Random Variable

Random Variable

 Isdefined as a special kind f function that

associates a real number to each element
in the sample space.
 We use the random variables when we
want to look at the probability that a
certain number will occur rather than the
probability of an event that gives that
number
Variable

A variable is a quantity whose value

changes
Two types of Variable

 Discrete Variable

 Continuous Variable
Discrete Variable

 A Discrete variable is a variable whose value is

obtained by counting.

 Examples: number of students present
 number of red marbles in a
jar
 number of heads when
flipping three coins
 students’ grade level
Continuous Variable

 A Continuous variable is a variable whose value

is obtained by measuring.

 Examples: height of students in class
 weight of students in class
 time it takes to get to school
 distance traveled between classes
Consider a random experiment of rolling two dice, there are 36 different
outcomes.

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6

2 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6

3 3,1 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5 3,6

4 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 4,6

5 5,1 5,2 5,3 5,4 5,5 5,6

6 6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6

Sum of the Number of Dots Outcomes
2 (1,1)
3 (1,2), (2,1)
4 (1,3), (2,2), (3,1)
5 (1,4),(2,3), (3,2),(4,1)
6 (1,5),(2,4),(3,3),(4,2),(5,1)
7 (1,6), (2,5), (3,4), (4,3), (5,2), (6,1)
8 (2,6),(3,5),(4,4), (5,3),(6,2)
9 (3,6),(4,5),(5,4),(6,3)
10 (4,6), (5,5), (6,4)
11 (5,6), (6,5)
12 (6,6)
Itcan be seen that the sum of the
number of dots appearing on the
rolling of pair of dice are
2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, and 12. These
are the Random variables.
Values of Random Variable X
(Sum of the Number of Dots) Outcomes

2 (1,1)
3 (1,2), (2,1)
4 (1,3), (2,2), (3,1)
5 (1,4),(2,3), (3,2),(4,1)
6 (1,5),(2,4),(3,3),(4,2),(5,1)
7 (1,6), (2,5), (3,4), (4,3), (5,2), (6,1)
8 (2,6),(3,5),(4,4), (5,3),(6,2)
9 (3,6),(4,5),(5,4),(6,3)
10 (4,6), (5,5), (6,4)
11 (5,6), (6,5)
12 (6,6)
Consider another random variable Y representing the number
of heads in tossing 3 fair coins. Find the value of the random
variable

Random of Random Variable Y Outcomes

3 (HHH)

2 (HHT), (THH), (HTH)

1 (HTT), (THT), (TTH)

0 (TTT)
Thus, the possible values for
the random variable Y are
0,1,2,3