Again with the Poisson distribution in Random Discrete Variables , the graph in Example 4.15 used boxes to represent the probability of specific values of the random variable. In this case, we were being a bit casual because the random variables of a Poisson distribution are discrete, whole numbers, and a box has width.

The graph of a continuous probability distribution is a curve. Probability is represented by area under the curve.

Poisson distribution — If there is a known average of μ events occurring per unit time, and these events are independent of each other, then the number of events X occurring in one unit of time has the…. decay parameter — The decay parameter describes the rate at which probabilities decay to zero for increasing values of x . It is the value m in the probability density function f ( x ) = me (- mx…. Exponential Distribution — a continuous random variable (RV) that appears when we are interested in the intervals of time between some random events, for example, the length of time between emergency…. Uniform Distribution — a continuous random variable (RV) that has equally likely outcomes over the domain, a < x < b ; it is often referred as the rectangular distribution because the graph of the pdf….

Be able to find a and b and describe what they represent; write the distribution; find the mean and the standard deviation.