Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Odds of randomly/blindly being able to choose 10 numbered coins in numerical order?

Hi! I need the expertise of a mathematician on this question please ... if I have 10 coins marked from one to ten each, put them a hat, and shake them around, what are the odds I would (without looking) be able to pull each coin out in exact numerical sequence? I know that my chances of pulling out coin #1 on the first try would be one in ten (just a simple layer of the equation). But what are the chances of getting them all in order? Is it one in a million? Billion? More? I'm not sure how the multiplication would work on this. I'll later explain why I need the statistic (it's pretty cool, actually -- for a teaching project). If any brilliant person out there could let me know how to calculate this answer, I'd appreciate it!! A detailed explanation would be extra helpful. Thanks. : )

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