In 1990, California switched from a 6/49 lottery to a 6/53 lottery. Later, the state switched again to a 6/51 lottery.
Find the probability of winning first prize in a 6/49 lottery.

Find the probability of winning first prize in a 6/53 lottery.

Find the probability of winning first prize in a 6/51 lottery.

How much more probable is it that one will win the 6/49 lottery than the 6/53 lottery? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)

irst, find the z score of a score of 80. this is given by the formula z = (x-u)/o, where x is the score, u is the mean, and o is the standard deviation. this gives

z = (80-78)/12 = 1/6 = .1667

now, find what percentile a z score of 1/6 correlates to in the normal distribution.

a z score of 1/6 = .1667 is equivalent to the 56.36th percentile of the distribution. so the probability a score is over this is 1-.5636 = .4364

the mean of a sample mean is equal to the original mean. however, the standard deviation of a sample mean is equal to the original standard deviation divided by the square root of n (sample size). so the new standard deviation is 12/sqrt(16) = 3.

the new z score is 80-78/3 = 2/3 = .667. this is equivalent to the 74.86th percentile. so the probability that the mean will be greater than this score is 1-.7486 = .2514.

mrbilldoesmath!

answer: a parabola

steps:

(x-1)(x+4)   = x(x+4) - 1(x+4) = (x^2 + 4x) - (x+4)

                = x^2 +4x -x -4   = x^2 +3x -4

which is a parabola

mrb