EXPLORING
RANDOM
VARIABLES
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, the
students must be able to:
1. illustrate a random variable;
2. classify random variables as
discrete or continuous; and
3. find the possible values of a
random variable.
GUESS ME!
Arrange the jumbled
letters in order for you to
guess the correct term that
is being described.
An activity that
produces results.
PREMEN EXIT
_E _X _P _E _R _I M_ _E N_ T_
A result of an
experiment.
MECU TOO
_O _U _T _C _O M_ _E
The collection of all
outcomes of the
experiment.
PALM ESCAPES
_S _A M_ _P _L E_ _S _P A_ _C _E
A subset of a sample
space.
V TEEN
_E _V _E N_ T_
A characteristic or
attribute that can assume
different values.
ALIVE BAR
_V A_ R_ _I A_ _B _L _E
List the sample space of the
following experiments.
EXPERIMENT SAMPLE SPACE
1. Tossing a coin
three times
2. Rolling two dice
3. Getting the
gender of the
children if a family
has three children
List the sample space of the
following experiments.
EXPERIMENT SAMPLE SPACE
1. Tossing a coin three times S = {(HHH), (HHT), (HTH), (HTT),
(THH), (THT), (TTH), (TTT)}
2. Rolling two dice S = {(1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (1,6),
(2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2,6),
(3, 1), (3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3,6),
(4, 1), (4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 4), (4, 5), (4,6),
(5, 1), (5, 2), (5, 3), (5, 4), (5, 5), (5,6),
(6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (6, 5), (6,6)}
3. Getting the gender of the children if a S = {(BBB), (BBG), (BGB), (GBB), (GGG),
family has three children (GGB), (GBG), (BGG)}
Illustration:
Suppose three cell phones are
tested at random. We want to find
out the number of defective cell
phones that occur.
Illustration:
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable X
(number of defective cell phones)
Illustration:
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable X
(number of defective cell phones)
NNN 0
NND 1
NDN 1
DNN 1
NDD 2
DND 2
DDN 2
DDD 3
Illustration:
Suppose three coins are tossed.
Let Y be the random variable
representing the number of tails
that occur. Find the values of the
random variable Y. Complete the
table.
Illustration:
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable Y
(number of tails)
Illustration:
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable Y
(number of tails)
TTT 3
TTH 2
THT 2
HTT 2
HHT I
HTH 1
THH 1
HHH 0
RANDOM VARIABLE
A variable whose values are determined by
chance.
DISCRETE VARIABLE
Assume values that can be counted.
CONTINUOUS VARIABLE
can assume an infinite number of values
between any two specific values. They are
obtained by measuring. They often include
fractions and decimals.
Random Variables
Example :
Decide if the random variable x is discrete or continuous.
a.) The distance your car travels on a tank of gas
The distance your car travels is a continuous random
variable because it is a measurement that cannot be
counted. (All measurements are continuous random
variables.)
b.) The number of students in a statistics class
The number of students is a discrete random
variable because it can be counted.
Random Variable
• Current Ratio of a motorcycle
distributorship
• Elapsed time between arrivals
of bank customers
• Percent of the labor force that is
unemployed
Random Variable
• Number of new subscribers
to a magazine
• Number of bad checks
received by a restaurant
• Number of absent employees
on a given day
Exercises:
1. Four coins are tossed. Let Z be
the random variable representing
the number of heads that occur.
Find the values of the random
variable Z.
Exercises:
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable Z
ANSWER
1.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable Z
(number of heads)
HHHH 4
HHHT 3
HHTH 3
HHTT 2
HTHH 3
HTHT 2
HTTH 2
HTTT 1
1.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable Z
(number of heads)
THHH 3
THHT 2
THTH 2
THTT 1
TTHH 2
TTHT 1
TTTH 1
TTTT 0
Exercises:
2. Two balls are drawn in
succession without replacement
from a box containing 5 red balls
and 6 blue balls. Let X be the
random variable representing the
number of blue balls. Find the
values of the random variable X.
Exercises:
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable X
2.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Value of the Random Variable X
(number of blue balls)
BR 1
RB 1
RR 0
BB 2
Let’s Go!
Exercises:
3. Classify the following random
variables as discrete or continuous.
a. Number of pizzas sold by Pizza Express
each day.
b. Relative humidity levels in operating
rooms at local hospitals. ( )
c. Number of bananas in a bunch at
several local supermarkets.
d. Lifetimes (in hours) of 15 iPad batteries.
e. Weights of the backpacks of first graders
on a school bus.
f. Number of students each day who make
appointments with a math tutor at a local
college.
g. Blood pressures of runners in a marathon.
3.
a. Number of pizzas sold by Pizza Express
each day. (Discrete)
b. Relative humidity levels in operating
rooms at local hospitals. (Continuous)
c. Number of bananas in a bunch at
several local supermarkets. (Discrete)
d. Lifetimes (in hours) of 15 iPod batteries.
(Continuous)
e. Weights of the backpacks of first graders
on a school bus. (Continuous)
f. Number of students each day who make
appointments with a math tutor at a local
college. (Discrete)
g. Blood pressures of runners in a marathon.
(Continuous)