I found this online: Using 0 or 1 as the first digit of an area code or central office code is invalid, as is a 9 as the middle digit of an area code; these are trunk prefixes or reserved for North American Numbering Plan expansion. Perhaps you should mention this to your teacher. The trick for finding how many integers there are from A to B, inclusive, is to subtract 1 less than the smallest from both the smallest and the largest: You got the first correct, if you ignore the above. 100-0000 to 999-9999, or without the hyphen: 1000000 through 9999999 Subtract 1 less than the smallest, or 999999 from each That's the integers 1 through 9000000. You got that. Doesn't the (b) part mean that you just put a 1 before each of those in the (a) part? Wouldn't it just be the same number? Edwin