![]() ![]() These data strongly suggest that the Powerball computers are generating combinations with equal probability and thus at random. Without these data, it can be illuminating to look at the number of Powerball tickets sold and the percentage of the 292,201,338 possible combinations that are covered by those tickets. Analyzing the frequencies of the numbers that were generated would reveal the degree of randomness of the Quick Pick process. The randomness of these machines’ results can also be tested, but with more difficulty: it involves either buying large numbers of “Quick Pick” tickets or collecting ticket information from a large number of people. From those seeds, additional calculations generate numbers at rates that approximate randomness. This beginning number is often called the “seed.” Other seeds may be created from different phenomena that presumably occur without reason or predictability. In this process, the computer may use some information, such as the computer’s real time clock with precision to a millisecond, at the time that a request for a lottery ticket was made, to trigger a process that draws five numbers and one powerball number. In computer programming terminology, this is often called generating a “pseudo random” number. The potential problems come from the fact that computers are devices programmed by humans and so, almost paradoxically, they must be given a systematic method to choose random numbers. Without a machine to generate numbers with plastic balls, lottery machines nationwide have been generating numbers for ticket buyers in ways that may not give each number exactly equal chances of being chosen. How random are these numbers? Stephanie Keith/ReutersĮvaluating the “Quick Pick” numbers is more challenging. Without doing the statistical calculation and data collection, given the nature of this device for generating balls/numbers, it’s safe to assume that this process generates each number with equal probability. Studying the results from previous drawings would allow an assessment of whether each number is occurring with similar frequency. In short, the ball marked 68 may be more likely to be picked than the ball marked 1. Coupled with gravity, this may be enough to keep those balls lower in the container and thus more likely to be picked by the platform. It is possible – though it’s a stretch – that balls with printed numbers requiring more ink to delineate the number on the ball may weigh more due to the extra ink than balls requiring less ink. Generally speaking, it seems reasonable that each ball is equally likely to be selected by this process. This procedure is repeated for the selection of each ball (five white and one red, the “Powerball”). The air is then turned off and a ball is raised from the bottom via a platform and then removed from the container.
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