WorksheetFunction.Poisson_Dist(Double, Double, Boolean) Method

Definition

Returns the Poisson distribution. A common application of the Poisson distribution is predicting the number of events over a specific time, such as the number of cars arriving at a toll plaza in one minute.

public:
 double Poisson_Dist(double Arg1, double Arg2, bool Arg3);
public double Poisson_Dist (double Arg1, double Arg2, bool Arg3);
Public Function Poisson_Dist (Arg1 As Double, Arg2 As Double, Arg3 As Boolean) As Double

Parameters

Arg1
Double

X - The number of events.

Arg2
Double

Mean - The expected numeric value.

Arg3
Boolean

Cumulative - A logical value that determines the form of the probability distribution returned. If cumulative is true, Poisson_Dist returns the cumulative Poisson probability that the number of random events occurring will be between 0 (zero) and x inclusive; if false, it returns the Poisson probability mass function that the number of events occurring will be exactly x.

Returns

Remarks

If x is not an integer, it is truncated.

If x or mean is nonnumeric, Poisson_Dist returns the #VALUE! error value.

If x < 0, Poisson_Dist returns the #NUM! error value.

If mean ≤ 0, Poisson_Dist returns the #NUM! error value.

Poisson_Dist is calculated as follows.

For cumulative = false:

Figure 1: Calcuation when cumulative is false

For cumulative = true:

Figure 2: Calcuation when cumulative is true

Applies to