When I was at school our maths teacher showed us how they worked out the odds of winning the jackpot in the National Lottery. As this was about 10 years ago now I have a total mind blank of how it was calculated - can anyone out there help me out with a reminder maths lesson?
P.S. I am not a GCSE student who needs help with her coursework. Honest. I have a job. I just spend a lot of time on here.
2006-10-04 01:30:18 · 17 answers · asked by Little Bo Peep 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Its really simple
Initially you have 6 chances out of 49 for the first number then 5 out of 48 and so on to 1 out of 44 for the last number. Simply multiply all of these fractions together and take the recipricol( 1 divided by the answer) this should give you 13,983,816.
So you have a 1 in 14million chance
2006-10-04 01:33:47 · answer #1 · answered by Bob-bob 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The total number of combinations of N numbers from T is worked out as:
T! / [N! (T-N)!]
For the lotto this breaks down to
(49x48x47x46x45x44) / (6x5x4x3x2)
Which comes out at 13,983,816.
So the chances of winning the jackpot are about 14 million to 1.
2006-10-04 08:43:44 · answer #2 · answered by Mad Professor 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
14 Million to 1
2006-10-04 08:40:49 · answer #3 · answered by Laughing Boy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read that you should not buy your ticket until the day of the draw. This is because you have more chance of being knocked down by a car than you have of winning the jackpot. But we still try - Good Luck
2006-10-04 08:56:31 · answer #4 · answered by Daddybear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probability of choosing a number is 1/49
Probablility of choosing 2nd number is 1/48
Probability of choosing 3rd number is 1/47
Prob of winning is:
1/49*48*47*46*45*44
2006-10-04 08:34:42 · answer #5 · answered by porkscratchings 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not sure on the calculation but I read somewhere recently it is between 14-18 million to one! Good Luck
2006-10-04 08:33:17 · answer #6 · answered by izzy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The probability is better if you join a syndicate. This can be done online and you can end up playing for free. Look at the following site for full details.
www.v-w-d.com/g.asp?
m=10377&goto=/vwdguest
2006-10-04 09:00:28 · answer #7 · answered by DevilsAdvocate 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The last time i read statistics on winning the lottery, it stated something like 14million to 1 !!!!!
So stick to studying friend not gambling....lol
2006-10-04 09:20:20 · answer #8 · answered by mbhoy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
These are the genuine odds
3 Balls 56 / 1
4 Balls 1031 / 1
5 Balls 54,200 / 1
6 Balls 13,983,815 / 1
2006-10-04 17:23:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Youve got more chance of a pig flying over your house!
2006-10-04 08:38:24 · answer #10 · answered by Annie M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋