Name:
Grade and Section:
CONCEPT NOTES #4 – DAY 4
(MEAN OF A DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE)
DISCUSSION:
• Mean (μ) of a Discrete Random Variable - is the central value or average of its
corresponding probability mass function. It is also called as the Expected Value. It is
computed using the formula: μ = ∑ XP(x) - Where x is the outcome and p(x) is the
probability of the outcome.
• Example #1: Determine the mean or Expected Value of random variable below.
X 0 1 2 3 4
P(x) 1 1 1 1 1
5 5 5 5 5
Solution: μ = ∑ ⟮XP(x)⟯
1 1 1 1 1
= ∑ (0 ( ) + 1 ( ) + 2 ( ) + 3 ( ) + 4 ( ))
5 5 5 5 5
1 2 3 4
= ∑ (0 + + + + )
5 5 5 5
10
= 𝑜𝑟 2
5
Therefore, mean is 2 for the above random variable.
• Example #2: Find the mean of the random variable Y representing the number of
red color chocolates per 160-gram pack of colored chocolate packages that has the
following probability distribution.
Y 4 5 6 7
P(y) 0.10 0.37 0.33 0.20
Solution: μ = ∑ ⟮YP(y)⟯
= ∑(4(0.10) + 5(0.37) + 6(0.33) + 7(0.20))
= ∑(0.40 + 1.85 + 1.98 + 1.40)
= 5.63
So, the mean of the probability distribution is 5.63. This implies that the
average number of red chocolates per 160-gram is 5.63.
• Example #2: The probabilities that a customer will buy 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 items in a grocery
3 1 1 2 3
store are , , , , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 , respectively. What is the average number of
10 10 10 10 10
items that a customer will buy?
To solve the above problem, we will follow 3 steps below:
STEPS IN FINDING THE MEAN
Step 1: Construct the probability distribution for the random variable X
Step 2: Multiply the value of the random variable X by the corresponding
probability.
Step 3: Add the results obtained in Step 2. Results obtained is the mean of the
probability distribution.
STEP 1: Construct the probability distribution for the random variable X
representing the number of items that the customer will buy.
Number of Items X Probability P(X)
1 3
10
2 1
10
3 1
10
4 2
10
5 3
10
STEP 2: Multiply the value of the random variable X (which is the number of spots)
by the corresponding probability.
Number of Items X Probability P(X) X * P(X)
1 3 3
10 10
2 1 2
10 10
3 1 3
10 10
4 2 8
10 10
5 3 15
10 10
STEP 3: Add the results obtained in Step 2. Results obtained is the mean of
the probability distribution.
3 2 3 8 15 31
Σ[X ∗ P(X)] = + + + + = = 3.1
10 10 10 10 10 10
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.