SAPTHAGIRI NPS UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
QUESTION BANK FOR 3rd SEMESTER
MODULE - II: PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
Branch: CSE
Random variables:
In a random experiment, if a real variable is associated with every outcome then it
is called a random variable or stochastic variable. In other words, a random
variable is a function that assigns a real number to every sample point in the
sample space of a random experiment.
Example: While tossing a coin, suppose that the value 1 is associated for the
outcome 'head' and 0 for the outcome 'tail'. We have the sample space
S = {H, T) and if X is the random variable then X (H) = 1 & X(T) = 0
Range of X = {0, 1}.
Discrete and Continuous random variables:
If a random variable takes finite or countably infinite number of values, then it is
called a discrete random variable.
Example - 1
(a) Tossing a coin and observing the outcome.
(b) Tossing coins and observing the number of heads turning up.
If a random variable takes non countable infinite number of values, then it is
called a non-discrete or continuous random variable.
Example - 2
(a) Weight of articles.
(b) Length of nails produced by a machine.
Probability function and Discrete probability distribution
If for each value xi of a discrete random variable X, we assign a real number
p(xi) such that
(1) p(xi) ≥ 0 & (2) ∑ p(xi) = 1
then the function p(x) is called a probability function.
The mean and variance of the discrete probability distribution is defined as
follows.
Mean (μ) = ∑𝑖 𝑥𝑖 . 𝑝(𝑥𝑖 )
Variance (V) = ∑𝑖(𝑥𝑖 − μ)2 . 𝑝(𝑥𝑖 )
Standard deviation (σ) = √𝑉
Problems:
1. A coin is tossed twice. A random variable X represents the number of heads
turning up. Find the discrete probability distribution for X. Also find its
mean and variance.
2. A random variable X has the following probability function
X -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
P(x) K 2k 3k 4k 3k 2k k
Find the value of k and calculate the mean and standard deviation.
Also find P(x≤1), P(x>1) and P(-1<x≤2).
3. The p.d.f of a variate X is given by the following table
x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(x) k 3k 5k 7k 9k 11k 13k
Find the value of k and calculate its mean and standard deviation. Also find
P(x ≥ 5) and P(3< x ≤ 6).
4. A random variable X has the following probability function:
𝑥𝑖 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
P(𝑥𝑖 ) 0.1 k 0.2 2k 0.3 k
Find the value of k and calculate the mean and variance.
5. The p.d.f of a variate X is given by the following table. Find the value of k.
Find the Probability distribution and the distribution function of X. Also
Evaluate P(x<6), P (x ≥ 6) and P (3< x ≤ 6).
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 2
P(x) 0 k 2k 2k 3k k 2k 7k2+k
Binomial Distribution:
If p is the probability of success and q is the probability of failure, the probability
of x successes out of n trials is given by
P(x) = 𝑛𝐶𝑥 𝑝𝑥 𝑞𝑛−𝑥
We form the following probability distribution of [x, P(x)] where x = 0, 1, 2… n
X 0 1 2 … n
P(x) 𝑞𝑛 𝑛𝐶1 𝑞 𝑛−1 1
𝑝 𝑛𝐶2 𝑞 𝑛−2
𝑝 2 𝑝𝑛
It may be observed that the value of P(x) for different values x = 0, 1, 2…n are the
successive terms in the binomial expansion of (𝑞 + 𝑝)𝑛 and accordingly this
distribution is called the Binomial Distribution or Bernoulli Distribution.
∑ P(x) = 𝑞 𝑛 + 𝑛𝐶1 𝑞 𝑛−1 𝑝1 + 𝑛𝐶2 𝑞 𝑛−2 𝑝2 + ⋯ + 𝑝𝑛 = (𝑞 + 𝑝)𝑛 = 1𝑛 = 1
Mean(μ) = 𝑛𝑝
Variance (V) = 𝑛𝑝𝑞
Standard deviation (σ) = √𝑛𝑝𝑞
Problems:
6. When a coin is tossed four times, find the probability of getting
a) Exactly one head b) atmost three heads c) atleast two heads.
1
7. The probability that a pen manufacture by a factory be defective is . If 12
10
such pens are manufactured what is the probability that
(i) Exactly 2 defective
(ii) atleast 2 are defective
(iii) None of them are defective
8. The probability that a person aged 60 years will live up to 70 is 0.65. What
is the probability that out of 10 persons aged 60 atleast 7 of them
will live up to 70.
9. The number of telephone lines busy at an instant of time is a binomial
variate with probability 0.1 that a line is busy. If 10 lines are chosen at
random, what is the probability that (i) no line is busy (ii) all lines are
busy(iii) atleast one line is busy (iv) atmost two lines are busy.
10. In 800 families with 5 children each how many families would be expected
to have (i) Three boys (ii) Five girls (iii) Either two or three boys (iv)
Atmost two girls by assuming probabilities for boys and girls to be equal.
11. Five dice were thrown 96 times and the number of times an odd number
actually turned out in the experiment is given. Fit a binomial distribution to
this data and calculate the expected frequencies.
No of dice showing 1 or 3 or 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Observed frequency 1 10 24 35 18 8
Poisson distribution:
Poisson distribution is regarded as the limiting form of binomial distribution.
When ‘n’ is very large (𝑛 → ∞) and p is a probability of success is very small
(𝑝 → 0) so that np tends to a fixed finite constant say m: then
𝑚 𝑥 𝑒 −𝑚
𝑃(𝑥) =
𝑥!
is known as poison distribution of the random variable X.
Mean(μ) = 𝑚
Variance (V) = 𝑚
Standard deviation (σ) = √𝑚
Problems:
12. In a certain factory producing razor blades, the probability of any blade
1
being defective is . If blades are supplied in packets of 10, Using Poisson
500
distribution determine the approximate number of packets containing
(i). No defective (ii). One defective (iii). Two defective blades respectively
in a consignment of 10000 packets.
13. The number of accidents in a year to taxi drivers in a city follows a Poisson
distribution, with mean 3. Out of 1000 taxi drivers find approximately the
number of drivers with (i) no accident in a year (ii) more than 3 accidents in
a year.
14. 2% of the fuses manufactured by a firm are found to be defective. Find the
probability that a box containing 200 fuses contains. i) No defective fuses ii)
Three or more defective fuses.
15. If the probability of a bad reaction from a certain injection is 0.001,
determine the chance that out of 2000 individuals, more than two will get a
bad reaction.
16. The probability that a news reader commits no mistake in reading the news
1
is 3. Find the probability that on a particular news broadcast, he commits
𝑒
(i) Only two mistakes (ii) More than three mistakes (iii)
Atmost three mistakes
Continuous Probability Distribution
If for every x belonging to the range of a continuous random variable X, we assign
a real number f(x) satisfying the conditions
∞
1) 𝑓(𝑥) ≥ 0 2) ∫ 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 = 1
−∞
then f(x) is called a continuous probability function or probability density function.
∞
Mean (μ) = ∫−∞ 𝑥. 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥
∞
Variance (V) = ∫−∞(𝑥 − μ)2 . 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥
Problems:
17. A random variable 𝑥 has the following density function
𝑘𝑥 2 , −3 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 3
𝑃(𝑥) = {
0 , 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒
Evaluate 𝑘 and find (𝑖)𝑃(1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2) (𝑖𝑖)𝑃(𝑥 ≤ 2) (𝑖𝑖𝑖)𝑃(𝑥 > 1).
18. If x is a continuous random variable with the probability function given by
𝑘𝑥 2 , 0 ≤ 𝑥 < 2
2𝑘𝑥 , 2 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 4
𝑓(𝑥) = {
6𝑘 , 4 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 6
0 , 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒
Find the value of k and mean.
𝑘𝑥 2 , 0 < 𝑥 < 3
19. Find the constant k such that, 𝑓(𝑥) = { is a probability
0 , 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒
density function. Also compute (i) 𝑃(1 < 𝑥 < 2) (ii) 𝑃(𝑥 ≤ 1)
(𝑖𝑖𝑖)𝑃(𝑥 > 1) (iv) Mean (v) Variance.
Normal Distribution:
The normal distribution is a continuous distribution. It can be derived from the
binomial distribution in the limiting case. When n is very large and p is close to
1⁄ .
2
The standard normal distribution is given by :
1 𝑧 −𝑧 2⁄
𝜙(𝑧) = ∫ 𝑒 2 dz
√2𝜋 0
represents the area under the standard normal curve from 0 to z.
Note:
𝑥−𝜇
𝑧= is the standard normal variate.
𝜎
Problems:
20. If x is normally distributed with mean 12 and SD 4, find the following
i) 𝑃(𝑥 ≥ 20) (ii) 𝑃(𝑥 ≤ 20)(𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 ∅(2) = 0.4772).
21. If x is a normal variate with mean 30 and standard deviation 5 find the
probability that i) 26 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 40 ii)𝑥 ≥ 45. 𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 ∅(0.5) =
0.1915, ∅(1.4) = 0.4192, ∅(3) = 0.4987).
22. In a normal distribution 31% of the items are under 45 and 8% of the items
are over 64. Find the mean and SD of the distribution. (𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 ∅(0.5) =
0.1915, ∅(1.4) = 0.4192).
23. In a test on electric bulbs, it was found that the life time of a particular
brand, was normally distributed with an average life of 2000 hours and
standard deviation of 60 hours. If the firm purchase 2500 bulbs. Estimate the
number of bulbs that are likely to last for i) More than 2100 hours ii) Less
than 1950 hours iii) In between 1900 and 2100 hours.
24. The marks of 1000 students in an examination follows normal distribution
with mean 70 and SD 5. Find the number of students whose marks will be (i)
Less than 65(ii) More than 75 (iii) Between 65 and 75.
[Link] a test on 2000 electric bulbs, it was found that the life of a particular
make, was normally distributed with an average life 2040 hours and standard
deviation of 60 hours. Estimate the number of bulbs likely to burn for i)
More than 2150 hours ii) Less than 1950 hours iii) In between 1920 and
2160 hours.