I get 26 index cards and write a different leter from the English alphabet on each one then I shuffle them and throw them up in the air so the cards go everywhere. What's the chance of them lining up in alphabetical order?
2006-08-31 23:54:41 · 19 answers · asked by Poptart Demoniac 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Very Good Question.
About the same odds that if it was left up to nature to line up all the necessary things that could evolve into a living cell that would become man..... Mankind would've never been here.
Mankind is not the product of all the right things lining up to make a living being....
Mankind is a product of creation through divine intervention.
2006-09-01 00:20:45 · answer #1 · answered by KeAhi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mathematically the chances are 1 in 26 factorial.
26 factorial equals: 26x25x24x23x........x3x2x1.
Find out the factorial for 26 and try it out these number of times. There is a probability that you may get the desired sequence in one of the attempts you make.
In case of failure, try again.
Success is guaranteed, keep trying.
But do not forget 26 factorial !!!!
Example : If you have 5 cards, you will need to do it for 5 factorial (120) times which is 5x4x3x2x1=120
Hence probability for 5 cards is 1 in 120 times.
P.S. It has got nothing to do with Religion & Sprituality.
Probability is a chapter in Mathematics.
2006-09-01 07:08:14 · answer #2 · answered by Saadi 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 divided by 26 factorial
in other words 1 divided by (26x25x24x23x22x21... etc)
This would be if picking each card at random and placing each in a line side by side...
Since you're talking about chucking em in the air and hoping they will land exactly right i would say next to impossible...
2006-09-01 07:02:48 · answer #3 · answered by hadley_banks78 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask Penn & Teller, ALi Bongo or even David Copperfield! Nice 'happy' avatar!
2006-09-01 07:01:05 · answer #4 · answered by Boon5 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ask the same question in the Mathematics section, they will give you the correct answer - I can't remember the formula !
2006-09-01 07:01:30 · answer #5 · answered by R G 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
About the same time it takes for a thousand monkeys with one thousand typewriters, to write "King Lear"...and the same probability......
2006-09-01 06:58:42 · answer #6 · answered by maggie rose 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wha? How are you going to expect it them to line up if you thow them in the air?
2006-09-01 06:56:34 · answer #7 · answered by NONAME 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not in our lifetime even if we don’t know the correct order of letters in the alphabet.That is my guess. Right?
2006-09-01 07:05:46 · answer #8 · answered by seshu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you know already, the chances are about as slim as the universe being created by random chance.....:)
2006-09-01 07:10:48 · answer #9 · answered by nancy jo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is the question placed in right category?
2006-09-01 07:02:38 · answer #10 · answered by CompassionateSoul 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋