Calling math wizs, I need some double checking...

[SithSolo1]

Ok my friends and I have spent the past 15mins calculating the number of lottery combinations for 3 lotterys and this is what we came up with:

Lotto 3: Pick 3 numbers 1-9 in any combination. 9^3=729

Lotto 6: Pick 6 numbers 0-9 in any combination. 10^6=1,000,000

PowerBall: Pick 5 numbers 0-9 in any combination and then 1 more ball 1-45. 10^5= 100,000 x 45 = 4,500,000

These all seem too low, what am I missing?

 

[UncleWai]

It depends if you put the ball back in to the pool.

If you don't put the ball back in, it would be 1/9 * 1/8 * 1/7

 

[Moonbeam]

You can't put the ball back in the pool because you can only pick a number once on a lotto ticket.

 

[Paul180]

There is a difference between combinations and probablility... the combinations will seem low, but most lotteries do not use 1-9... they use 1-50 which changes things alot!

http://www.alllotto.com/lottery_odds_calculator.php

That can help you out with the probability part of it, and the combinations you are doing are correct except there is no replacement

 

[amnesiac]

Err, aren't the lotto 6 / powerball 1-51 or something?

In any case, you have to use a pick/choose formula

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Lotto pick 6 numbers would be: 50 x 49 x 48 x 47 x 46 x 45 = 11,441,304,000

assuming that there are 50 numbers to chose from (1-50) and you don't put the ball back in after it has been drawn.

 

[SithSolo1]

Durr I knew I was forgetting something! Lotto is like 1-45 for each number

As you can tell I have never played

 

[jagr10]

Here's an example:

If you have 49 balls and 6 get picked then it's:

1/49 x 1/48 x 1/47 x 1/46 x 1/45 x 1/44 etc.

multiply all those and you won't feel so lucky.

i think i'm wrong somewhere. my number seems to high.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Originally posted by: jagr10
Here's an example:

If you have 49 balls and 6 get picked then it's:

1/49 x 1/48 x 1/47 x 1/46 x 1/45 x 1/44 etc.

multiply all those and you won't feel so lucky.

i think i'm wrong somewhere. my number seems to high.

The formula for the number of ways to pick n balls from r possibilities, assuming the order matters and balls are not replaced is:
n!/r!(n-r)!
Picking six from 49 gives you about 14 million different possibilites.