A "k"-combination of a set "S" is a subset of "S" with "k" (distinct) elements. The main purpose of the combinatorial number system is to provide a representation, each by a single number, of all formula_1 possible "k"-combinations of a set "S" of "n" elements. Choosing, for any "n", } as such a set, it can be arranged that the representation of a given "k"-combination "C" is independent of the value of "n" (although "n" must of course be sufficiently large); in other words considering "C" as a subset of a larger set by increasing "n" will not change the number that represents "C". Thus for the combinatorial number system one just considers "C" as a "k"-combination of the set N of all natural numbers, without explicitly mentioning "n".