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What are the steps to solve this probability word problem?

Jenny buys a lottery ticket. It has five digits. For each digit, there is an equal probability that any of the numbers 0-9 will be chosen. Jenny's number is 00573. What are the odds that she will win?    The correct answer is 100,000:1.

2 Answers

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  • Ash
    Lv 7
    4 weeks ago
    Favorite Answer

    P(1st digit win) = winning digit / total digits = 1/10

    P(2nd digit win) = winning digit / total digits = 1/10

    ....same for all the digits

    so we get

    P(5 winning digits) = 1/10  x  1/10  x  1/10  x 1/10  x 1/10 = 1/100,000

    or 1: 100,000

  • 4 weeks ago

    You are incorrect.

    The number of possible numbers is 100 000. Jenny has one of them. 

    So the ODDS of her winning are 99 999 to 1 AGAINST.

    But the PROBABILITY of her winning is 1/100 000, or 10^(-5).

    Make sure that you know the difference between odds and probability.

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