Permutation is finding the number of experimental outcomes when n objects are selected out of a set of N objects. The difference from combinations is that the order of selection makes a difference on the outcomes. In combinations it doesn't matter, so you use that for lottery examples. For your 6 set of 42, you would have to use (42!)/(6!(42-6)!) [! is factorial, look it up if you don't know it]. There are 5,245,786 possible combinations for your lottery, meaning you have a 1/5,245,786 chance of exactly matching the numbers.
(ps I'm in a business stats class right now, which is why I still know all of this)
pps arctures is wrong
__________________  Quote:
Originally Posted by EGGS N' BRAINS  well, sometimes when a man and a woman love their son very much they teach him to be bloody incompetent. | |