Chapter 13, Problem 15CT

To determine

To find: The probability of selecting the winning numbers on a $1 play.

Answer to Problem 15CT

The probability of selecting the winning numbers on a $1 play is $8.2969\times {10}^{-9}$ .

Explanation of Solution

Given:

A powerball is a multistate lottery in which 5 white balls from a drum with 53 balls and 1 red ball from a drum with 42 red balls are selected .

Calculation:

The number of 6-number combination in powerball is C(53,1) and C(42,1) = 120, 526, 770.

Therefore,

The probability of selecting the winning numbers on a $1 play is,

  $\begin{array}{l}=\frac{1}{120,526,770}\\ \approx 8.2969\times {10}^{-9}\end{array}$

Hence,the probability of selecting the winning numbers on a $1 play is $8.2969\times {10}^{-9}$ .