Statistics: What is the difference between a Binomial and Poisson distribution?

Binomial:

  1. A single trial has only 2 possible outcomes: success or failure

  2. A fixed number of trials, n

  3. Trials are independent

  4. The probability of success remains constant at each trial

Mean: E(x) = np      Var(x) = np(1-p)

Poisson:

  1. events must occur singly - 2 cannot occur simultaneously

  2. uniformly - events occur at a constant rate

  3. independently - occurence of one event does not influence another

mean = variance

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Answered by Shivani S. Maths tutor

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