Binomial & Poisson distribution calculator

Multiply the number of ways to place k successes among n trials by the chance of any one such sequence: P(X = k) = C(n, k)·pᵏ·(1 − p)ⁿ⁻ᵏ. For 5 heads in 10 fair tosses, C(10, 5) = 252 and 0.5¹⁰ = 1/1024, so P = 252/1024 = 0.2461. A cumulative probability such as P(X ≤ 5) adds the terms for k = 0 to 5.

For whole-number counts they differ by the single term P(X = k), so P(X < 5) = P(X ≤ 4). With n = 20 and p = 0.3, P(X ≤ 5) = 0.4164 but P(X < 5) = 0.2375. In words, 'at most 5' is ≤ 5, 'fewer than 5' is < 5, 'at least 5' is ≥ 5 and 'more than 5' is > 5.

When n is large and p is small, using λ = np. A commonly cited rule is n ≥ 20 with p ≤ 0.05, or n ≥ 100 with np ≤ 10. Outside those limits the approximation drifts: for n = 20 and p = 0.3 the binomial gives P(X ≤ 5) = 0.4164, while a Poisson with λ = 6 gives 0.4457. This calculator computes the binomial exactly, so the shortcut is only needed by hand.

Use it when you draw without replacement from a finite population, so each draw changes the odds for the next. The chance of at least one ace in a 5-card hand is 34.12% by the hypergeometric (N = 52, K = 4, n = 5). Treating the draws as independent binomial trials with p = 4/52 gives 32.98%. The two agree closely only when the sample is a small fraction of the population.

The mean is np and the variance np(1 − p). For 20 trials with p = 0.3 the mean is 6 successes, the variance 4.2 and the standard deviation √4.2 = 2.05. For a Poisson distribution the mean and the variance both equal λ, so counts whose variance is well above their mean are overdispersed and often fit a negative binomial better.

정확도는 입력값과 계산 방법의 가정에 따라 달라집니다. 십진 연산은 유효숫자 50자리를 사용하지만, 추정값·수치해석 방법·원본 데이터의 정밀도는 더 낮을 수 있습니다. 표시값을 반올림해도 이러한 한계는 사라지지 않습니다. 독립적인 출처의 풀이와 대조한 계산 예시: 12. 예를 들어 “Binomial n = 10, p = 0.5, P(X = 5)”은 C(10,5)/2¹⁰ = 252/1024 = 63/256 (Python fractions)와 대조해 확인합니다.

NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook of Statistical Methods, §1.3.6.6.18 Binomial distribution and §1.3.6.6.19 Poisson distribution; Johnson, Kemp & Kotz, Univariate Discrete Distributions, 3rd ed. (Wiley, 2005); Abramowitz & Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions, 26.5.24 (binomial CDF as an incomplete beta) and 6.5.13 (Poisson CDF as an incomplete gamma).