TUTORIAL 3- PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
1. Consider the following probability distribution.
X 1 2 3 4 5
P(X=x) 0.2 0.25 0.4 a 0.05
a) Find the value of a
b) Find P(X>2)
c) Find P( 1≤ X ≤ 3)
d) Write down the mode.
e) Find E(X)
f) Find Var(X)
2. Consider the following probability distribution.
X -2 -1 0 1 2
P(X=x) 0.3 0.1 0.15 0.4 0.05
a) Find P(X <0)
b) Find P( X is even | X > 0)
c) Find E(X)
d) Find E(3X+5)
e) Find Var(X)
f) Find Var( 3X+5)
3. X is a random variable with P(X=2)=0.2 , P(X=5)=0.4 and the only other
possible value for X is 3. Find ,
a) P( X=3)
b) P( X² ≥ 9)
c) P( X ≥ 3 | X is an odd number )
d) E( 2X-4 )
e) Var( X)
f) Var (4X-2)
4. X is a random variable with P( X=-3)=0.1 , P( X= -1)=0.4 , P(X=0)=0.2 ,
P(X=1)=0.2 and P( X=3)=0. Find ,
a) P( X is even )
b) P( |X| = 3)
c) P( X² > 2 )
d) E( X)
e) E( X(X-1))
f) Var( X)
5. Independent random variables X and Y are such that E(X)=4 , E(Y)=5 ,
Var(X)=1 , Var(Y) = 2 . Find
a) E( 4X+ 2Y )
b) E( 5X-Y )
c) V( 3X +2Y)
d) V(5Y- 3X)
e) V(3X-5Y)
6. Independent variables X and Y have probability distributions as shown below
.
x 0 1 2 3
P(X=x) 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.1
y 0 1 2
P(Y=y) 0.4 0.2 0.4
a) Find E(X) , E(Y) , V(X) , V(Y)
b) Find E(2Y+3X) , E( 2X-4Y)
c) Find V(Y-X) , V(3X) , V(2Y+X)
7. The probability distribution of a random variable is given by
P(X=r) = kr for r= 1, 2, 3, 4
i. Find the value of the constant k
ii. Illustrate the distribution and describe the shape of the distribution
iii. Two successive values of X are generated independently of each other
Find the probability that
a. Both the values of X are the same
b. The total of the two values of X is greater than 6
8. The random variable Y is given by the absolute difference between the
scores when two ordinary dice are thrown
i. Find the probability distribution of Y
ii. Illustrate the distribution and describe the shape of the distribution
iii. Find the values of
(a) P(Y>3)
(b) P( Y is odd)
9. The probability distribution of the discrete random variable X is shown in
the table below.
x -3 -1 0 4
P(X=x) a b 0.15 0.4
Given that E(X)= 0.75 , find the values of a and b .
10. The random variable X takes values -2, 0 and 4 only. It is given that
P(X=-2)=2p , P( X=0)= p , P(X=4)= 3p.
i. Find p
ii. Find E(X) and Var( X)