If every human alive for those 500 or so years shuffled a deck of cards, one deck per second, we’d end up with that many decks shuffled. That’s a huge number. 90,000,000,000,000,000,000.
And almost certainly, each one of those decks, post-shuffle, would be unique.
The number of possible permutations — arrangements, basically — of a deck of cards is 52! (“fifty two factorial”), or approximately 8×1067.
Excerpts from Now I Know article:
Shuffled
With Love,
Russ
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About russtowne
I'm awed by the beauty of nature and the power of love and gratitude. Some of my favorite sensory experiences include waves crashing on rocky shores, waterways in ancient redwood and fern-filled forests, and rain. My wife and I have been married since 1979. We have 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren. I manage a wealth management firm that I founded in 2003. My Beloved is a Special Education teacher for Kindergartners and First Graders. I'm a published author of approximately 60 books in a variety of genres for grownups and children.
Ok if you say so
wow –
I had no idea that the odds against ending up with every card being in exactly the same same order were anywhere near that high.