Benny is a thief who tried to break into an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) using
ID: 3541119 • Letter: B
Question
Benny is a thief who tried to break into an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) using a screwdriver, but was only able to break five different keys on the numeric keypad and jam the card reader, at which point he heard Alice coming, so he hid. Alice walked up, put in her ATM card, successfully entered her 4-digit PIN, and took some cash. But she was not able to get her card back, so she drove off to find help. Benny then went back to the ATM, and started entering numbers to try to discover Alice's PIN and steal money from her account. What is the worst-case number of PINs that Benny has to enter before correctly discovering Alice's PIN?
Explanation / Answer
Alice's PIN must use only digits from the five keys on the numeric keypad that are
still not broken. There are therefore 5^4 - 625 keys that Benny may have to try in
the worst case
Related Questions
drjack9650@gmail.com
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.