Using the moment generating function of uniform random variables to calculate the moments of the uniform distribution.

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The moment generating function of a uniform random variable over $[a, b]$ for $a, b \in \mathbb{R}$ and $a < b$ is:

$$ M(t) = \frac{e^{bt} - e^{at}}{t(b - a)} $$

Note that $M^{(1)}(t)$ will have a $t^2$ in the denominator, given the shape of the division rule for derivatives.

This means that $M^{(1)}(0)$ is not defined. So, how can one use it to calculate the expectation of the uniform distribution over $[a, b]$?

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The discontinuity at zero is removable. Take the derivative of $M$ and a limit as $t \rightarrow 0$ in the resulting expression.