Just guessing and checking random numbers to hash with the block data, and then if the output is less than the current target you win. So it is much more like a lottery system than a math problem
Discussion
Ah, ok, thanks for your answer! If it's more like a lottery, could I just try my "luck" as a beginner with my old laptop? Do you know a link where I can "just join in"?
Sorry, very naive questions...
It’s all about probabilities. You need to be pumping out a whole lot of hashes per second to get any kind of reward nowadays, far more than a laptop could perform. Check out NerdMiner though
The chances of you winning the lottery is reduced as more hashes (players) enter the game.
thanks for your answer! Yes, I had already understood that. I would like to see the last "task" to "solve", just out of interest. Is it officially available? Do you know?
Just take a suitable set of unconfirmed tx's from the mempool, the hash of the last block, add random number (a nonce) and hash it!
If the result has enough leading zeros, you win! If not just change the nonce and try again!
You can just download Bitcoin Core software and set generate=1 (mining on) to mine bitcoin with almost any machine.
It depend on your machine but on average you would find a block and get block revards on every 20000-50000 years!
There are examples of modern "lottery miners" (meaning the probability is so low that you're basically just buying a lottery ticket) finding blocks. One example is a guy who found that his R Pi solved a block. It's really the same for all miners, it's just that more power increases probability.