejected if at least

one tank is found to be defective,

it is necessary to find the

probability that none are

defective and subtract this

probability from 1.

a = 3, b = 9, n= 3,
X = number of defective;

P(Lot is rejected)
= P(at least 1 defective)
=1-P(no defective)
=1-P(X=0)

C0

C3

12

C3

1 0.38 0.62

SUMMARY OF DISCRETE DISTRIBUTIONS

1.

Binomial distribution

X B(n,p)
n!
X
n X
P(X)
p q
(n X)!X!

n.p

n.p.q

Used when there are only two independent outcomes for a

fixed number of independent trials and the probability for

each success remains the same for each trials.

2.

Multinomial distribution

n!
X
X
X
P(X)
p1 p2 ..., pK
X1 ! X 2 ! X3 ! ... X K !

where
X1 X 2 X3 ... X K n
and
p1 p 2 p3 ... p K 1
Used when the distribution has more than two outcomes,
the probabilities for each trial remain constant, outcomes

are independent, and there are a fixed number of trials.

3.

Poisson distribution

Poisson( )

e
P(X; )
X!

where 0, 1, 2, ...

Used when n is large and p is small, the independent

variable occurs over a period of time, or a density of items
is distributed over a given area or volume.

4.

Hypergeometric distribution

P(X)

Cx

Cn X
a b Cn
b

Used when there are two

outcomes and sampling is done
without replacement.

THANK YOU