You can choose any 9 random letters of the alphabet, though letters may repeat eg. peiduiyth . so how many different odds or possibilities are there / how many different combinations is possible ?
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You have 26 different letters on the alphabet. You have to guess the right one, 9 times. By the fundamental theorem of counting:
1 : 26鈦? or one in 26 to the 9th power.
If you prefer:
26鈦?=
26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 =
5,429,503,678,976 (5 trillion, 429 billion, 503 million, 678 thousand and 976).
So, the chance of winning is:
1 : 5,429,503,678,976
or
One in 5 trillion, 429 billion, 503 million, 678 thousand and 976.
Good luck, you'll need it!
1 : 26鈦? or one in 26 to the 9th power.
If you prefer:
26鈦?=
26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 鈰?26 =
5,429,503,678,976 (5 trillion, 429 billion, 503 million, 678 thousand and 976).
So, the chance of winning is:
1 : 5,429,503,678,976
or
One in 5 trillion, 429 billion, 503 million, 678 thousand and 976.
Good luck, you'll need it!
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Technically, if the whole world (I mean every goddamn person) played it, each one with a different guess, there would still be a chance of 1 : 775 (approximately) of having a winner.
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With 9 characters that are allowed to repeat and 26 possible choices per character...
To give an example on a smaller scale, let's look at a typical 6-sided, cubical die. With one die, there are 6 possible outcomes. 1-6. To figure out the possible combinations of 2 dice, that's 6 chances times the 6 additional chances.
Or 36 possible outcomes.
Add one more die and you have 6x6x6 or a possible 216 outcomes.
So that holds true with your example. Each character has a possible 26 possible outcomes. A-Z. So that's 26x26x26x26x26x26x26x26x26=5,429,503,678鈥?possible combinations ganging from AAAAAAAAA-ZZZZZZZZZ and everything in between.
Now say you have a computer generating this string of characters and you want to know the odds of guessing the one that the computer chose, that's odds of 1-in-5,429,503,678,976 or "Pretty darn slim".
Now if on the other hand letters were not allowed to repeat, each character removes 1 from the remaining pool of characters. So that would be 26x25x24x23x22x21x20x19x18=1,133,836,704鈥?outcomes.
To give an example on a smaller scale, let's look at a typical 6-sided, cubical die. With one die, there are 6 possible outcomes. 1-6. To figure out the possible combinations of 2 dice, that's 6 chances times the 6 additional chances.
Or 36 possible outcomes.
Add one more die and you have 6x6x6 or a possible 216 outcomes.
So that holds true with your example. Each character has a possible 26 possible outcomes. A-Z. So that's 26x26x26x26x26x26x26x26x26=5,429,503,678鈥?possible combinations ganging from AAAAAAAAA-ZZZZZZZZZ and everything in between.
Now say you have a computer generating this string of characters and you want to know the odds of guessing the one that the computer chose, that's odds of 1-in-5,429,503,678,976 or "Pretty darn slim".
Now if on the other hand letters were not allowed to repeat, each character removes 1 from the remaining pool of characters. So that would be 26x25x24x23x22x21x20x19x18=1,133,836,704鈥?outcomes.