Sum of two Poisson variables

One of the useful properties of the Poisson distribution is that when you add multiple Poisson distributions together, the result is also a Poisson distribution.

Here you'll generate two random Poisson variables to test this.

This exercise is part of the course

Foundations of Probability in R

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Exercise instructions

  • Simulate 100,000 draws from the Poisson(1) distribution, saving them as X.
  • Simulate 100,000 draws separately from the Poisson(2) distribution, and save them as Y.
  • Add X and Y together to create a variable Z.
  • We expect Z to follow a Poisson(3) distribution. Use the compare_histograms function to compare Z to 100,000 draws from a Poisson(3) distribution.

Hands-on interactive exercise

Have a go at this exercise by completing this sample code.

# Simulate 100,000 draws from Poisson(1)


# Simulate 100,000 draws from Poisson(2)


# Add X and Y together to create Z


# Use compare_histograms to compare Z to the Poisson(3)