# Hypergeometric probabilities sum to one?

• January 13th 2012, 12:49 AM
Mathsdog
Hypergeometric probabilities sum to one?
Hi, Guess this should be easy, but could do with a pointer. Show directly that the set of probabilities associated with the hypergeometric distribution sum to 1. Hint: Expand the identity

$(1+ \mu)^N = (1+ \mu)^r (1+\mu)^{N-r}$

So, how do you get from this to

$\Sigma_{k=0}^r {{ \binom{r}{k} \cdot \binom{w}{n-k}} \over \binom{N}{n} }} = 1$

which I take to be the formal statement of the verbal statement above, right? (i.e. the set of probabilities associated with the hypergeometric distribution sum to 1 (for a given r, w and N and where r + w = n)).

As always, much appreciated and thanks in advance for any insights.
Ta, MD
• January 14th 2012, 06:39 PM
mr fantastic
Re: Hypergeometric probabilities sum to one?
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mathsdog
Hi, Guess this should be easy, but could do with a pointer. Show directly that the set of probabilities associated with the hypergeometric distribution sum to 1. Hint: Expand the identity

$(1+ \mu)^N = (1+ \mu)^r (1+\mu)^{N-r}$

So, how do you get from this to

$\Sigma_{k=0}^r {{ \binom{r}{k} \cdot \binom{w}{n-k}} \over \binom{N}{n} }} = 1$

which I take to be the formal statement of the verbal statement above, right? (i.e. the set of probabilities associated with the hypergeometric distribution sum to 1 (for a given r, w and N and where r + w = n)).

As always, much appreciated and thanks in advance for any insights.
Ta, MD

As is usually the case, all the necessary clues can be found using your search engine of choice:

Hypergeometric distribution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vandermonde's identity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• March 31st 2015, 06:41 AM
DenisB
Re: Hypergeometric probabilities sum to one?
That's last post by Monsieur Fantastique; about 3.5 years ago.
Who scared him away?
Looks like nobody cares anyway :)