Statistics and Probability · Distributions

Common discrete distributions

The handful of discrete shapes, Bernoulli, Binomial, Poisson, Geometric, that keep showing up because they model real repeated-trial situations.

Also known as: Bernoulli, Binomial, Poisson, Geometric.

Start a lesson on Common discrete distributions

Learn first

• Discrete random variables: A number assigned to each outcome of a random experiment, when only countably many values are possible.
• Combinatorics and counting: Counting how many ways something can happen, permutations and combinations, without listing them all.

Leads to

• Markov chains: A sequence of states where the next state depends only on the current one, not the full history.

Related topics

• Markov chains: A sequence of states where the next state depends only on the current one, not the full history.