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GATE CS Probability: Random Variables and Distributions questions

Practise Probability: Random Variables and Distributions questions for GATE CS. Explore official PYQs and original topic-wise quizzes, check answers and view available solutions. Free, no sign-in.

Define the sample space and events first. Distinguish independent events from conditional probabilities, and check that the final probability lies between zero and one.

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Official PYQ2026Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 1 mark
An urn contains one red ball and one blue ball. At each step, a ball is picked uniformly at random from the urn, and this ball together with another ball of the same color is put back in the urn. The probability that there are equal number of red and blue balls after two steps is
Official PYQ2026Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 2 marks
Let XX be a random variable which takes values in the set {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}\{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8\}. Further, Pr⁡(X=1)=Pr⁡(X=2)=Pr⁡(X=5)=Pr⁡(X=7)=16\operatorname{Pr}(X=1)=\operatorname{Pr}(X=2)=\operatorname{Pr}(X=5)=\operatorname{Pr}(X=7)=\frac{1}{6} and Pr⁡(X=3)=Pr⁡(X=4)=Pr⁡(X=6)=Pr⁡(X=8)=112\operatorname{Pr}(X=3)=\operatorname{Pr}(X=4)=\operatorname{Pr}(X=6)=\operatorname{Pr}(X=8)=\frac{1}{12}. The expected value of XX, denoted by …
Official PYQ2026Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 1 mark
The probability density function f(x)f(x) of a random variable XX which takes real values is f(x)=132πexp⁡(−x218),x∈(−∞,+∞)f(x)=\frac{1}{3 \sqrt{2 \pi}} \exp \left(-\frac{x^{2}}{18}\right), \quad x \in(-\infty,+\infty) Which one of the following statements is correct about the random variable XX ?
Official PYQ2025Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 1 mark
A box contains 55 coins: 44 regular coins and 11 fake coin. When a regular coin is tossed, the probability P(P( head )=0.5)=0.5 and for a fake coin, P(P( head )=1)=1. You pick a coin at random and toss it twice, and get two heads. The probability that the coin you have chosen is the fake coin is __________. (rounded off to two decimal places)
Official PYQ2025Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 2 marks
Consider a probability distribution given by the density function P(x)P(x). P(x)={Cx2, for 1≤x≤40, for x<1 or x>4P(x)=\left\{\begin{aligned} C x^{2}, & \text{ for } 1 \leq x \leq 4 \\ 0, & \text{ for } x<1 \text{ or } x>4 \end{aligned}\right. The probability that xx lies between 22 and 33, i.e., P(2≤x≤3)P(2 \leq x \leq 3) is _________. (rounded off to three decimal …
Official PYQ2025Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 2 marks
A quadratic polynomial (x−α)(x−β)(x-\alpha)(x-\beta) over complex numbers is said to be square invariant if (x−α)(x−β)=(x−α2)(x−β2)(x-\alpha)(x-\beta)=\left(x-\alpha^{2}\right)\left(x-\beta^{2}\right). Suppose from the set of all square invariant quadratic polynomials we choose one at random. The probability that the roots of the chosen polynomial are equal is __________. (rounded …
Official PYQ2025Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 2 marks
The unit interval (0,1)(0,1) is divided at a point chosen uniformly distributed over (0,1)(0,1) in R\mathbb{R} into two disjoint subintervals. The expected length of the subinterval that contains 0.40.4 is __________. (rounded off to two decimal places)
Official PYQ2024Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 1 mark
Consider a permutation sampled uniformly at random from the set of all permutations of {1,2,3,⋯ ,n}\{1,2,3, \cdots, n\} for some n≥4n \geq 4. Let XX be the event that 11 occurs before 22 in the permutation, and YY the event that 33 occurs before 44. Which one of the following statements is TRUE?
Official PYQ2024Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMSQ · 1 mark
Let AA and BB be two events in a probability space with P(A)=0.3,P(B)=0.5P(A)=0.3, P(B)=0.5, and P(A∩B)=0.1P(A \cap B)=0.1. Which of the following statements is/are TRUE?
Official PYQ2024Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 1 mark
​​​​​​When six unbiased dice are rolled simultaneously, the probability of getting all distinct numbers (i.e.,1,2,3,4,5,and 6)(i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, \text{and } 6) is
Official PYQ2024Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 2 marks
Let xx and yy be random variables, not necessarily independent, that take real values in the interval [0,1][0,1]. Let z=xyz=x y and let the mean values of x,y,zx, y, z be xˉ,yˉ,zˉ\bar{x}, \bar{y}, \bar{z}, respectively. Which one of the following statements is TRUE?
Official PYQ2023Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMSQ · 2 marks
Consider a random experiment where two fair coins are tossed. Let AA be the event that denotes HEAD\text{HEAD} on both the throws, BB be the event that denotes HEAD\text{HEAD} on the first throw, and CC be the event that denotes HEAD\text{HEAD} on the second throw. Which of the following statements is/are TRUE?\text{TRUE}?
Official PYQ2021Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 1 mark
The lifetime of a component of a certain type is a random variable whose probability density function is exponentially distributed with parameter 22. For a randomly picked component of this type, the probability that its lifetime exceeds the expected lifetime (rounded to 22 decimal places) is ____________.
Official PYQ2021Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 2 marks
Consider the two statements. S1:S_1:\quad There exist random variables XX and YY such that (E[(X−E(X))(Y−E(Y))])2>Var[X]Var[Y]\left(\mathbb E[(X-\mathbb E(X))(Y-\mathbb E(Y))]\right)^2>\textsf{Var}[X]\textsf{Var}[Y] S2:S_2:\quad For all random variables XX and Y,Cov[X,Y]=E[∣X−E[X]∣  ∣Y−E[Y]∣]Y, \textsf{Cov}[X,Y]=\mathbb E \left[|X-\mathbb E[X]|\;|Y-\mathbb E[Y]|\right ] Which one of the following …
Official PYQ2021Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 1 mark
For a given biased coin, the probability that the outcome of a toss is a head is 0.40.4. This coin is tossed 1,0001,000 times. Let XX denote the random variable whose value is the number of times that head appeared in these 1,0001,000 tosses. The standard deviation of XX (rounded to 22 decimal place) is _________
Official PYQ2021Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsMCQ · 2 marks
In an examination, a student can choose the order in which two questions (QuesA\textsf{QuesA} and QuesB\textsf{QuesB}) must be attempted. If the first question is answered wrong, the student gets zero marks. If the first question is answered correctly and the second question is not answered correctly, the student gets the marks only for the first question. If …
Official PYQ2020Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 2 marks
For n>2n>2, let a∈{0,1}na \in \{0,1\}^n be a non-zero vector. Suppose that xx is chosen uniformly at random from {0,1}n\{0,1\}^n. Then, the probability that Σi=1naixi\displaystyle{} \Sigma_{i=1}^n a_i x_i is an odd number is______________
Official PYQ2019Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 2 marks
Suppose YY is distributed uniformly in the open interval (1,6)(1,6). The probability that the polynomial 3x2+6xY+3Y+63x^2 +6xY+3Y+6 has only real roots is (rounded off to 11 decimal place) _______
Official PYQ2018Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 1 mark
Two people, PP and QQ, decide to independently roll two identical dice, each with 66 faces, numbered 11 to 66. The person with the lower number wins. In case of a tie, they roll the dice repeatedly until there is no tie. Define a trial as a throw of the dice by PP and Q.Q. Assume that all 66 numbers on each dice are equi-probable and …
Official PYQ2017Engineering MathematicsProbability: Random Variables and DistributionsNAT · 1 mark
Let XX be a Gaussian random variable with mean 0 and variance σ2\sigma ^{2}. Let YY = max⁡(X,0)\max\left ( X,0 \right ) where max⁡(a,b)\max\left ( a,b \right ) is the maximum of aa and bb. The median of YY is ______________ .