I didn’t pay close attention, but it looked like there were five buttons and the sequence required five numbers. If I do the math right, if he did one sequence per second, he could be punching numbers for almost an hour.
Not that I’m over analyzing this or anything. I’m saving all that for Lost.
Nah. With 5 buttons, there would be 120 possible combinations.
So one combination a second would be two minutes total. (Of course one combination/second is pretty damn fast.)
Not to mention mentally keeping track of which combinations you had already tried.
See, this is exactly what I meant when I was talking about popping the disbelief bubble, people!
Except I’m pretty sure it was four digits plus the ENTER key, which assuming that the code was four digits and there were no repeated numbers, would only be 24 combinations.
You’re right, Otto. Of course, that doesn’t explain why the security system wouldn’t start going off after the third or fourth incorrect attempt, like most do.
Almost every combination key pad I’ve had to deal with (okay that’s only like 4 in my life) has had atleast two repeated numbers. They want people to easily remember the codes as well so repeated numbers makes sense.
Hmmm… Well, it’s been awhile since I took math, but I was thinking 5^5 combinations = 3125. 60 seconds x 60 minutes = 3600, hence my comment about one hour.
Good thing you’re not in prison then, isn’t it.
:dubious: Assuming this is directed to me, and not sure what you’re getting at. Should I be thinking about getting that Rita Hayworth poster?
Well, that calculation assumes that duplicates are allowed. From the two or three combinations they showed Michael trying, he used each “marked” key once. Plus, one of those keys was “enter”, which always goes at the end. Let’s say he had researched the keypads used in the prison, so he knew it was only a four digit code (instead of a five digit code with a repeat). So without duplication, there are 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 24 different combinations (like Otto said). If it took 2-3 seconds for each combination (giving the system time to accept / reject the entry), worst case would be under 90 seconds to try all the combinations.
Although using foot powder to reveal fingerprints (and who knows how long it’d been since the last guard touched it, and also assumes that he haddn’t fat-fingered any) stretches credibility. It’s still within the PB boundaries, though. 
Well, not like Michael has the need for his full ration of foot powder after Abruzzi got through with him, so it’s good he recycles.
That, plus I would think that Pope would have a key to that door as well, so Michael could have just taken that.