to all math whizz.. a question about possibilities.

[Harkoliar]

well i got a little curious seeing the lotto on TV. What are the possibilities for getting 6 numbers combo range from 1-45 in getting picked?

i cant remember the formula.

[Vaskez]

Your question makes absolutely no grammatical sense, but from what I gather you are asking what are the chances of you guessing 6 numbers correctly when the numbers are in the range 1-45 (inclusive).

If the order matters (you must guess in correct order):
With 6 numbers in that range, there are 46^6 = 9474296896 possible combinations so the chance of winning is 1 divided by that.

If the order doesn't matter then I can't remember the formula but there is obviously more chance of winning by a factor that is the number of ways of getting a certain set of numbers.

[Harkoliar]

you know after reading my own problem your right it didnt make alot of sense .

glad you figured it out though.. although there is no actually specific order for it. so there is a little less possible combinations than 9 billion.. whoa.

[dplax]

Supposing you only get to choose each number once:
If order matters it is 45*44*43*42*41 possibilities. If order doesn't matter it is 45*44*43*42*41/5/4/3/2/1 possibilities.
Chance to win is 1 divided by the number of possibilities.

[ 05-12-2004, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: dplax ]

[DBear]

The correct answer is 46!/6!40! or in other words, 46*45*44*43*42*41/720. This assumes the order picked doesn't matter.

[mad=dog]

The name of the formula is a combination (assuming the order is irrelevant) or a permutation (assuming the order is relevant). Both of these methods assume that a member is not replaced, like in Lotto where the ball is removed from the bowl when it is picked.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Permutation.html
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Combination.html
DBears answer corresponds to the combination of 6 members from a set of 46. This is merely an elaboration to answer the "i cant remember the formula" bit of your question.

[Harkoliar]

The correct answer is 46!/6!40! or in other words, 46*45*44*43*42*41/720. This assumes the order picked doesn't matter.

and

The name of the formula is a combination (assuming the order is irrelevant) or a permutation (assuming the order is relevant). Both of these methods assume that a member is not replaced, like in Lotto where the ball is removed from the bowl when it is picked. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Permutation.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Combination.html DBears answer corresponds to the combination of 6 members from a set of 46. This is merely an elaboration to answer the "i cant remember the formula" bit of your question.

thanks guys... i can now sleep peacfully tonight . oh yeah.. combination or permutation thats the forumla i was looking for. answer was close to 164+ million possibilities. lol

[ 05-13-2004, 03:05 AM: Message edited by: Harkoliar ]