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Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables

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Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected Value of Discrete Random Variable

Suppose you and I play a betting game: we flip a coin and if it lands heads, Igive you a dollar, and if it lands tails, you give me a dollar.On average, how much am I expected to win or lose?

expected winnings = (−1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win -$1 half the time

+ (1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win $1 half the time

= 0

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 2/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected Value of Discrete Random Variable

Suppose you and I play a betting game: we flip a coin and if it lands heads, Igive you a dollar, and if it lands tails, you give me a dollar.On average, how much am I expected to win or lose?

expected winnings = (−1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win -$1 half the time

+ (1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win $1 half the time

= 0

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 2/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected Value of Discrete Random Variable

Suppose you and I play a betting game: we flip a coin and if it lands heads, Igive you a dollar, and if it lands tails, you give me a dollar.On average, how much am I expected to win or lose?

expected winnings = (−1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win -$1 half the time

+ (1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win $1 half the time

= 0

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 2/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected Value of Discrete Random Variable

Suppose you and I play a betting game: we flip a coin and if it lands heads, Igive you a dollar, and if it lands tails, you give me a dollar.On average, how much am I expected to win or lose?

expected winnings = (−1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win -$1 half the time

+ (1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win $1 half the time

= 0

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 2/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected Value of Discrete Random Variable

Suppose you and I play a betting game: we flip a coin and if it lands heads, Igive you a dollar, and if it lands tails, you give me a dollar.On average, how much am I expected to win or lose?

expected winnings = (−1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win -$1 half the time

+ (1)(

12

)︸ ︷︷ ︸

win $1 half the time

= 0

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 2/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Definition of Expected Value of a Discrete Random Variable

DefinitionThe expected value of a discrete random variable X with probabilitydistribution p(x) is given by

E(X) , µ =∑

x

x pX(x) (?)

where the sum is over all values of x for which pX(x) > 0.

Note that in order for (?) to exist, the sum must converge absolutely; that is∑x

|x| pX(x) <∞ (??)

If (??) does not hold, we say the expected value of X does not exist.

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 3/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Definition of Expected Value of a Discrete Random Variable

DefinitionThe expected value of a discrete random variable X with probabilitydistribution p(x) is given by

E(X) , µ =∑

x

x pX(x) (?)

where the sum is over all values of x for which pX(x) > 0.

Note that in order for (?) to exist, the sum must converge absolutely; that is∑x

|x| pX(x) <∞ (??)

If (??) does not hold, we say the expected value of X does not exist.

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 3/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Definition of Expected Value of a Discrete Random Variable

DefinitionThe expected value of a discrete random variable X with probabilitydistribution p(x) is given by

E(X) , µ =∑

x

x pX(x) (?)

where the sum is over all values of x for which pX(x) > 0.

Note that in order for (?) to exist, the sum must converge absolutely; that is∑x

|x| pX(x) <∞ (??)

If (??) does not hold, we say the expected value of X does not exist.

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 3/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected value of functions of random variables

The expected value of g(X) where g is any real-valued function is naturally

E(g(X)) =∑

x

g(x)p(x)

ExampleConsider the Bernoulli random variable

X =

{0, w.p. 1/21, w.p. 1/2

Compute E(X2 − 1

).

E(X2 − 1

)= (02 − 1)

(12

)+ ((1)2 − 1)

(12

)=−12

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 4/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Expected value of functions of random variables

The expected value of g(X) where g is any real-valued function is naturally

E(g(X)) =∑

x

g(x)p(x)

ExampleConsider the Bernoulli random variable

X =

{0, w.p. 1/21, w.p. 1/2

Compute E(X2 − 1

).

E(X2 − 1

)= (02 − 1)

(12

)+ ((1)2 − 1)

(12

)=−12

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 4/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Birthday Problem Revisited

65 people participated in the birthday game a few weeks back.I claimed that if no two birthdays matched, then I would pay everyone 30monopoly dollars, but otherwise each person would pay me one monopolydollar.Therefore either I would lose 65*30=1950 monopoly dollars, or I would win 65monopoly dollars.My expected earnings should be somewhere between -1950 and +65. Let’scompute it.My total earnings are represented by the following random variable

X =

{30, w.p. p−1950, w.p. 1− p

where

p ≈ 365(364)(363) · · · (301)36565 ≈ .9977

ThereforeE(X) = 30(.9977)− 1950(.0023) = 25.446

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 5/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Birthday Problem Revisited

65 people participated in the birthday game a few weeks back.I claimed that if no two birthdays matched, then I would pay everyone 30monopoly dollars, but otherwise each person would pay me one monopolydollar.Therefore either I would lose 65*30=1950 monopoly dollars, or I would win 65monopoly dollars.My expected earnings should be somewhere between -1950 and +65. Let’scompute it.My total earnings are represented by the following random variable

X =

{30, w.p. p−1950, w.p. 1− p

where

p ≈ 365(364)(363) · · · (301)36565 ≈ .9977

ThereforeE(X) = 30(.9977)− 1950(.0023) = 25.446

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 5/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Birthday Problem Revisited

65 people participated in the birthday game a few weeks back.I claimed that if no two birthdays matched, then I would pay everyone 30monopoly dollars, but otherwise each person would pay me one monopolydollar.Therefore either I would lose 65*30=1950 monopoly dollars, or I would win 65monopoly dollars.My expected earnings should be somewhere between -1950 and +65. Let’scompute it.My total earnings are represented by the following random variable

X =

{30, w.p. p−1950, w.p. 1− p

where

p ≈ 365(364)(363) · · · (301)36565 ≈ .9977

ThereforeE(X) = 30(.9977)− 1950(.0023) = 25.446

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 5/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Birthday Problem Revisited

65 people participated in the birthday game a few weeks back.I claimed that if no two birthdays matched, then I would pay everyone 30monopoly dollars, but otherwise each person would pay me one monopolydollar.Therefore either I would lose 65*30=1950 monopoly dollars, or I would win 65monopoly dollars.My expected earnings should be somewhere between -1950 and +65. Let’scompute it.My total earnings are represented by the following random variable

X =

{30, w.p. p−1950, w.p. 1− p

where

p ≈ 365(364)(363) · · · (301)36565 ≈ .9977

ThereforeE(X) = 30(.9977)− 1950(.0023) = 25.446

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 5/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Birthday Problem Revisited

65 people participated in the birthday game a few weeks back.I claimed that if no two birthdays matched, then I would pay everyone 30monopoly dollars, but otherwise each person would pay me one monopolydollar.Therefore either I would lose 65*30=1950 monopoly dollars, or I would win 65monopoly dollars.My expected earnings should be somewhere between -1950 and +65. Let’scompute it.My total earnings are represented by the following random variable

X =

{30, w.p. p−1950, w.p. 1− p

where

p ≈ 365(364)(363) · · · (301)36565 ≈ .9977

ThereforeE(X) = 30(.9977)− 1950(.0023) = 25.446

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 5/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Birthday Problem Revisited

65 people participated in the birthday game a few weeks back.I claimed that if no two birthdays matched, then I would pay everyone 30monopoly dollars, but otherwise each person would pay me one monopolydollar.Therefore either I would lose 65*30=1950 monopoly dollars, or I would win 65monopoly dollars.My expected earnings should be somewhere between -1950 and +65. Let’scompute it.My total earnings are represented by the following random variable

X =

{30, w.p. p−1950, w.p. 1− p

where

p ≈ 365(364)(363) · · · (301)36565 ≈ .9977

ThereforeE(X) = 30(.9977)− 1950(.0023) = 25.446

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 5/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Variance

Definition (variance)The variance of a random variable X with expected value µ is given by

var(X) , σ2 = E[(X−µ)2]

DefinitionThe standard deviation of a random variable X is, σ, the square root of thevariance, i.e.

sd(X) , σ =√

E [(X − µ)2] =√

var(X)

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 6/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Variance

Definition (variance)The variance of a random variable X with expected value µ is given by

var(X) , σ2 = E[(X−µ)2]

DefinitionThe standard deviation of a random variable X is, σ, the square root of thevariance, i.e.

sd(X) , σ =√

E [(X − µ)2] =√

var(X)

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 6/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Some Distributions

X1 =

{−1, w.p. 1/21, w.p. 1/2

X2 =

{−2, w.p. 1/22, w.p. 1/2

X3 =

{−3, w.p. 1/23, w.p. 1/2

Hence E(X1) = E(X2) = E(X3) = 0 and

var(X1) = (1− 0)2(

12

)+ (−1− 0)2

(12

)= 1

var(X2) = (2− 0)2(

12

)+ (−2− 0)2

(12

)= 4

var(X3) = (3− 0)2(

12

)+ (−3− 0)2

(12

)= 9

Therefore sd(X1) = 1, sd(X2) = 2, and sd(X3) = 3.Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 7/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Some Distributions

X1 =

{−1, w.p. 1/21, w.p. 1/2

X2 =

{−2, w.p. 1/22, w.p. 1/2

X3 =

{−3, w.p. 1/23, w.p. 1/2

Hence E(X1) = E(X2) = E(X3) = 0 and

var(X1) = (1− 0)2(

12

)+ (−1− 0)2

(12

)= 1

var(X2) = (2− 0)2(

12

)+ (−2− 0)2

(12

)= 4

var(X3) = (3− 0)2(

12

)+ (−3− 0)2

(12

)= 9

Therefore sd(X1) = 1, sd(X2) = 2, and sd(X3) = 3.Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 7/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Some Distributions

X1 =

{−1, w.p. 1/21, w.p. 1/2

X2 =

{−2, w.p. 1/22, w.p. 1/2

X3 =

{−3, w.p. 1/23, w.p. 1/2

Hence E(X1) = E(X2) = E(X3) = 0 and

var(X1) = (1− 0)2(

12

)+ (−1− 0)2

(12

)= 1

var(X2) = (2− 0)2(

12

)+ (−2− 0)2

(12

)= 4

var(X3) = (3− 0)2(

12

)+ (−3− 0)2

(12

)= 9

Therefore sd(X1) = 1, sd(X2) = 2, and sd(X3) = 3.Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 7/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Theorem 4.2

Theorem (mean and variance of aX + b)For any random variable X (discrete or not) and constants a and b,

1 E(aX + b) = a E(X) + b2 var(aX + b) = a2 var(X)

It follows that if X has mean µ and standard deviation σ, then

Y =x− µσ

has mean 0 and standard deviation 1. This is the standardized form of X.

TheoremIf X and Y are random variables, then E(X + Y) = E(X) + E(Y).

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 8/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Theorem 4.2

Theorem (mean and variance of aX + b)For any random variable X (discrete or not) and constants a and b,

1 E(aX + b) = a E(X) + b2 var(aX + b) = a2 var(X)

It follows that if X has mean µ and standard deviation σ, then

Y =x− µσ

has mean 0 and standard deviation 1. This is the standardized form of X.

TheoremIf X and Y are random variables, then E(X + Y) = E(X) + E(Y).

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 8/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Theorem 4.2

Theorem (mean and variance of aX + b)For any random variable X (discrete or not) and constants a and b,

1 E(aX + b) = a E(X) + b2 var(aX + b) = a2 var(X)

It follows that if X has mean µ and standard deviation σ, then

Y =x− µσ

has mean 0 and standard deviation 1. This is the standardized form of X.

TheoremIf X and Y are random variables, then E(X + Y) = E(X) + E(Y).

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 8/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Theorem 4.3

Theorem (var(X) = E(X2)− µ2)

If X is a random variable with mean µ, then

var(X) = E(X2)− µ2

Proof.

var(X) = E[(X − µ)2]

= E(X2 − 2Xµ+ µ2)

= E(X2)− E(2Xµ) + E(µ2)

= E(X2)− 2µ2 + µ2

= E(X2)− µ2

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 9/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Theorem 4.3

Theorem (var(X) = E(X2)− µ2)

If X is a random variable with mean µ, then

var(X) = E(X2)− µ2

Proof.

var(X) = E[(X − µ)2]

= E(X2 − 2Xµ+ µ2)

= E(X2)− E(2Xµ) + E(µ2)

= E(X2)− 2µ2 + µ2

= E(X2)− µ2

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 9/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Chebyshev’s inequality

There are many random variables X with a given mean µ and a given varianceσ2, but they all must satisfy the following inequality.

TheoremChebyshev’s inequality Let X be a random variable with mean µ and varianceσ2. Then for any positive k,

P(|X − µ| < kσ) ≥ 1− 1k2

Letting k = 2 in Chebyshev’s inequality gives

P(µ− 2σ < X < µ+ 2σ) ≥ 1− 14

=34

That is, the interval from µ− 2σ to µ+ 2σ must contain at least 3/4 of theprobability mass.

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 10/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Chebyshev’s inequality

There are many random variables X with a given mean µ and a given varianceσ2, but they all must satisfy the following inequality.

TheoremChebyshev’s inequality Let X be a random variable with mean µ and varianceσ2. Then for any positive k,

P(|X − µ| < kσ) ≥ 1− 1k2

Letting k = 2 in Chebyshev’s inequality gives

P(µ− 2σ < X < µ+ 2σ) ≥ 1− 14

=34

That is, the interval from µ− 2σ to µ+ 2σ must contain at least 3/4 of theprobability mass.

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 10/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Chebyshev’s inequality

There are many random variables X with a given mean µ and a given varianceσ2, but they all must satisfy the following inequality.

TheoremChebyshev’s inequality Let X be a random variable with mean µ and varianceσ2. Then for any positive k,

P(|X − µ| < kσ) ≥ 1− 1k2

Letting k = 2 in Chebyshev’s inequality gives

P(µ− 2σ < X < µ+ 2σ) ≥ 1− 14

=34

That is, the interval from µ− 2σ to µ+ 2σ must contain at least 3/4 of theprobability mass.

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 10/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Exercise 4.17

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 11/ 12

Expected Value Variance and Standard Deviation Practice Exercises

Exercise 4.37

Arthur Berg Mean and Variance of Discrete Random Variables 12/ 12