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Statistics for Decision- Making in Business - Maricopa Community ...

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This means that, after sell<strong>in</strong>g this product <strong>for</strong> a while, it should earn an average of $103<br />

from each consumer that purchases the warranty. This is a profitable outcome.<br />

Example 2: The Arizona Lottery has a number of different lottery games that a person<br />

can play. One <strong>in</strong> particular is Fantasy 5. The rules of the game are simple: pay $1 per<br />

ticket and select five numbers between 1 and 41. Five numbers are then selected at<br />

random. If you correctly selected two or more of these numbers, then you are<br />

considered a w<strong>in</strong>ner. The follow<strong>in</strong>g table describes the likelihood of w<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g:<br />

(SOURCE: www.arizonalottery.com)<br />

The estimated jackpot <strong>for</strong> the Wednesday, August 17, 2011 lottery was $54,000. Is the<br />

game <strong>in</strong> your favor Why or why not<br />

SOLUTION:<br />

We must first consider the fact that these prizes do not take <strong>in</strong>to account that $1 was lost to<br />

purchase the ticket; we should subtract $1 from each of the prizes. Additionally, we note<br />

that the probabilities do not add to 1:<br />

The rema<strong>in</strong>der of the time, it is simply the case that $1 is lost:<br />

We rebuild the table to show all of the values and probabilities:<br />

53,999 499 4 0 -1<br />

( ) 1/749,398 1/4163 1/119 1/11 9,004/10,000<br />

<strong>Statistics</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Decision</strong>-<strong>Mak<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> Bus<strong>in</strong>ess © Milos Podmanik Page 138

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