

You don’t say that you will get 0.33 head! Considering another example of counting the number of children in households of a locality, you will come-up with results such as 0 child, 1 child, 2 children, etc.

Discrete means you are getting an integer number (1 head or 2 heads). Discrete and Continuous Distributionĭistribution can be discrete or continuous. Hence, we can saythat probability distribution for a random variable describes how probabilities are distributed over the values of the random variable. P(X) is shown in the final column, and the probabilities are 25%, 50%, and 25%, respectively for 0, 1, or 2 heads.All possible outcomes are obviously four, and that’s shown in the third column.These are represented in the first and second columns. We have all favorable outcomes for 0, 1, or 2 heads.Now, if I add probabilities to this random variable’s values, we get a probability distribution. One could say: distribution is the possible values a random variable can take and how frequently these values occur. This is distribution or frequency distribution. Looking at the above table, we can see the frequencies of this random variable’s occurrences are 1, 2, and 1. This leads to the concept of distribution. The values that the random variable can take are many, as shown in the below table:Īs you can see, the possible values of X range from 0 to 2 (i.e., 0 head, 1 head, or 2 heads). Now, what’s the chance of getting a head when you toss a pair of coins together? In this case, the total number of possible outcomes is four: tail (first coin) and tail (second coin), tail and head, head and tail, and finally head and head. = Favorable number of outcomes of the event / Total number of possible outcomes

Let’s note the random variable as X and probability as P(X). The random variable here is getting a head. This is the division between the favorable outcome, which is a head and all possible outcomes (head and tail).Ī coin toss is perhaps is the simplest introduction to probability, which informs chance or likelihood of occurrence of a random variable. When you toss a fair coin, the chances of getting a head is 1/2 (0.5) or 50%. Every kid agrees to it because it’s unbiased. Ever tossed a fair coin? I’d bet you have! At least in your childhood days while deciding which team would bat first in a baseball or a cricket match, or who would serve first in a badminton or tennis game.
