What is a Poisson distribution?

• A Poisson distribution is a?discrete probability distribution

What are the important properties of a Poisson distribution?

• The?mean?and?variance?of a Poisson distribution are roughly?equal
• The distribution can be represented visually using a vertical line graph
  • If λ is?close to 0?then the graph has a?tail to the right?(positive skew)
  • If λ is?at least 5?then the graph is?roughly symmetrical
• The Poisson distribution becomes more symmetrical as the value of the mean (λ) increases

How do I set up a Poisson model?

• Find the?mean?and?variance?and check that they are?roughly equal
  • You may have to?change the mean?depending on the given time/space interval
• Make sure you?clearly state?what your?random variable?is
  • For example, let?X?be the number of typing errors per page in an academic article
• Identify?what?probability?you are looking for

What can be modelled using a Poisson distribution?

• Anything that occurs?singly?and?randomly?in a given interval of time or space and satisfies the conditions
• For example, let?X??be the random variable 'the number of emails that arrive into your inbox per day'
  • There is a given interval of a day, this is an example of an interval of time
  • We can assume the emails arrive into your inbox at random
  • We can assume each email is independent of the other emails
    • This is something that you would have to consider before using the Poisson distribution as a model
  • If you know the mean number of emails per day a Poisson distribution can be used
• Sometimes the given interval will be for space
  • For example, the number of daisies that exist on a square metre of grass
  • look carefully at the units given as you may have to change them when calculating probabilities

Where does the formula for a Poisson distribution come from?

• The derivation of the formula comes from the binomial distribution, however it is outside the scope of this syllabus and will not be proved here
  • Whilst the binomial distribution relies on knowing a fixed number of trials, the Poisson can allow for any number of trials within a time period
  • Only the mean number of occurrences of an event within the given period needs to be known

How do I calculate the cumulative probabilities for a Poisson distribution?

How can calculating probabilities for a Poisson distribution be made easier?

• Having to type a lot of calculations into your calculator can be time consuming and cause errors
• • This is much simpler and easier to type into your calculator in exam conditions

How do I change the mean for a Poisson distribution?

• Sometimes the mean may be given for a different interval of time or space than that which you need to calculate the probability for
• A given value of?λ?can be adjusted to fit the necessary time period
  • For example if a football team score a mean of 2 goals an hour and we want to find the probability of them scoring a certain number of goals in a 90 minute game, then we would use the distribution?X?~ Po(3)
    • 90 = 1.5 (60) so use 1.5λ
• A very useful property of the Poisson distribution is that if?X?and?Y?are?two independent Poisson?distributions then their sums,?X?+?Y?is also a?Poisson?distribution
  • If?X?~ Po(λ) and?Y?~ Po(μ) then?X?+?Y?~ Po(λ?+?μ)
  • Note that, for an integer value of?a?and?b?greater than 1,?aX + bY?no longer follows a Poisson distribution