Final answer:
There are 230,230 different ways to select 6 numbers from a pool of 26 in the lottery, calculated using the combinations formula, which accounts for selections where the order does not matter.
Step-by-step explanation:
To figure out how many different ways 6 numbers can be selected from a pool of 26 numbers in a lottery, we use the concept of combinations because the order of selection does not matter. The combination formula for selecting r items from a set of n items is given by nCr = n! / (r!(n-r)!), where '!' represents the factorial of a number.
Using the formula, we would calculate the number of combinations for choosing 6 numbers from 26 as:
²⁶C₆ = 26! / (6!(26-6)!)
²⁶C₆ = 26! / (6!20!)
²⁶C₆ = (26*25*24*23*22*21) / (6*5*4*3*2*1)
²⁶C₆ = 230,230
Therefore, there are 230,230 different ways to select 6 numbers from a pool of 26 in this lottery.