What I mean is, is there a statistical calculation that can back up the chances of numbers getting selected? For example, if you have 1-53 numbers, there is one more odd number than even. Also, there are more numbers in the set of 20-29 than 50-53, and so on.
2007-01-24 03:48:25 · 6 answers · asked by adian919 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Knowing that there are more odd numbers than even doesn't provide any predictive value other than over a large number of drawings, odd numbers will be selected approximately 51% of the time.
Such information tells us nothing about the odds for an individual number. Although odd numbers are slightly more likely, there are also slightly more of them such that any particular number is equally likely.
Ditto the odds of the set 20-29 vs. the set 50-53.
2007-01-24 03:56:55 · answer #1 · answered by gebobs 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The California lottery used to have an ad featuring Steve Jobs (one of the founders of Apple Computer), saying his numbers were 1-2-3-4-5-6 because that combination had just as much chance of coming up as any other combination. That always cracked me up because it was really pointing out how unlikely it was for ANY specific combination to come up (it was 1 in 14 million when the numbers were 1-49, went up astronomically when they added more numbers). And no, there's no calculation that will help you with the odds. If there were, mathmeticians would all be winning the lottery.
2007-01-24 12:00:56 · answer #2 · answered by lee m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lottery officials supposedly inspect the machines and the balls before each game and certify that they are unbiased. So, if you trust the lottery officials, each ball in the machine should have exactly the same chance of being selected, every time. So there should be no ball that comes out any more or less often.
Now, since I've never actually gone behind the lottery officials and seen what they do, I can't speak for how it really happens. I think it comes down to whether you believe the officials when they certify a game.
2007-01-24 11:58:31 · answer #3 · answered by acafrao341 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The point is that each INDIVIDUAL number is equally likely to be pulled.
Nobody claimed that you were equally likely to get an odd as an even or a number in the 50s compared to a number in the 20s.
2007-01-24 11:53:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lottery is a game of chance. All games of chance will fail if nobody trusts that the game is run fairly, or that the chances of any particular number coming up is the same as all others. If it were not so, people participating in the game would stop and probably start demanding refunds.
So, I'm going with "yes."
2007-01-24 11:53:11 · answer #5 · answered by bequalming 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we'll just say any incidental lack of randomness can not be adequately calculated, and off-the-charts insignificant.
2007-01-24 11:55:54 · answer #6 · answered by MK6 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋