In how many can 5 letters be posted in 4 letter boxes?

Explanation

To solve the problem of how many ways 5 letters can be posted in 4 letter boxes, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the Problem
We have 5 letters and 4 letter boxes. Each letter can be placed in any one of the 4 boxes.

### Step 2: Determine the Choices for Each Letter
For each letter, there are 4 choices (since there are 4 boxes).

### Step 3: Calculate the Total Combinations
Since each letter can be placed independently in any of the 4 boxes, we can multiply the number of choices for each letter.

- For the 1st letter, there are 4 choices.
- For the 2nd letter, there are also 4 choices.
- For the 3rd letter, there are again 4 choices.
- For the 4th letter, there are 4 choices.
- For the 5th letter, there are 4 choices.

Thus, the total number of ways to post the letters can be calculated as:
\[ \text{Total Ways} = 4 \times 4 \times 4 \times 4 \times 4 = 4^5 \]

### Step 4: Calculate \(4^5\)
Now we need to compute \(4^5\):
\[ 4^5 = 1024 \]

### Conclusion
Therefore, the total number of ways in which 5 letters can be posted in 4 letter boxes is **1024**.

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