University of Illinois

Spring 2012

ECE 313: Problem Set 2: Solutions

Discrete random variables
1. [Fundraising with gambling]
(a) The die is fair, so every number has equal chance of occuring: 61 .
pX (8) = P {1} = 16 .
pX (5) = P {2, 3} = P {2} + P {3} = 16 + 61 = 26 .
pX (z) = P {4, 5, 6} = P {4} + P {5} + P {6} = 16 + 16 + 16 = 63 .
(b) 1 = X =
8.

ui

ui pX (ui ) = 8

1
6

2
6

+5

(c) Using LOTUS,

P
E[ln |X|] = ui (ln |ui |) pX (ui ) = (ln 8)
2 ln 2 + ln35 1.92.

+ (z) 36 =

1
6

+ (ln 5)

183z
6 ,

2
6

618
3

ln(102400)
6

and solving for z yields z =

+ (ln z)

3
6

ln(200z 3 )
6

2. [Choosing friends to ride to a concert]

(a) Let Y be the number of non-ECE313 students that go with you, then Y {0, 1, 2, 3, 4} and
X = 10Y . Therefore, X {0, 10, 20, 30, 40}.
 
9
(b) You choose four of your nine friends to ride with you, so that || =
= 126. If you
4
chooseY non-ECE313
friends, then you choose 4 Y ECE313 friends, and this can be done in


5
4
ways. Therefore,
Y
4Y
  
5
4
1
.
pX (0) = P {Y = 0} =
/126 = 126
0
4

 
5
4
20
pX (10) = P {Y = 1} =
/126 = 126
.
1
3

 
5
4
60
pX (20) = P {Y = 2} =
/126 = 126
.
2
2

 
5
4
40
pX (30) = P {Y = 3} =
/126 = 126
.
3
1

 
5
4
5
pX (40) = P {Y = 4} =
/126 = 126
.
4
0
(c) By definition,
P
E[X] = ui ui pX (ui ) = 0

1
126

+ 10

20
126

+ 20

60
126

+ 30

40
126

+ 40

5
126

200
9 .

be a random variable denoting the new amount to be paid. Then, X

= 10Y + z(5 Y ) =
(d) Let X






z
= E[X] 1 z + 5z = 200 1 z + 5z.
X 1 10
+ 5z. Therefore, E[X]
10
9
10
3. [Hungry brother pays for treats]
(a) Let B be the number of blue M&Ms and let Y be the number of yellow M&Ms, then X =
50B + 25Y . The following table provides the possible (B, Y ) pairs, the number of ways in which
each pair can occur |(B, Y )|, the probability of the pair P {(B, Y )} = |(B, Y )|/||, and the value
that X takes for that pair.

(B, Y )
(0, 0)
(0, 1)
(0, 2)
(0, 3)
(1, 0)
(1, 1)
(1, 2)
(2, 0)
(2, 1)

|(B,
 Y)|
4

3 
3
4
1

 2 
3
4
2
1
3

3 
2
4
1

  2 
2
3
4
1
1
  1
2
3
1

 2 
2
4
2

 1 
2
3
2
1

P {(B, Y )}

4
84

18
84

25

12
84

50

1
84

75

12
84

50

24
84

75

6
84

100

4
84

100

3
84

125

Therefore, X can take values 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125.

4
(b) pX (0) = P {X = 0} = P {(0, 0)} = 84
.
pX (25) = P {X = 25} = P {(0, 1)}S= 18
84 .
12
24
pX (50) = P {X = 50} = P {(0, 2) S(1, 0)} = P {(0, 2)} + P {(1, 0)} = 12
84 + 84 = 84 .
1
24
25
pX (75) = P {X = 75} = P {(0, 3) (1,
84 = 84 .
S 1)} = P {(0, 3)} + P {(1, 1)} = 84 +
6
4
10
pX (100) = P {X = 100} = P {(1, 2) (2, 0)} = P {(1, 2)} + P {(2, 0)} = 84 + 84 = 84
.
3
pX (125) = P {X = 125} = P {(2, 1)} = 84 .


(c) E[2X + 1] = 2E[X] + 1 = 2 175
+ 1
= 353
3
3 117.66.
31250
15625
2
=
V ar(2X + 1) = 2 V ar(X) = 4
3472.22.
6
9

4. [Summations and LOTUS]

(a) The pmf has to sum up to one, therefore
P
Pn
Pn
, and solving for C =
1 = ui pX (ui ) = i=1 Ci = C i=1 i = C n(n+1)
2
(b) By defintion,
P
E[X] = ui ui pX (ui ) =

2
n(n+1)

Pn

i=1

(c) Using LOTUS, 



 P
1
E 1+ X
= ui 1 + u1i pX (ui ) =
Pn
2
n+3
2
i=1 1 = 1 + n+1 = n+1 .
n(n+1)

i2 =

n(n+1)(2n+1)
2
n(n+1)
6

2
n(n+1)

Pn

i=1

i 1+

1
i

2
n(n+1) .

2n+1
3 .

2
n(n+1)

Pn

i=1

(i + 1) =

2
n(n+1)

Pn

i=1

5. [Geometric series]
(a) The P
pmf has to sum
to one, therefore
Pup
P

1
1 = ui pX (ui ) = i=1 Cq i1 = C i=0 q i = C 1q
, and solving for C = 1 q.
(b) 9 = E[2X + 3] = 2E[X] + 3, so that E[X] = 93
2 = 3.
By definition,
P
P
1
3 = E[X] = ui ui pX (ui ) = (1 q) i=1 iq i1 = (1 q) (1q)
2 =
2
3.

1
1q ,

and solving for q =

(c) 24 = V ar(2X + 3) = 22 V ar(X) = 4V ar(X), and solving for V ar(X) =

24
4

= 6.

6. [COMPUTER EXERCISE: Empirical distributions for simulated rolls of a fair die]

31
3

i+

N=100

N=1000

N=10000

0.25

0.25

0.25

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.15

0.15

0.15

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.05

0.05

0.05