Q.How many 4-digit numbers are there with no digit repeated?
The key idea is to count permutations of 4 distinct digits chosen from 0–9, but we must exclude numbers starting with 0 (since they aren’t truly 4-digit). The answer is .
We are counting 4-digit numbers where no digit repeats. A 4-digit number cannot start with 0 — that’s the only extra condition beyond “pick 4 distinct digits and arrange them.”
The natural tool here is permutations without repetition: we are arranging a subset of distinct objects (digits) in order, and order matters because 1234 and 4321 are different numbers.
Step-by-step reasoning
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Choose the first digit (thousands place)
The first digit cannot be 0, because then the number would have fewer than 4 digits (e.g., 0123 is just 123). So the first digit can be any of the digits 1 through 9.
That gives 9 choices.
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Choose the second digit (hundreds place)
Now one digit is already used (the first digit). The second digit can be any digit from 0 to 9 except the one already taken. That’s choices.
Notice: 0 is allowed here — it’s fine to have 0 in the middle of the number.
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Choose the third digit (tens place)
Two digits are already used. So we have choices.
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Choose the fourth digit (units place)
Three digits are used. So we have choices.
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Multiply the choices
By the multiplication principle (fundamental counting principle), the total number is:
Compute: , then , then .
A common mistake is to start with , forgetting that numbers like 0123 are not 4-digit. That count includes all permutations of 4 distinct digits from 0–9, but it treats 0123 as valid — it isn’t. Always check the leading digit restriction.
An alternative approach: count all permutations of 4 distinct digits from 0–9 (), then subtract those starting with 0. How many start with 0? Fix the first digit as 0, then arrange the remaining 3 digits from the other 9 digits: . So . Same result, different path.
The number of 4-digit numbers with no digit repeated is .
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