There are 26 letters and 10 digits
Canada = 26^3 * 10^3 = 17'576'000
America = 10^5 = 100'000
How many codes are possible for each country?
Canada = 26^3 * 10^3 = 17'576'000
America = 10^5 = 100'000
So for the first position, we have 36 options, for the second position we also have 36 options, and the same for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth positions. Therefore, the total number of possible Canadian postal codes is 36 × 36 × 36 × 36 × 36 × 36 = 36^6.
Now, let's move on to our neighbors, the USA. In a US zip code, all five characters are digits. There are only 10 digits available (0-9), so for each position, we have 10 options.
Therefore, the total number of possible US zip codes is 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 = 10^5.
So, in short, Canada has way more possibilities for postal codes than the USA has for zip codes. Guess Canadians really like to have more options to organize their mail!
Since the first, third, and fifth characters are letters, and there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, there are 26 choices for each of these positions.
Similarly, since the second, fourth, and sixth characters are digits, and there are 10 digits (0-9), there are 10 choices for each of these positions.
Therefore, the total number of possible codes for the Canadian postal code is calculated by multiplying the number of choices for each position:
26 * 10 * 26 * 10 * 26 * 10 = 17,576,000 possible codes.
For the U.S.A zip code:
Since all five characters are digits, and there are 10 digits (0-9), there are 10 choices for each position.
Therefore, the total number of possible codes for the U.S.A zip code is calculated by multiplying the number of choices for each position:
10 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 = 100,000 possible codes.
For a Canadian postal code:
- The first, third, and fifth characters are letters, which means there are 26 possibilities (A to Z) for each character.
- The second, fourth, and sixth characters are digits, which means there are 10 possibilities (0 to 9) for each character.
To find the total number of possible codes, we multiply the number of possibilities for each character position together:
26 * 10 * 26 * 10 * 26 * 10 = 17,576,000
Therefore, there are 17,576,000 possible Canadian postal codes.
For a U.S.A zip code:
- All characters are digits, which means there are 10 possibilities (0 to 9) for each character.
To find the total number of possible codes, we multiply the number of possibilities for each character position together:
10 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 = 100,000
Therefore, there are 100,000 possible U.S.A zip codes.