Question

A lottery has a $100 000 first prize, a $25 000 second prize, and five $500 third prizes. A total of 50000 tickets are sold. What is the probability of winning a prize in this lottery?

Answer 1

`7/50000=0.00014=0.014%`

Explanation:

There are 50,000 tickets sold and 7 prizes (1 - 1st place, 1 - 2nd place, 5 - 3rd place).

So the probability of winning a prize is:

`7/50000=0.00014=0.014%`

We can also say the odds are roughly `1/7143` - 1 chance in `7,143`. As a comparison, the odds of being hit by lightning over your lifetime are about `1/(12,000)`

http://wncn.com/2016/01/12/odds-of-winning-powerball-jackpot-less-than-being-hit-by-lightning-twice/