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Name: __________________________________

TOPIC TEST

Discrete probability distributions

• Time allowed: 45 minutes
• Part A: 10 multiple-choice questions (10 marks)
• Part B: 10 free-response questions (40 marks)
• Total: 50 marks

Part A
10 multiple-choice questions
1 mark each: 10 marks
Circle the correct answer.
1 What is the set of possible values for the number 3 Find the value of A in this probability
of boys in a 4-children family? distribution table.
A {1, 2, 3, 4} B {0, 1, 2} x 0 1 2 3 4
C {0, 1, 2, 3} D {0, 1, 2, 3, 4} P( X = x ) 0.1 0.12 0.23 A 0.45

A 0.7 B 0.34

2 The probability distribution for the number of C 0.1 D 0.2

pets owned by a group of Year 11 students is
shown. 4 Which one of these random variables is not
discrete?
x 0 1 2 3 4 5
P( X = x ) 0.11 0.25 0.27 0.18 0.15 0.04 A The blood-alcohol content (BAC) level of a
driver
Find the probability that a student chosen at
random from this group owns 2 or more pets. B A reviewer’s rating of a restaurant, from 1 to
4 stars
A 0.11 B 0.64
C The number of phones owned by the
C 0.37 D 0.36 members of a family
D The sum of the 2 numbers rolled on a pair
of dice

5 Find the standard deviation of discrete random

variables with values of 1, 2 or 3, each with a
1
probability of .
3
A 1.41 B 0.81
C 2 D 0.82

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6 Which one of these functions is a probability 9 Find the variance of this probability function:
distribution? x +2
P( X ) = , for x = 0, 1, 2, 3
A 14
x 0 1 2 3 A 1.12 B 1.06
P( x ) 0.27 0.23 0.28 0.21
C 1.86 D 3.45
 2  1  4  1
B  0, , 1, ,  2, ,  3, , ( 4,0)
 7  7  7  7
x 10 Find the mean and standard deviation of this
C P (x ) = for x = 0, 1, 2, 3
6 probability function.
2x + 1 2 x
D P (x ) = for x = 0, 1, 2 5, for x = 1
5 
 3x − 2
= P (x ) = , for x 4
 25
x − 5
7 What is the value of m for the probability  10 , for x = 7
function below? 

0 1 2 4 = =
A X 1.48, σX 2.24
x
1 1 1 =
B X =
3.4, σX 5.04
P( X = x ) m
15 5 3
=
C X =
3.4, σX 2.24
2 7
A B = =
D X 1.48, σX 5.04
5 15
8 3
C D
15 5

8 Find the expected value of this probability

distribution.

 2  1  3  1
 0, , 1, ,  2, ,  3, , ( 4,0)
 7  7  7  7
A 2.26 B 1.43
C 1.54 D 1.53

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Part B
10 free-response questions
40 marks
Show your working where appropriate.

11 State whether each function is a probability distribution, and state the reason.
a
x ---2 ---1 0 1 2
1 1 3 7 1
P( x )
10 20 10 20 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

 2x − 1
 5 , for x = 1
 3x − 4
b P ( x ) =
= , for x 3
 25
 x − 1 , for x = 7
 10
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

 2  1   7   1
c  0, , 1, ,  2, ,  3, 
 9   15   12   3 
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
[6 marks]

12 Find the expected value of each distribution.

a
x 2 3 4 5
P( x ) 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.2

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
b
x 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
P( x ) 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
[4 marks]

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13 Find, correct to 2 decimal places, the variance and standard deviation of the random variable with the
probability distribution shown.

µ = ∑ x  p( x ) and Var ( x ) =
∑ x 2 p( x ) − µ 2

x 1 3 5 7 9 11
P( x ) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1

_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
[3 marks]
14 Find, correct to 2 decimal places, the variance and standard deviation of the random variable with values
1
of x from 7 to 12, where P(x) = .
6
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
[3 marks]
15 The number of matches in a matchbox is not always 40 as labelled on the box.
A study of 100 boxes found the following distribution.

No. of
37 38 39 40 41 42 43
matches
Frequency 2 18 20 40 15 4 1

a Draw up a probability distribution table.

b If a box is chosen at random, what is the probability that the box has
i at least 40 matches?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
ii fewer than 39 matches?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
[4 marks]

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16 Write the set of all possible values for each random variable.
a The number of heads from flipping 11 coins.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
b The number of picture cards (Jack, Queen or King) randomly selected from a deck of cards in 15 selections
without replacement.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
[4 marks]
17 For this probability function, find:
x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 1 1 3 1 3 1
P( x )
20 10 5 20 4 20 10
a P(X ≥ 4)
______________________________________________________________________________________
b P(1 < X ≤ 4)
______________________________________________________________________________________

c Draw a graph of this function.

[4 marks]
18 A spinner is divided into 9 equal parts numbered 1 to 9; each part is a different colour. Consider the random
variable of the number spun on this spinner.
a Is this probability distribution uniform?
______________________________________________________________________________________
b What is the probability of spinning a prime number?
______________________________________________________________________________________
[2 marks]

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19 Ryan plays a game involving tossing 2 coins.

If he tosses 2 heads or 2 tails (HH or TT), he loses $4.
If he tosses 1 head, 1 tail (HT or TH), he can either win $2 or toss the coin that shows the tail again. If it results
in a tail, he wins $8. But if it results in another head, he loses $10.
What is the expected value of the winning amount of this game if:
a Ryan does not choose to toss the coin again when he tosses HT or TH?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
b Ryan always chooses to toss the coin again when he tosses HT or TH?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
[3 marks]

20 A bag of coloured marbles contains 7 red, 8 blue and 10 yellow marbles. 2 marbles are selected at random
together in a handful. Let the discrete random variable X be the number of red marbles selected.
a Create a probability distribution table for X.

b Find the mean, variance and standard deviation of X.

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
c Let the discrete random variable Y be the number of yellow marbles selected. Create a probability
distribution table for Y.

[7 marks]
This is the end of the test.

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Answers
1 D 2 B 3 C 4 A 5 D
6 C 7 A 8 B 9 A 10 C
11 a Yes, sum of P(x) is 1 b Yes, sum of P(x) is 1
c No, sum of P(x) is not 1
12 a 3.7 b 12.8
13 Variance 8.04, standard deviation 2.84
14 Variance 2.92, standard deviation 1.71
15 a
x 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
P( X = x ) 0.02 0.18 0.2 0.4 0.15 0.04 0.01

b i P ( x ≥ 40) =
0.6 ii P ( x < 39) =
0.2
16 a {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} b {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}

7
17 a 0.5 b c
20

4
18 a yes b
9
19 a –$1 b –$2.50
20 a
x 0 1 2
P (x ) 0.51 0.42 0.07

b Mean 0.56, variance 0.62, standard deviation 0.39

c
y 0 1 2
P(y) 7/20 0.5 3/20

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