total combinatons

[sfsorrow]

Using the numbers 0-9 in a 4 figure number what is the total amount of combinations you can have,i.e pin number for a debit card,we was discussing this at work and it made me think that surely there must be thousands of people with duplicate pins,as there is more people with cards than combinations,as im no good at maths i cannot work it out,your help will be greatly appreciated.

[factor-fiction]

Err, if the available numbers are 0001 to 9999 then there are 9999 avaialble numbers. If 0000 is allowed then there are 10000 permutations.
In practice I think they don't allow some combinations such as 9999 so there are slightly fewer permutations in practice.
yes there will be many thousands of people who have the same pIN number but if you find a card you have a1 in 10000 chance of guessing teh right number first time

[gen2]

There are 10 choices for each digit so there are 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 possible numbers = 10000.

Another way of looking at your problem without doing any maths is to realise that the smallest PIN possible is 0000 and then every number up to and including 9999. That = 10000 different numbers.

Yes of course several people will have the same PIN as you. Thankfully, you don't know who they are.

[gen2]

Snap!

[pagey]

My PIN is 4793. Does anyone have the same as me?