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Summary Sheet: The Binomial Distribution: N R NR R

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78 views2 pages

Summary Sheet: The Binomial Distribution: N R NR R

Uploaded by

Varul Sinha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Summary sheet: The binomial distribution

N1 Understand and use simple, discrete probability distributions (calculation of mean and
variance of discrete random variables is excluded), including the binomial distribution, as a
model; calculate probabilities using the binomial distribution

The binomial distribution


The binomial distribution can be used to model situations in which
 You are carrying out trials on random samples of size n
 There are two possible outcomes, success (which has a fixed probability p) and failure (which has
a fixed probability q, where q = 1 – p)
 The trials are independent of each other.

The number n and the probability p are called the parameters of the binomial distribution.

The discrete random variable X is the number of successes in the n trials.


The notation X ~ B(n, p) means that X has a binomial distribution with parameters n and p.

For example, you might throw an ordinary dice 20 times, and count the number of times you get a 6. So
X is the number of sixes in the 20 throws. For each throw, the probability of getting a six is 16 . So
X ~ B(20, 16 ) .

Calculating binomial probabilities


If X ~ B(n, p) , the probability that X takes the value r is given by
P( X  r ) n Cr p r (1  p) n r
n n!
where n C r (sometimes written as   or n Cr ) is the binomial coefficient given by n Cr  .
r r !(n  r )!

Using your calculator


Your calculator should have a function for finding binomial probabilities. Make sure you know how to
use this. You enter the values for n and p, and then you can find the probability P( X  r ) for different
values of r.

For example, if X ~ B(25, 0.2) , then P( X  10)  0.01178 (4 s.f.). Check that you get this answer on
your calculator.

Cumulative binomial probabilities


Sometimes you may need to find the probability of a range of results. For example you might want to
find the probability that if you throw a dice 50 times, that you get 5 or fewer sixes. So X ~ B(50, 16 ) and

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Summary sheet: The binomial distribution

you want to find P( X  5) . This is called a cumulative binomial probability, and your calculator should
have a function for this as well.

Check that you get 0.1388 (4 s.f.) for the cumulative probability above, using your calculator.

Sometimes you might need to find a probability such as P( X  7) . If your calculator only gives
cumulative probabilities of the form P( X  n) , then you can write P( X  7)  1  P( X  6) , and so you
can use your calculator to work out P( X  6) first and then find P( X  7) .

Be careful with the wording of questions!


 ‘five or fewer sixes’ means P( X  5)
 ‘fewer than five sixes’ means P( X  5) which is the same as P( X  4)
 ‘five or more sixes’ means P( X  5) which is the same as 1  P( X  4)
 ‘more than five sixes’ means P( X  5) which is the same as 1  P( X  5)

Mean of the binomial distribution


The mean (or expectation) of a binomial distribution X ~ B(n, p) is given by np .

So if you throw a dice 50 times, the mean number of sixes is 50  16  8.33 (3 s.f.).

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integralmaths.org

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