Don't believe this Powerball meme going viral on social media

WPVI logo
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
A customer shows his purchased Powerball tickets at a grocery store in Hialeah, Fla., Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over $1 billion.
Alan Diaz/AP-AP

If you've come across a viral meme on Facebook saying that Wednesday's Powerball jackpot can solve poverty in America, take caution, because the meme's math doesn't quite add up.



On Sunday, an image of a math equation began spreading across Facebook, claiming if you distributed a $1.3 Powerball jackpot equally across the U.S. population, everyone would receive $4.33 million.





While the meme, originally posted by posted by R&B group Livesosa, was shared over 1.3 million times, it seems to have flunked basic math: $1.3 billion divided by 300 million is not $4.33 million, but just $4.33 total.



Many Facebook commenters were quick to point out that the meme's math was off, while others said that they'd have no problem taking just $4.33.



"Hey genius. I don't know what math you learned, but thats only $4.33 dollars a person," wrote one Facebook user.



"I'll take the $4.33 and buy 2 Powerball tickets and a piece of gum," wrote another.



Livesosa later shared another image of the equation, this time on an image of Steve Harvey, stating that the post was all just a joke.





As of Tuesday, the Powerball jackpot for Wednesday's drawing stands at $1.5 billion.

Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.