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Statistics · Statistical distributions

Chapter 1 · 3

The idea

Linear combinations of random variables

E(aX + b) and Var(aX + b), expectation and variance of aX ± bY for independent variables — variances ADD even when the variables subtract — the difference between nX and the sum of n independent copies, and combining Normal (and Poisson) variables.

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Statistics · Statistical distributions

Linear combinations of random variables

E(aX + b) and Var(aX + b), expectation and variance of aX ± bY for independent variables — variances ADD even when the variables subtract — the difference between nX and the sum of n independent copies, and combining Normal (and Poisson) variables.

Why it works

Scaling and shifting one variable

If every outcome of XX is transformed to aX+baX + b:

E(aX+b)=a E(X)+b,Var(aX+b)=a2 Var(X).\mathrm{E}(aX + b) = a\,\mathrm{E}(X) + b, \qquad \mathrm{Var}(aX + b) = a^2\,\mathrm{Var}(X).

The mean is dragged along by both the stretch and the shift. The variance ignores bb completely — shifting every value by the same amount moves the distribution without changing its spread — and picks up a2a^2, not aa, because variance is measured in squared units.

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