Histogram of the

Probability Mass Function

of a Discrete Random
Variable
 HISTOGRAM
◦It is a display of statistical information that
uses rectangles to show the frequency of data
items in successive numerical intervals of
equal size. In the most common form of
histogram the independent variable is plotted
along the horizontal axis and the dependent
variable is plotted along the vertical axis.
Example 1: Create the corresponding histogram for
the number of heads when a coin is tossed twice.

x P(x)
0 ¼
1 ½
2 ¼
Create the corresponding histogram with the x-axis as the
expected outcome and y-axis as the probability of each
outcome.
Example 2: Find the probability mass function of throwing
a pair of dice, draw its corresponding histogram.

- Construct the table containing the random variable.

Then, identify all possible outcomes.
- Group the possible outcomes in such a way that the sums
of the two numbers appearing on the dice are the same.
- Count the occurrence of each possible outcome. The
expected outcome is the sum of the numbers appearing
on the dice.
- Determine the probability of each outcome.
Example 2: Find the probability mass function of throwing
a pair or dice, draw its corresponding histogram.
Possible Outcome Expected Outcome
(1, 1) 2
(1,2),(2,1) 3
(1,3),(2,2),(3,1) 4
(1,4),(2,3),(3,2),(4,1) 5
(1,5),(2,4),(3,3),(4,2),(5,1) 6
(1,6),(2,5),(3,4),(4,3),(5,2),(6,1) 7
(2,6),(3,5),(4,4),(5,3),(6,2) 8
(3,6),(4,5),(5,4),(6,3) 9
(4,6),(5,5),(6,4) 10
(5,6),(6,5) 11
(6,6) 12
Determine the probability of each outcome.

𝟏 𝟒 𝟏
or
𝟑𝟔
When x = 2, P(2) = __________ When x = 5, P(5) = _________
𝟑𝟔 𝟗
𝟐 𝟏 𝟓
or
When x = 3, P(3) = __________
𝟑𝟔 𝟏𝟖 When x = 6, P(6) = _________
𝟑𝟔
𝟑 𝟏 𝟔 𝟏
or or
𝟑𝟔 𝟏𝟐
When x = 4, P(4) = __________ When x = 7, P(7) = _________
𝟑𝟔 𝟔
Determine the probability of each outcome.

𝟓 𝟐 𝟏
or
When x = 8, P(8) = __________
𝟑𝟔 When x = 11, P(11) = __________
𝟑𝟔 𝟏𝟖
𝟒 𝟏 𝟏
or
When x = 9, P(9) = __________
𝟑𝟔 𝟗 When x = 12, P(12) = __________
𝟑𝟔
𝟑 𝟏
or
When x = 10, P(10) = ________
𝟑𝟔 𝟏𝟐
 Construct a table for the expected outcome, x, and
their corresponding probabilities, P(x).
x P(x)
2 1/36
3 1/18
4 1/12
5 1/9
6 5/36
7 1/6
8 5/36
9 1/9
10 1/12
11 1/18
12 1/36
Create the corresponding histogram with the x axis as the
expected outcome and y-axis as the probability of each
outcome.