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Chapter 8: Discrete Probability Distributions
305
Table 8-1:
Outcomes and
Associated Probabilities
when a Regular six-sided
die is rolled
To analyze more complex random experiments, we will introduce and use
the ideas of random variables and probability distributions.
8-2 Random Variables
Let us consider the experiment of tossing a single coin once. Recall the
sample space
S
= {H, T}. Let the number of heads be denoted by upper case
X
. Thus
X
can assume the values 0 and 1. We will let the values of X be
represented by lower case
x
. That is,
x
= 0, 1. What is the relationship
between the sample space and the values of
X
? The relationship is shown in
Figure 8-1
.