Expected Value of a Random Variable Summary

Expected Value of a Random Variable

Summary

a probability distribution can have a mean or average value. this value is known as the expected value or the expectation.

the symbol for the expected value of a distribution of x is written e(x) or μ .

to find the expected value, e(x) of a probability distribution each value of x is multiplied by its probability and the results are added together.

Key Skills

calculate the expected value of a probability distribution given a table of probabilities.

Vocabulary

expected valueexpectation, probability distribution