The powerball lottery is played twice each week in 28 states, the virgin islands, and the district of columbia. to play powerball a participant must purchase a ticket and then select five numbers from the digits 1 through 55 and a powerball number from the digits 1 through 42. to determine the winning numbers for each game, lottery officials draw five white balls out of a drum with 55 white balls, and then one red ball out of a drum with 42 red balls. to win the jackpot, a participant’s numbers must match the numbers on the five white balls and the number on the red powerball. compute the number of ways the first five numbers can be selected.