The number of possible combinations of cards in a standard 52 card pack is so large that there is very little chance that any two packs of shuffled cards that have ever existed have ever been in the same order.
52 factorial is a larger number than the number of atoms in the observable universe.
If you divided the universe’s mass into 52! parts, each part would contain ~1x10^13 atoms. Which, as far as solids go, is not visible to the naked eye. Which is still quite mental…
The first part is a matter of probabilities. It’s very unlikely by virtue of the sheer number of possible configurations vs how many times a deck is shuffled in history (even erring on the high side)
For the second part, the composition of elements in most stars is known. And the total mass of the universe is approximated by observing gravitational effects. Which is what you need to work out approx number of atoms.
I bet there are certain shuffled combinations that repeat. like, take a new deck, divide perfectly in half, do one perfect riffle. that has probably happened more than once.
The number of possible combinations of cards in a standard 52 card pack is so large that there is very little chance that any two packs of shuffled cards that have ever existed have ever been in the same order.
52 factorial is a larger number than the number of atoms in the observable universe.
Chess positions are like that too, after any “main line” it quickly becomes a never played game…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems more realistic to say:
I’m certain I’ve played the same game multiple times, because I suck at chess and I fall into the same obvious traps over and over.
You were in a main-line then.
And what you states is matematics/statistics, but if you take that ar face value, you could just win the lottery 10000 times in a row too.
Not true, 52! ≈ 8x10^67 < 10^80.
If you divided the universe’s mass into 52! parts, each part would contain ~1x10^13 atoms. Which, as far as solids go, is not visible to the naked eye. Which is still quite mental…
How can we even know that?
The first part is a matter of probabilities. It’s very unlikely by virtue of the sheer number of possible configurations vs how many times a deck is shuffled in history (even erring on the high side)
For the second part, the composition of elements in most stars is known. And the total mass of the universe is approximated by observing gravitational effects. Which is what you need to work out approx number of atoms.
It’s only in a statistical sense. Combinations based off a few shuffles from a standard sorted deck would be fairly common in practice.
I bet there are certain shuffled combinations that repeat. like, take a new deck, divide perfectly in half, do one perfect riffle. that has probably happened more than once.