Monkey Math

09 Mar 2005 · #techtalk

I was reading this lecture on information theory and it starts by posing this problem:

A monkey sits at a typewriter and every second types a single Latin letter. Assume that all 26 letters are equally likely, and successive letters are independent. How long on the average will it take the monkey to type "CLAUDESHANNON"?

The answer given is 26^13 seconds while I am convinced it is 13*(26^13) seconds. So which one is it?