Random Numbers

hi,

Actually this applies not just to random numbers, but...

Suppose I type:
  x <- rnorm(30, 4, 1.5)
to get some 30 random normal numbers with mean 4 and standard deviation
1.5.

Is there anyway to "re-trace" x?  i.e. am I able to find out what the mean
and standard deviation for x is?

More generally, suppose I generated some random numbers using a particular
distribution.  Can I find out the parameters of the distribution on these
random numbers?

Well use fitdistr ()

require (mass)
x <- rnorm(30, 4, 1.5)
fitdistr(x,"normal",list(mean=0,sd=1))

result:
     mean         sd    
  3.7126893   1.2748764 
 (0.2327595) (0.1646173)
Warning message: 
NaNs produced in: dnorm(x, mean, sd, log) 
 



Thanks in advance

Bernardo Rangel Tura, MD, MSc
National Institute of Cardiology Laranjeiras
Rio de Janeiro Brazil

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