Name parameters PMF or PDF Mean Variance

Bernoulli p P(X = 1) = p, P(X = 0) = 1 p p p(1 p)

Binomial n, p

n
k

p
k
(1 p)
nk
for k = 0, 1, . . . , n np np(1 p)
Hypergeometric w, b, n
(
w
k
)(
b
nk
)
(
w+b
n
)
, for k = 0, 1, . . . , n
nw
w+b
nwb
(w+b)
2
w+bn
w+b1
Geometric p p(1 p)
k
, for k = 1, 2, . . .
1p
p
1p
p
2
Negative Binomial r, p

r+n1
r1

p
r
(1 p)
n
, for n = 0, 1, . . .
r(1p)
p
r(1p)
p
2
Poisson
e

k
k!
, for k = 0, 1, . . .
Uniform a, b
1
ba
, for a x b
a+b
2
(ba)
2
12
Beta a, b
(a+b)
(a)(b)
x
a1
(1 x)
b1
, for 0 < x < 1
a
a+b
ab
(a+b)
2
(a+b+1)
Normal ,
2 1

2
e
(x)
2
/(2
2
)

2
2