STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY

Name: ____________________________________ Grade Level: _________________________

Section: ___________________________________ Date: _______________________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET #2

CONSTRUCTING PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS

Welcome back dear young mathematician! You are now on second week of Quarter 3.
In the previous week you were able to illustrate a random variable, classify them as discrete or
continuous; and find the possible values of it.

This week, we will be exploring Probability Distributions of Discrete Random Variable.

After knowing the possible outcomes, you can compute for the corresponding probabilities,
construct probability distribution and draw a histogram (bar graph).

Learning this topic will probably help you in decision-making. Decision-

making is an important aspect in business, education, insurance, other real-life
situations. Many decisions are made by assigning probabilities to all possible
outcomes pertaining to the situation and then evaluating the results. For
instance, an insurance company might be able to assign probabilities to the
number of vehicles a family owns. This information will help the company in
making decisions regarding future financial situations. This situation requires
the use of random variables and probability distribution.

I. Background Information
Now, it’s for Learners
time for you to explore and learn. Good luck young mathematician!

Discrete Probability Distribution

A Discrete Probability Distribution or a Probability Mass Function consists of the values a
random variable can assume and the corresponding probabilities of the values.

Examples 1.
Number of Heads

Suppose three coins are tossed. Let Y be the random variable representing the
number of heads that occur. Find the probability of each of the values of the random variable Y.

Solution : The sample space for this experiment is : S= {TTT,TTH,THT,HTT,HHT,HTH,THH,HHH}

H- Head T-Tail

Possible Outcomes TTT TTH THT HTT HHT HTH THH HHH
Values of the 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3
Random Variable Y
There are four possible values of the random variable Y representing the number of heads. These are
0,1,2, and 3.
What to Do Next ? Assign probability values P(Y) to each value of the random variable and make a
table. You can write it in vertical/horizontal way.

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Remember! Since there are 8 possible outcomes, and out of these, 1 outcome got no heads(TTT),
therefore the probability of getting 0 heads is 1/8. Do these also to other possible outcomes.

Number of Heads Y 0 1 2 3
Probability P(Y) 1 3 3 1
8 8 8 8
Table 1.1. The Probability Distribution or the Probability Mass Function of Discrete Random Variable Y

Examples 2.
Number of Blue Balls

Two balls are drawn in succession without replacement from an urn containing 5 red balls and
6 blue balls. Let Z be the random variable representing the number of blue balls. Construct the
probability distribution of the random variable Z.

Solution : The sample space for this experiment is : S= {RR,RB,BR,BB} R- Red B-Blue

Possible Outcomes Value of Random Variable Z

(Number of Blue Balls)
RR 0
RB 1
BR 1
BB 2

There are three possible values of the random variable Z representing the number of blue balls. These
are 0,1,and 2.

Number of Blue Balls Z 0 1 2

Probability P(Z) 1 2 1 1
or
4 2
4 4
Table 1.2. The Probability Distribution or the Probability Mass Function of Discrete Random Variable Z

Can you make a histogram for this probability distribution ?

Histogram for the Probability Distribution of Discrete Random Variable

Remember, a histogram is a bar graph. To construct a histogram for a probability distribution,

• Plot the values of the random variable (X, Y, etc.) along the horizontal axis.
• Plot the probabilities (P(X)) along the vertical axis.
Extra Tips :
1. If you are dealing with fractions, you can convert fractions to decimals for easy plotting.

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2. In making the axes, make sure that you have equal intervals/spacing with the numbers.

Remember, ¼ is equivalent to 0.25 and ½ is equal to 0.50.

0.6

Probabilities P(Z)
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 1 2
Number of Blue Balls (Z)

Figure 1.1 The Histogram for the Probability Distribution of the Discrete Random Variable Z

Examples 3.
Number of Defective Cell Phones

Suppose three cell phones are tested at random. Let D represent the defective cell phone and
let N represent the non-defective cell phone. If we let X be the random variable for the number of
defective cell phoned, construct the probability distribution of the random variable X.

Solution :
Possible Outcomes Value of the Random Variable X
(number of defective cell phones)
NNN 0
NND 1
NDN 1
DNN 1
NDD 2
DND 2
DDN 2
DDD 3

Table 1.3 Probability Distribution or Probability Mass function of Discrete Random Variable X.
Number of Defective Probability P(X)
Cell phones X
0 1
8
1 1
8
2 1
8
3 1
8

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 0.4
0.35

Probabilities P(X)
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 1 2 3
Number of Defective Cell Phones (X)

Figure 1.2 The Histogram for the Probability Distribution of the Discrete Random Variable Z

Properties of a Probability Distribution

1. The probability of each value of random variable must be between or equal to 0 and 1. In
symbol, 0 ≤ 𝑃(𝑋) ≤ 1 .
2. The sum of the probabilities of a value is equal to 1. In symbol, ∑ 𝑃(𝑋) = 1 .

Examples 4.
Daily Demand for Copies of a Movie Magazine

The daily demand for copies of a movie magazine at a variety store has the probability
distribution as follows :

Number of Copies X Probability P(X)

0 0.06
1 0.14
2 0.16
3 0.14
4 0.12
5 0.10
6 0.08
7 0.07
8 0.06
9 0.04
10 0.03

a. What is the probability that three or more copies will be demanded in a particular day?
b. What is the probability that the demand will be at least two but not more than six?
Solution :
a. 𝑃(𝑋 ≥ 3) = 0.14 + 0.12 + 0.10 + 0.08 + 0.07 + 0.06 + 0.04 + 0.03
𝑃(𝑋 ≥ 3) = 0.64

The probability that three or more copies will be demanded in a particular day is 0.64

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 b. 𝑃(2 ≤ 𝑋 ≤ 6) = 0.16 + 0.14 + 0.12 + 0.10 + 0.08
𝑃(2 ≤ 𝑋 ≤ 6) = 0.60
The probability that the demand will be at least two but not more than six is 0.60.
II. Learning Competencies :
• Illustrates a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and its properties.
M11/12SP-IIIa-4
• Constructs the probability mass function of a discrete random variable and its corresponding
histogram. M11/12SP-IIIa-5
• Computes probabilities corresponding to a given random variable. M11/12SP-IIIa-6

III. Exercises/ Activities

Activity #1 – YES or NO ?
Directions. Determine whether the distribution represents a probability distribution. Write YES if it is
probability distribution. Otherwise, write NO. Explain your answer.
1.
X 1 5 8 7 9
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1
3 3 3 3 3
2.
X 0 2 4 6 8
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1
6 6 3 6 6
3.
X 1 3 5 7
P(X) 0.35 0.25 0.22 0.12

4. P(1) = 0.42 , P(2) = 0.31, P(3) = 0.37

9 4 1
5. 𝑃(1) = ,P (2) = , 𝑃(3) =
14 14 14

Activity #2 – CONSTRUCT ME!

Directions. Construct the probability distribution for the random variables described in each of the
following situations. Draw the corresponding histogram for each probability distribution. Label it
properly.
1. Let T be a random variable giving the number of tails in three tosses of a coin. List the elements
of the sample space S for the three tosses of the coin. And assign a value to each sample point.
Value of the Random Variable T Probability P(T)
(Number of Tails)

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2. The probabilities P(B) that a student will borrow 1,2,3,or 4 books are 0.45, 0.30,0.15, and 0.10,
respectively.

Activity #3 – FIND ME

Directions. Based from the situation and table below, find the probabilities. Show your solutions.

The following data show the probabilities for the number of cars sold in a given day at a car
dealer store.

Number of Cars X Probability P(X)

0 0.100
1 0.150
2 0.250
3 0.140
4 0.090
5 0.080
6 0.060
7 0.050
8 0.040
9 0.025
10 0.015

3. Find 𝑃(𝑋 ≤ 2).

4. Find 𝑃(𝑋 ≥ 7).
5. Find 𝑃(1 ≤ 𝑋 ≤ 5).

IV. Questions to Ponder

• How do you construct probability distribution ?
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_____________________________________________________________________

• How do you make a histogram for a probability distribution? Give the steps in
constructing a histogram for probability distribution.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

V. Reflection
1. What are your learnings from the activities ?
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2. What did you like most from this lesson ?

__________________________________________________________________________ .

3. What is the most challenging or least interesting from the activities?

_________________________________________________________________________ .

VI. Reference for Learners

Belecina, Rene R., etal. (2016). Statistics and Probability First Edition, REX Book Store,
Inc., Florentino St., Sta . Mesa Heights, Quezon City, Philippines, pp. 9 – 20.

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