Generate random numbers between two values and with a given mean

[Guest]

I would like to use Excel to generate random numbers which:

a) are situated between values X and Y (so far no problem)

*AND*

b) yield a mean Z, which is different from the average of X and Y.

Could anyone help ?

 

[Bernd Plumhoff]

Hello,

If you like to put together your probability distribution
stepwise, you can use my user-defined functions redw() or
rww() at
http://www.sulprobil.com/html/random_numbers.html, for
example.

If, for example, X=10, Y=20 and your desired Z=13, then
you could (there are plenty of distribution which result
in a mean of 13) take

=redw(9,1)*10+10

because it will (on average!) result in (9*(10+15)/2+1*
(15+20)/2)/10 = 13.

HTH,
Bernd

 

[Jerry W. Lewis]

Your question is unclear and incomplete:
- What distribution do you want this random numbers to follow (uniform,
normal, or other)
- Is Z the mean of the distribution (which will probably depend on X &
Y0, or is it the observed sample average which means that the random
numbers will not be independent of each other?

Jerry