Scribd
Upload
216 views17 pages

Computing The Mean of A Discrete Probability Distribution

The document discusses calculating the mean of discrete probability distributions. It provides examples of finding the mean for distributions describing the number of tails when tossing coins and the number of items customers buy at a grocery store. The mean is the average value and is calculated by taking the sum of each value multiplied by its probability. For the coin example, the mean number of tails is 1.5. For the grocery example, the mean number of items bought is 3.1.

Uploaded by

Mary Cris Go
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
216 views17 pages

Computing The Mean of A Discrete Probability Distribution

The document discusses calculating the mean of discrete probability distributions. It provides examples of finding the mean for distributions describing the number of tails when tossing coins and the number of items customers buy at a grocery store. The mean is the average value and is calculated by taking the sum of each value multiplied by its probability. For the coin example, the mean number of tails is 1.5. For the grocery example, the mean number of items bought is 3.1.

Uploaded by

Mary Cris Go
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 17

Computing the mean of

a Discrete Probability
Distribution
Statistics and Probability

Objectives
| Illustrate and calculate the mean of
a discrete random variable
| Interpret the mean of a discrete
random variable
| Solve problems involving mean of
probability distribution
Statistics and Probability

Recall
| Mean
Statistics and Probability
Statistics and Probability

Number of Tails Y Probability P(Y) Y·P(Y)

0 1/8

1 3/8

2 3/8

3 1/8

Find the mean µ


Statistics and Probability

So, the mean of the probability


distribution is 1.5. This implies that the
average number of tails that will occur in
tossing three coins is 1.5.
Statistics and Probability

The probabilities that a customer will buy


1,2,3,4 or 5 items in a grocery store are 3/10,
1/10, 1/10, 2/10, and 3/10, respectively. What is
the average number of items that customers
will buy? Number of items X Probability P(X) X·P(X)

1 3/10

2 1/10

3 1/10

4 2/10
Find µ 5 3/10
Statistics and Probability

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.
Computing the variance
of a Discrete Probability
Distribution
Statistics and Probability

Steps in finding the variance


1| Find the mean of the probability
distribution.
2| Multiply the square of the value of
the random variable X by its
corresponding probability.
Statistics and Probability

Steps in finding the variance


3| Get the sum of the results obtained
in Step 2.
4| Subtract the square of the mean
from the results obtained in Step 3.
Statistics and Probability

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
mean, variance and the standard
deviation of the probability distribution.
Statistics and Probability

Number of Cars Sold


Probability P(x)
X
0 1/10
1 2/10
2 3/10
3 2/10
4 2/10
Statistics and Probability

The number of computers sold per day at


a local computer store, along with its
corresponding probabilities. Find the
mean, variance and standard deviation.
Statistics and Probability

Number of Computers P(X)


sold X

0 0.1
1 0.2
2 0.3
3 0.2
4 0.2
Statistics and Probability

In a convenient store, the number of


tellers (X) busy with customers at 12:00
noon varies from day to day. Past records
indicate that the probability distribution
of X is as follows:
Statistics and Probability

Number of Tellers P(X)


(X)
0 0.029
1 0.049
2 0.078
3 0.155
4 0.212
5 0.262
6 0.215

You might also like