- #1
Oxymoron
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Homework Statement
If [tex]X[/tex] is a Poisson random variable with [tex]\lambda = 2[/tex] find the probability that [tex]X>0.5[/tex].
Homework Equations
The Poisson PDF:
[tex]P(x,\lambda) = \frac{\lambda^k}{k!}e^{-\lambda} [/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
Usually with these sorts of probability problems where they ask you to find the probability that [tex]x[/tex] is larger than some number [tex]n[/tex] I use the CDF of the PDF and write
[tex]P(X_{PDF}>n) = 1-P(X_{PDF}\leq n) = 1-P(X_{CDF}=n)[/tex]
However, I am at a loss with the Poisson distribution because the CDF involves the gamma function. I can do it on Maple where I define
[tex]\mbox{Poi}(\lambda,x) := \sum_{t=0}^x \frac{\lambda^t}{t!}e^{-\lambda}[/tex]
and then calculate
[tex]1-\mbox{evalf}(\mbox{Poi}(2,0.5)) = 0.7385... [/tex]
Also, if I try to use z-scores in a Poisson table the values for x are all integers, am I meant to use interpolation? Or is there an algebraic way of solving this?