Question

As of this writing, the powerball lottery is run in 42 states. winning the jackpot requires that you select the correct five numbers between 1 and 59 and, in a separate drawing, you must also select the correct single number between 1 and 39. find the probability of winning the jackpot. 34.

Answer 1

number of ways to select 5 numbers from 59 (order does not matter) = 59C5
= 5,006,386

number of ways to select 1 from 39 = 39

Probability of winning jackpot = 1 in 5,006,386* 39 = 1 chance in 195,249,042