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Mon 10 Jun, 2013 01:29 pm
A lottery is played as follows:
The player selects six numbers from the numbers 1-42 and buys a ticket for $1
There are six winning numbers, which are selected at random from the numbers 1-42
to win a prize, a lotto number must contain 3 or more of the winning numbers
A ticket with exactly 3 numbers is paid $2
A ticket with exactly four, five, or six winning numbers depends on sales and on how many other tickers were sold that have exactly four, five or six winning numbers, respectively.
What is the probability that
a. you win the jackpot - the six numbers are the same as the six winning numbers
b. you ticket contains exactly four winning numbers
c you don't win a prize
Should I use combinations? Permutations?
Here's a Wiki page that may help, even though it deals with a 49 lottery, as opposed to a 42.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lottery_mathematics
@CherryPixie,
CherryPixie wrote:Should I use combinations? Permutations?
No. This is probability and statistics, not combinations and permutations.
Lets say you've chosen your six numbers, and they're doing the drawing.
What is the probability that the first number they draw is one of your six numbers?
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