MrDuck Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 There are more ways of arranging a pack of ordinary playing cards than there have been seconds since the universe began. That is a good one and amazing. In fact, I'm struggling to believe. :?: I didn't believe it either. But here be proof - although unless you're pretty handy with maths you'll have to take my word for it! There are 52 cards in a standard pack of playing cards. The total number of ways of arranging such a pack of cards=52! 52! ~ 8.06582 x 1067 The Universe is thought to be between 10 and 16 billion (16,000,000,000) years old. That is 16 billion years since The Big Bang. Let us assume the highest value of 16 x 109 years. There are 60 seconds in a minute. There are 60 minutes in an hour. There are 24 hours in a day. There are 365 days in a year (or 366 in a leap year). Therefore, the largest reasonable estimate for the number of seconds since the Universe began can be calculated as: 60 x 60 x 24 x 366 x 16,000,000,000 = 505958400000000000 seconds ~ 5.1 x 1017 8.06582 x 1067 > 5.1 x 1017 (by a factor of 1.59 x 1050) Therefore it can clearly be seen that there are many more ways of arranging a standard set of playing cards than there have been seconds since the Universe began. Moreover, this will continue to be the case long after our own Sun and every other star in the Universe has run out of hydrogen and faded away approximately one hundred trillion years (1014) after the Big Bang, when the Universe will still be less than 3.2 x 1021seconds old. In fact, remarkably, there are even more ways of arranging half a pack of playing cards than there have been seconds since the Universe began, as 26! ~ 4.03 x 1026 > 5.1 x 1017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phumfeinz Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Nah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Levi ...can you confirm this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YLN Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 It's not 8.0 x 1067, it's 8.0 x 10^67 Same with those other figures. Scientific Notation really bad person, do you use it Current figure for the age of the universe is 13.7 billion years i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 It's not 8.0 x 1067, it's 8.0 x 10^67 Same with those other figures. Scientific Notation really bad person, do you use it Current figure for the age of the universe is 13.7 billion years i think I think the copy'n'paste had trouble with some of the notation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YLN Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I believe you. I'm just an arsehole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I believe you. I'm just an arsehole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I love Yillan more than I would my own son I reckon. <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packoman Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 You can't name a folder "con" on Microsoft Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 You can't name a folder "con" on Microsoft Windows. I just gave this a go and it's true. Any idea why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 You can't name a folder "con" on Microsoft Windows. I just gave this a go and it's true. Any idea why? It's a reserved word as it references a device (con = console) Same as many others (nul, com1, lpt1, aux to name a few) It's just bad practice to let someone create a folder with the same name as a system device as system devices are seen as virtual folders. If you want to output to the console you'd do something like: copy file.txt con If con is also a folder it'd create ambiguity in if the file should be copied to the console, or to the folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 24, 2011 Moderator Share Posted August 24, 2011 Dagestan (Samuel Eto'o's new home) used to be called Albania. Albania and Dagestan mean the same thing - 'Land of Mountains'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 24, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted August 24, 2011 You can't name a folder "con" on Microsoft Windows. I just gave this a go and it's true. Any idea why? It's a reserved word as it references a device (con = console) Same as many others (nul, com1, lpt1, aux to name a few) It's just bad practice to let someone create a folder with the same name as a system device as system devices are seen as virtual folders. If you want to output to the console you'd do something like: copy file.txt con If con is also a folder it'd create ambiguity in if the file should be copied to the console, or to the folder. And there was me thinking it was because it's French for "word removed". In other news... Albania is now called Dagestan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted August 24, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted August 24, 2011 In other news... Albania is now called Dagestan? Albania the state is still called Albania, Dagestan is a republic of Russia that used to be called Albania Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 24, 2011 Moderator Share Posted August 24, 2011 Thank you Chindie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 24, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted August 24, 2011 Well, well. I never knew there was "another" Albania. The University of VT strikes again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 It will come up in the final exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 24, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted August 24, 2011 It will come up in the final exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 24, 2011 Moderator Share Posted August 24, 2011 That's a tough one. I'll need to revise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Section A 3) No, but as the Villa fan you should point out that they are basically arguing over which club is further behind our one. 5) Answer is A - Owls. Section B 11) Both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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