Deck of Cards and Planck Time?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
3 replies · 3K views
nicholasfouss
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Deck of Cards and Planck Time?

This is truly unbelievable. I've checked my work multiple times, gotten it checked by others, and still the same answer remains.

There are more ways to rearrange a single deck of cards than there have been Planck times since the Universe began.

Number of formations of a single deck of cards:
52! = 52 x 51 x 50 x 49 ... 3 x 2 x 1
52! [tex]\approx[/tex] 8.066 x 10[tex]^{}67[/tex]

Number of Planck times (tp) since the Universe began (assuming the Universe is approx. 16 billion years old, which is generous):
(1 x 10[tex]^{}44[/tex]) x (60) x (60) x (24) x (365.5) x (1.6 x 10[tex]^{}10[/tex]) [tex]\approx[/tex] 5.053 x 10[tex]^{}61[/tex]

(tp in a sec)(sec in min)(min in hr)(hr in day)(day in yr)(yr since singularity)

8.066 x 10[tex]^{}67[/tex] > 5.053 x 10[tex]^{}61[/tex]

Keep in mind, a Planck time is the time it takes for light (in a vacuum) to travel a Planck length (1.6 x 10[tex]^{}-35[/tex] metres.
 
Physics news on Phys.org


Now, think about how many possible games (that is: entire games) of chess there are.
 


Are you trying to make a point about something related to quantum physics?
or just stating the vastness of possibilities in a deck of cards?
 


Another "unbelievable" fact:
The age of universe in years is of the same order of magnitude as the number of people on Earth. They will probably become equal in the next 100 years or so.