2000 Paper 3 Q12

Year: 2000
Paper: 3
Question Number: 12

Course: UFM Statistics
Section: Poisson Distribution

Difficulty: 1700.0 Banger: 1553.7

Problem

In a lottery, any one of \(N\) numbers, where \(N\) is large, is chosen at random and independently for each player by machine. Each week there are \(2N\) players and one winning number is drawn. Write down an exact expression for the probability that there are three or fewer winners in a week, given that you hold a winning ticket that week. Using the fact that $$ {\biggl( 1 - {a \over n} \biggr) ^n \approx \e^{-a}}$$ for \(n\) much larger than \(a\), or otherwise, show that this probability is approximately \({2 \over 3}\) . Discuss briefly whether this probability would increase or decrease if the numbers were chosen by the players. Show that the expected number of winners in a week, given that you hold a winning ticket that week, is \( 3-N^{-1}\).

No solution available for this problem.

Rating Information

Difficulty Rating: 1700.0

Difficulty Comparisons: 0

Banger Rating: 1553.7

Banger Comparisons: 8

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Problem source
In a lottery, any one of $N$ numbers, where $N$ is large,  
is chosen at random and independently for each player by  
machine. Each week there are $2N$ players 
 and one winning number is drawn. Write down an  
exact expression for the probability that there are  
three or fewer winners in a week, given that you hold  
a winning ticket that week. Using the fact that  
$$ 
{\biggl( 1 - {a \over n} \biggr) ^n \approx \e^{-a}}$$ 
for $n$ much larger than $a$, or otherwise, show that this probability  
is approximately ${2 \over 3}$ . 
 
Discuss briefly whether  
 this probability would  increase or decrease  
if the numbers were chosen by the players. 
 
 
Show that the expected number of winners in a week,  
given that you hold a winning ticket that week, is 
$ 3-N^{-1}$.