UNIT – I

DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLES

Part-A
1. Write the MGF of Bernoulli Distribution. [April 2015]

The probability mass function of Binomial Distribution is given by

p  X  x   ncx p x q n  x , x  0,1, 2,......, n where p  q  1

MGF:
 1
M x  t    etx p  x    etx p  x 
x 0 x0

 e p  0   e p  1
0 1

 q  pet
M x  t   q  pet

MEAN:
1'   M x'  t   t 0  0  pet  t 0
Mean = p

VARIANCE:
var  x   E  x 2    E  x  
2

E  x 2    M x"  t     pet   p
t 0 t 0

var  x   p  p  p  1  p   pq
2

var  x   pq.

2. Define Probability distribution of a Random variable. [April 2017]

The collection of pairs { x i , p i } , i=1,2,3 .. . is called the

X =xi P( X= xi )
Probability distribution of the
x1 p1 Random variable X.
x2 p2

⋮ ⋮
xr pr

⋮ ⋮
3. A random variable X has the following Probability distribution.
X: -2 -1 0 1 2 3
P(x): 0.1 k 0.2 2k 0.3 3k . Find the value of k.

∑ p( x )=1
Solution: Since x

0.1+k+0.2+2k+0.3+3k =1
6k+0.6=1
Hence k=1/15

2
P( X=2)= P( X=1) find P( X=0 )
4. If X is a Poisson variate such that 3 [April
2015]
2
P( X=2)= P( X=1)
Solution: 3
−λ 2 −λ
e λ 2e λ
=
2! 3 1!

4
∴ λ=
3
−4 0
4
P( X=0)=
e− λ λ0
=
e 3
()
3
0! 0!

P( X=0)=0 .2636
5. Mean of a Binomial distribution is 20 and S.D is 4. Find the parameter of the
distribution? [April 2017]
Solution : Mean=20 S.D= 4
Mean=np=20

S.D= √ Var( X )=4

 Var ( X )=16
npq=16
npq 16 4
= ⇒ q=
np 20 5
4 1
∴ p=1− =
p=1−q 5 5
np=20

n ( 15 )=20 ∴ n=100

Part-B
1. A Random variable x has the following probability distribution

X -2 -1 0 1 2 3
P(X) 0.1 k 0.2 2k 0.3 3k
Find (i) k (ii) P(X<2) (iii) P(-2<X<2) (iv) Cdf (v) Mean [Apr 2011,13, Nov
2011,12,15]
Solution:

(i) We know that  P( X )  1

0.1+ k + 0.2 + 2k + 0.3 + 3k =1
6k+0.6=1
k = (1-0.6)/6 = 0.0667

k=0.667
(ii) P(X<2) = P(X = -2) + P(X = -1) +P(X = 0) +P(X = 1)
= 0.1 + k + 0.2 +2 k
= 0.1+ 0.0667+ 0.2 + 2(0.0667)
=0.5001
(iii) P(-2< X < 2) = P(X = -1) +P(X = 0) +P(X = 1)
= k + 0.2 +2 k
= 0.0667+ 0.2 + 2(0.0667)
=0.4001
(iv) CDF
X P(X) F(X) = P[X  x]

-2 0.1 F(X) = P[X  -2] = 0.1

-1 0.0667 F(X) = P[X  -1] = P(X = -2) + P(X = -1) = 0.1 + k=0.1667

0 0.2 F(X) = P[X  0] = P(X = -2) + P(X = -1) + P(X = 0) =0.3667

1 0.1334 F(X) = P[X  1] = P[X  0] +P(X = 1) =0.5001

2 0.3 F(X) = P[X  2] = P[X  1]+P(X = 2) = 0.8001

3 0.2001 F(X) = P[X  2] +P(X =3) = 1.0002  1

E  X    xP ( x)
(v) Mean(X) =
= (-2) (0.1) + (-1) (0.0667) + (0) (0.2) + (1)(0.1334) +(2) (0.3) + (3)
(0.2001)
= 1.067
2. If the random variable X takes the values such that 2P(X=1) = 3P(X=2) =P(X=3) =
5P(X=4) [Nov 2012,2014,2015]
Solution:
Let 2P(X=1) = 3P(X=2) =P(X=3) = 5P(X=4) =k

k
 P( X  1) 
2P(X=1) = k 2

k
 P( X  2) 
3P(X=2) = k 3

P(X=3) = k

k
 P( X  4) 
5P(X=4) = k 5

X 1 2 3 4
P(X) k k k k
2 3 5
 P( X )  1
We know that

k k k
  k  1
2 3 5
15k  10k  30k  6k 61k
1 1
30 30

30
k
61

The probability distribution is

X 1 2 3 4
P(X) 15 10 30 6
61 61 61 61

3. A Random variable x has the following probability distribution

X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P(X) a 3a 5a 7a 9a 11a 13a 15a 17a

Find (i) a (ii)P(X< 3) (iii)P(0 <X 3) (iv)Cdf (v)Mean (vi)Variance. [Dec 2014,April
2017]
Solution:

(i) We know that  P( X )  1

a+3a+5a+7a+9a+11a+13a+15a+17a =1
81 a=1

1
a
81

X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P(X) 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
81 81 81 81 81 81 81 81 81

(ii) P(X < 3) = P(X = 0) + P(X = 1) +P(X = 2)

1 3 5 1
= 81 + 81 + 81 = 9
(iii) P(0 < X  3) = P(X = 1) +P(X = 2) +P(X = 3)
3 5 7 15
= 81 + 81 + 81 = 81
(iv) CDF
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P(X) 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
81 81 81 81 81 81 81 81 81
CDF 1 4 9 16 25 36 49 64 81
1
81 81 81 81 81 81 81 81 81
E  X    xP ( x)
(v) Mean =

3 10 21 36 55 78 105 136 148

= 0+ 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 = 27
  
E X 2   E  X     x 2 P ( x)    xP ( x ) 
2 2

(vi) Variance =

3 20 63 144 275 468 735 1088 932

 x 2
P ( x )  81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 + 81 = 27

  x 2 P ( x)    xP( x) 
2

Variance
2
932  148  3260
 
27 -  27  = 729
=

1
P X  j  , j  1, 2,3,..
4. The Probability function of an infinite series is given by 2j .
(i) Verify that P(X) is really a probability mass function.
(ii) Find Mean and Variance
(iii) P[X is even]
P  X  5
(iv)
(v) P[ X is divisible by 5] [Apr 2014]
Solution:
1
P  X  j   j , j  1, 2,3,..
Given that 2
X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ..
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1 1 ..
2 3
2 2 2 24 25 26
(i) Here each of P ( X )  0

1 1 1 1 1
 xP( x)  2  2 2
    ...
23 24 25
(ii)

1 1 1 1 
1   2  3  ...
2 2 2 2 
=
1 1
1  1 1 1
1      1
2  2 2 2
=
 This is a probability mass function

E  X    xP ( x)
Mean =
(ii)

1  1   1   1   1 
 1   2  2   3  3   4  4   5  5   ...
 2  2   2   2   2 
 1 1 1 1 
 1  2.  3. 2  4. 3  ...
2 2 2 2 
2 2
1  1 1 1 
1    2
2  2  2 2
=

1  1   1   1 1
 1   4  2   9  3   16  4   25  5   ...
 x 2 P ( x) 2 2  2  2  2 
3 3
1  1  1 1 3 1
1 1  6
2  2   2  2  2   2 
=

  x 2 P( x)   xP( x)   6  4  2
2

Variance

(iii) P[ X is even]= P[X=2]+P[X=4]+p[X=6]+…

1 1 1
    ...
2 2 2 4 26

1  1 1 
  22  24  ...
1 
22

1   1 1  1 2 
 1   2    2   ...
22   2   2  
1 1
1 1 1 3 1
 1  2     
4 2  4 4 3


(iii) P[ X 5]= P[X=5]+P[X=6]+p[X=7]+…

1 1 1
    ...
25 2 6 2 7

1  1 1 
 1  2  22  ...
25
1
1  1
 5 1  2 
2
1
1 1 1 1
 5   4 
2 2 2 16

(iv) P[ X is divisible by 5]= P[X=5]+P[X=10]+p[X=15]+…

 1 1 1
 5
 10  15  ...
2 2 2

1  1 1 
 1  25  210  ...
25
1
1  1
 1  25 
25
1
1  31  1
 5  5 
2 2  31

5.Out of 800 families, with 4 children each, how many families would you expect to
have (i) 2 boys & 2 girls (ii) atleast 1 boy (iii) atmost 2 girls (iv) children of both sex.
Solution:
Let the random variable S denotes the number of boy child.
Consider having a male child is success.

1 1
 p  ; q  ,n  4
2 2
(i) P(2 boys & 2 girls)= P(X=2)
2 2
1 1 3
 4c2     
 ncx p x q n  x 2  2 8

3
800   300
Out of 800 families, number of families having 2 boys and 2 girls= 8

(ii) P( atleast 1 boy)  P( X  1)  1  P( X  1)

0 4
 1   1  15
 1  4c0     
 1  P ( X  0)  2   2  16
15
800   750
Out of 800 families, number of families having atleast 1 boy= 16
(iii) P(atmost 2 girls)=P(0 girl, 1 girl, 2 girls)=P(4 boys, 3 boys, 2 boys)

 P( X  4)  P( X  3)  P( X  2)
4 0 3 1 2 2
1 1 1 1  1   1  11
 4c4      4c3      4c2     
2 2 2 2  2   2  16

11
800   560
atmost 2 girls= 16
Out of 800 families, number of families having

(iv) P(children of both sex)=1-P(1 girl 3 boys, 2 girls 2boys, 3 girls 1boy)
 P(3 boys, 2 boys, 1 boys)
=
 P( X  3)  P( X  2)  P( X  1)
3 1 2 2 1 3
1 1 1 1 1 1 7
 4c3      4c2      4c1     
2 2 2 2 2 2 8
7
800   700
8
Out of 800 families, number of families having children of both sex=

6. Fit a binomial distribution for the following data:

x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

f(x) 5 18 28 12 7 6 4

Solution:

x f fx

0 5 0

1 18 18

2 28 56

3 12 36

4 7 28

5 6 30

6 4 24
 f  80  f x  192
 f x  192  2.4
Mean= 
f 80

N   f  80
Here n=6

For Binomial distribution Mean  np  2.4

6 p  2.4  p  0.4, q  0.6

f ( x)  N .ncx p x q n  x
 f (0)  80 6c0 (0.4) 0 (0.6) 6  3.73 4

f (1)  80 6c1 (0.4)1 (0.6)5  14.92  15

f (2)  80 6c2 (0.4) 2 (0.6) 4  24.88  25

f (3)  80 6c3 (0.4)3 (0.6)3  22.11  22

f (4)  80 6c4 (0.4) 4 (0.6) 2  11.05  11

f (5)  80 6c5 (0.4)5 (0.6)1  2.94  3

f (6)  80 6c6 (0.4)6 (0.6) 0  0.32  0

 The theoretical frequency is

x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

f(x) 4 15 25 22 11 3 0

7. In a large consignment of electric bulbs 10% are defective. A Random sample of 20 are drawn for
inspection. Find (i) all are good bulbs (ii) atmost there are 3 defective bulbs (iii) Exactly there are 3
defective bulbs.
Solution:

Assume that taking a defective bulb is success.

10 1

P(choosing a defective bulb)= 100 10

1
p ;
10

1 9
q  1 p  1  ; n  20
10 10
0 20
 1  9 
 20c0      0.1215
(i) P(all are good bulbs)=  P ( X  0)  10   10 

P( X  3)  P ( X  0)  P ( X  1)  P ( X  2)  P ( X  3)
(ii)
1 19 2 18 3 17
 1  9  1  9   1   9 
 0.1215  20c1      20c2      20c3    
 10   10   10   10   10   10 

 0.1215  0.2702  0.2852  0.1901  0.866

3 17
 1  9
20c3      0.1901
(iii) P(X=3)=  10   10 
8. The probability that a child exposed to certain contagious disease is 0.4. What will
be the probability that the tenth child exposed to the disease will be the third to catch
it? [April 2015]

Solution:
10 1

P(getting a defective IC chip)= 100 10

1
p ;
10

1 9
q  1 p  1  ; n  35, N  800
10 10

P(More than 5 defective IC chips)= P ( X  5)  1  P( X  5)

 1   P( X  0)  P( X  1)  P( X  2)  P( X  3)  P( X  4)  P( X  5) 
0 35 1 34 2 33 3 32
 1  9   1  9   1  9   1  9
 1  35c0      35c1      35c2      35c3    
 10   10   10   10   10   10   10   10 

4 31 5 30
 1   9   1  9
35c4      35c5    
 10   10   10   10 

 1   0.025  0.0973  0.1838  0.2247  0.1998  0.1376 

 0.1319

5 defective= 800  0.1319  105

Out of 800packets, number of packets having more than
9. The average number of accidents in a year to a taxi driver in a city follows a Poisson distribution
with mean 3. Out of 10000 taxi drivers find the approximate number of drivers with (i) no accident
in a year (ii) more than 3 accidents in a year. [April 2015]
Solution:

Let X denotes the number of accidents in a year.

Here   3, N  10000

e   x e 3 30
   0.0498
i) P ( X  0) x! 0!
(
10000  0.0498  498
Out of 10,000 taxi drivers, no accidents in a year=
P( X  3)  1  P ( X  3)
(ii)
 1   P( X  0)  P( X  1)  P( X  2)  P ( X  3) 

 e3 30 e3 31 e 3 32 e 3 33 
 1     
 0! 1! 2! 3!   0.3529

Out of 10,000 taxi drivers, number of accidents more than 3 accidents in a year=
10000  0.3529  3529
.

10. Derive the MGF, mean and Variance of Poisson Distribution. (April 2016)

Solution:
The Probability mass function of Poisson Distribution is given by
e  x
p  x  x  , x  0,1, 2,......,   0.
x!

MGF:
 
e  x
M x  t   E  etx    etx p  x    e tx
x0 x 0 x!
 e 
t x

e 

x 0 x!
     
2 3
 e t
 e t
 e t
  t
 e   1     .......  e   e  e
 1! 2! 3! 
 

Mx  t  e

 et 1 

MEAN:
t
Mean=  = Coeffecient of 1!
'
1


 t t2 


Mx  t  e
  et 1   e 11! 2! ........1
2
 t t2   t t2 
 t t 2

   ........
    ......  2    ......
1! 2!   1! 2!
e 1! 2! 
 1  
1! 2!
=  1 
'

Mean

VARIANCE:
t2
 '2 = Coeffecient of 2!     2
var  x   2'   1' 
2

   2  2
var  x   