nkasturia Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hi Guys, My teacher gave me a question, I have been unable to find an answer for, hopefully you can help me out. If you have a 1 in 3 odds of winning a lottery, does that mean that if we have three tickets, we surely will win a prize. I immediately thought, the answer is yes, but it sounds too easy. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertc16 Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hi Guys, My teacher gave me a question, I have been unable to find an answer for, hopefully you can help me out. If you have a 1 in 3 odds of winning a lottery, does that mean that if we have three tickets, we surely will win a prize. I immediately thought, the answer is yes, but it sounds too easy.well all 3 tickets could be losing tickets...unless by 1 in 3 odds of winning, it means there are 3 tickets and one of them is the winning ticket, then you'd win for sure Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkasturia Posted January 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Hi Guys, My teacher gave me a question, I have been unable to find an answer for, hopefully you can help me out. If you have a 1 in 3 odds of winning a lottery, does that mean that if we have three tickets, we surely will win a prize. I immediately thought, the answer is yes, but it sounds too easy.well all 3 tickets could be losing tickets...unless by 1 in 3 odds of winning, it means there are 3 tickets and one of them is the winning ticket, then you'd win for sure Thnx alot, i thought of the same thing but i thought that it was too easy, but knowing my teacher he would do this just to throw us off Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Glau Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 "odds" means there is only the 3 tickets.If he had a said there is a 1/3 probability that would imply a 33.3333333333333% no matter how many you bought (assuming each pick is independent...) as if there were infinite tickets. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepeer Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 It's a trick question and he didn't give enough data to answer. You could answer by saying if the lottery has only one winning ticket (as is usually the case) then yes, you would definitely win. Otherwise, you can not be absolutely sure. If the lottery had made 3000 tickets then you'd have to buy 2001 tickets to be sure you'll win. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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