Orders of magnitude (probability) explained

This page lists events in order of increasing probability, grouped by orders of magnitude. These probabilities were calculated given assumptions detailed in the relevant articles and references. For example, the probabilities of obtaining the different poker hands assume that the cards are dealt fairly.

List of orders of magnitude for probability! Factor !! SI prefix !! Value !! Item
01.0×10

n\toinfty

Almost never.
10−4.5×102910−4.5×1029Probability of a human spontaneously teleporting 50km (30miles) due to quantum effects
10−360,7831.0×10−360,783Probability of a monkey in front of a typewriter typing Hamlet on the first try, taking punctuation, capitalization and spacing into account[1]
10−183,8001.0×10−183,800Rough first estimate of the probability of a monkey in front of a typewriter typing all the letters of Hamlet on the first try[2]
10−67Probability of shuffling a standard 52-card deck in any specific order[3]
10−30Quecto- (q)One in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10−284.47×10−28Approximate probability of all four players in a game of bridge getting a complete suit[4]
10−27Ronto- (r)One in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10−24Yocto- (y)One in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10−21Zepto- (z)One in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10−192.83×10−19Approximate probability of matching 20 numbers for 20 in a game of keno
10−18Atto- (a)One in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
10−162.74×10−16Probability of rolling snake eyes 10 times in a row on a pair of fair dice
10−15Femto- (f)1×10−15One in 1,000,000,000,000,000
10−12Pico- (p)1×10−12One in 1,000,000,000,000
10−112.52×10−11Approximate probability of one player in a game of bridge getting a complete suit
10−10Probability per second of a SATA harddisk failure during an MTBF test[5]
5.25×10−10 Caesium-137 atom decay each second[6]
Gaussian distribution

probability of a value being more than 6 standard deviations from the mean on a specific side[7]

10−9Nano- (n)1×10−9One in 1,000,000,000
3.9×10−9 Probability of an entry winning the jackpot in the Mega Millions multi-state lottery in the United States[8]
5.707×10−9 Probability of winning the Grand Prize (matching all 6 numbers) in the US Powerball lottery with one ticket in January 2014
10−81.303×10−8Probability of winning the Grand Prize (matching all 6 numbers) in the Australian Powerball lottery with one ticket in March 2013
2.219×10−8odds of winning the Jackpot (matching the 6 main numbers from 59) in the UK National Lottery with one ticket since 10 October 2015
7.151×10−8odds of winning the Jackpot (matching the 6 main numbers from 49) in the UK National Lottery with one ticket until 10 October 2015
10−7Death per aircraft journey[9]
Gaussian distribution

probability of a value being more than 5 standard deviations from the mean on a specific side[10]

Death per person per year by lightning strike in Germany (Europe)[11]
10−6Micro- (μ) Life-threatening adverse reaction from a measles vaccine[12]
1.43×10−6Probability of the Yellowstone supervolcano erupting in a given year.
1.5×10−6Probability of being dealt a royal flush in poker
10−51.4×10−5Probability of being dealt a straight flush (other than a royal flush) in poker
Risk that the asteroid which is 450 meters wide will impact earth in 2032[13]
Gaussian distribution

probability of a value being more than 4 standard deviations from the mean on a specific side[14]

Probability of a deadly vehicle accident per person in Europe each year (not including former Yugoslavia)
10−4Probability of being dealt a four of a kind in poker
10−3Milli- (m) Gaussian distribution

probability of a value being more than 3 standard deviations from the mean on a specific side[15]

Probability of a human birth giving triplets or higher-order multiples[16]
Probability of being dealt a full house in poker
1.9×10−3Probability of being dealt a flush in poker
2.7×10−3Probability of a random day of the year being your birthday (for all birthdays besides Feb. 29)
4×10−3Probability of being dealt a straight in poker
10−2Centi- (c)1.8×10−2Probability of winning any prize in the UK National Lottery with one ticket in 2003
2.1×10−2Probability of being dealt a three of a kind in poker
Gaussian distribution

probability of a value being more than 2 standard deviations from the mean on a specific side

Probability of winning any prize in the Powerball with one ticket in 2006
Probability of a human giving birth to twins[17]
Probability of being dealt a two pair in poker
10−1Deci- (d) Gaussian distribution

probability of a value being more than 1 standard deviation from the mean on a specific side[18]

Chance of rolling a '6' on a six-sided die
Probability of being dealt only one pair in poker
Chance of getting a 'head' in a coin toss. Physically less than 0.5; approximately for US nickel accounting for (1-in-6000 chance) of coin landing on its edge.[19]
Probability of being dealt no pair in poker
1001×100Certain

References

  1. There are around 130,000 letters and 199,749 total characters in Hamlet; 26 letters ×2 for capitalization, 12 for punctuation characters = 64, 64199749 ≈ 10360,783.
  2. Book: Thermal Physics (2nd ed.). W. H. Freeman Company. 1980. 0-7167-1088-9. 53. Kittel, Charles and Herbert Kroemer.
  3. Web site: What are the odds of shuffling a deck of cards into the right order?. Robert Matthews. Science Focus. December 10, 2018.
  4. http://www.bridgehands.com/P/Probabilities_Miscellaneous.htm Bridge hands
  5. Web site: WD VelociRaptor Drive Specification Sheet (PDF) . 2012-04-13. 2013-11-22. With 1.4 million hours MTBF.
  6. NIST Radionuclide Half-Life Measurements . Nist . 2011-12-09 . 2013-09-10.
  7. Web site: 6 sigma . Wolfram Alpha . 2013-12-07 . z>6 ... 9.866 x 10^-10.
  8. Web site: How to Play . Mega Millions . 2013-11-20 . 1 in 258,890,850 .
  9. http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ca14/ALYCIDON%20RAIL/INFORMED%20SOURCES%20ARCHIVE/INF%20SRCS%202000/Informed%20Sources%2010%202000.htm Informed Sources Archive
  10. Web site: 5 sigma . 2013-12-07 . z>5 ... 2.867 x 10^-7.
  11. Web site: Annual rates of lightning fatalities by country. 2010-08-12. 2013-09-10. 7. Ronald L. Holle, Holle Meteorology & Photography – 2008.
  12. Galindo. B. M.. Concepción. D.. Galindo. M. A.. Pérez. A.. Saiz. J.. 2012. Vaccine-related adverse events in Cuban children, 1999–2008.. MEDICC Review. 14. 1. 38–43. 10.37757/MR2012V14.N1.8. 22334111. free.
  13. Web site: No, the Earth (Almost Certainly) Won't Get Hit by an Asteroid in 2032 . 2013-10-18 . 2013-10-18 . Slate.com.
  14. Web site: 4 sigma . 2013-12-07 . z>4 ... 3.167 x 10^-5.
  15. Web site: Extreme Normal Probabilities . 2013-12-07 . 2.0 0.02275 ... 3.0 0.00134.
  16. Web site: Multiple Births . CDC . 2013-11-22 . Triplet or higher order birth rate: 137.0 per 100,000 live births.
  17. Web site: Multiple Births . CDC . 2013-11-22 . Twin birth rate: 33.2 per 1,000 live births.
  18. Web site: Introduction to Procedures Involving Sample Means . 2013-12-07 . 15.87% of all instances fall to the left of —1 standard deviation.
  19. Murray. Daniel B.. Teare. Scott W.. 1993-10-01. Probability of a tossed coin landing on edge. Physical Review E. 48. 4. 2547–2552. 10.1103/PhysRevE.48.2547. 9960889. 1993PhRvE..48.2547M.

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