Exercise · ZW-EXPECTED-VALUE-001 · ★☆☆ Basic
\(X\) takes the values 0, 1 and 2 with probabilities 0.2, 0.5 and 0.3. Compute \(E[X]\).
Choose one option.
Show answer
- C. \(1.1\)
Explanation
\(E[X]=0(0.2)+1(0.5)+2(0.3)=1.1\). Averaging the three values without weights gives 1, which ignores the probabilities.
Review the concept: Expected value
The expectation \(E[X]\) of a random variable \(X\) is the average of its possible values, each weighted by its probability.
\[\begin{aligned}E[X]&=\sum_x x\,p(x)\\ E[X]&=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}x\,f(x)\,dx\end{aligned}\]
More practice problems: expected value
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- ZW-EXPECTED-VALUE-006 With f(x)=2x on [0,1], compute E[X^2].
- ZW-EXPECTED-VALUE-007 Which statement about E[X] is correct?
- ZW-EXPECTED-VALUE-008 X equals -1, 0 or 1 with probabilities tfrac14,tfrac12,tfrac14. Compute E[X^2].
- ZW-EXPECTED-VALUE-009 Two fair dice are rolled and S is the sum. Using linearity, what is E[S]?