Random Number Between 1 and 50
This page picks a whole number from 1 to 50 the moment it loads, and again every time you press the button. Each of the 50 values has the same 2 percent chance.
1 to 50 1
50 possible values, each equally likely. Tick nothing and repeats can happen; that is what random means.
The odds behind 1 to 50
Every draw is independent and every value is equally likely. Each of the 50 numbers comes up 2% of the time, or 1 in 50. Nothing you drew before changes the next draw.
Repeats arrive far sooner than people expect. Draw 9 numbers from this range and there is already a 53% chance two of them match. By 10 draws it is 62%, and by 20 draws it is 98.8%. Seeing the same number twice in a short session is normal, not a fault in the generator.
Going the other way is slow. If you keep drawing until all 50 values have appeared at least once, expect it to take about 225 draws.
How to get 1 to 50 without a computer
- Two ten-sided dice. Read them as a number from 1 to 100, then subtract 50 from anything above 50. Each result lands on exactly two of the 100 outcomes, so it stays perfectly even.
- Six coin flips. Heads is 1, tails is 0, giving 0 to 63. Add 1 and keep it if it falls in 1 to 50; otherwise discard and start again. You re-flip 22% of the time, so it takes 1.28 rounds on average.
What people draw 1 to 50 for
Small raffle books, choosing one question from a set of fifty, picking a locker, a seat or a page, and any list that happens to run to about fifty items.
The draw runs on your browser Math.random, which is fine for a choice you are indifferent about and wrong for anything with money behind it. The random number generator page explains why. Other ranges: 1 to 100, or a coin when there are only two options.