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27Variance of a discrete XX

X\displaystyle X takes values 0,1,2\displaystyle 0, 1, 2 with probabilities 0.2,0.5,0.3\displaystyle 0.2, 0.5, 0.3. Find Var(X)\displaystyle \mathrm{Var}(X).

Variance measures spread: Var(X) = E(X²) − [E(X)]². Here E(X) = 1.1 and E(X²) = 1.7, so Var(X) = 1.7 − 1.21 = 0.49, confirmed by the direct deviation check.

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