Continuous random variable

A continuous random variable can take any value in an interval, so its probabilities come from area under a density curve, not from single points.

A continuous random variable comes from measuring rather than counting, so between any two of its values there are infinitely many more. That is why the probability of any single exact value is 0, and probability instead means the area under a density curve over an interval. If your wait for a bus is equally likely anywhere between 0 and 10 minutes, the density height is 1/10=0.11/10 = 0.1, so P(X<3)=3(0.1)=0.30P(X < 3) = 3(0.1) = 0.30. The normal distribution is the continuous model you will use most in this course.

More random variables and distributions terms, or browse the full statistics glossary.