The Powerball lottery is run in 42 states. Winning the jackpot requires that you select the correct five numbers between 1 and 59 and, in a separate drawing, you must also select the correct single number between 1 and 39. Find the probability of winning the jackpot.
+130511 From 59 numbers we want to pick any 5......and from 39 numbers we want to select just 1
The total ways of doing this is given by
C(59, 5) * C(39,1) = 195,249,054
And the probaility that one ticket wins the jackpot = 1 / 195, 249, 054 = 0.0000000051216637
In other words, not very good......to see this....if every person in the US bought one ticket, there would be - on the average - only one or two winners , out of every drawing !!! (Of course, this doesn't always happen.....sometimes no one wins....other times, there are multiple winners.....)
+130511 From 59 numbers we want to pick any 5......and from 39 numbers we want to select just 1
The total ways of doing this is given by
C(59, 5) * C(39,1) = 195,249,054
And the probaility that one ticket wins the jackpot = 1 / 195, 249, 054 = 0.0000000051216637
In other words, not very good......to see this....if every person in the US bought one ticket, there would be - on the average - only one or two winners , out of every drawing !!! (Of course, this doesn't always happen.....sometimes no one wins....other times, there are multiple winners.....)
