user60469: I have been reading a lot about this 10 minute block in the Bitcoin network.  I'm slightly confused because I thought mining was a somewhat random process, mostly based on how powerful your mining facilities are.  So if I had a quantum computer and could really churn through calculations, couldn't I mine a block faster than 10 minutes?  Or is there something in the network taht would prevent me from submitting my mined block until 10 minutes had passed since the last mined block?

user51948: 
I have been reading a lot about this 10 minute block in the Bitcoin network. I'm slightly confused because I thought mining was a somewhat random process, mostly based on how powerful your mining facilities are.

Correct, and because its random, its theoretically possible to mine the next block within seconds, it could even be the first hash you try. Its just probability, the 10 minutes is the average block time.

So if I had a quantum computer and could really churn through calculations, couldn't I mine a block faster than 10 minutes? Or is there something in the network taht would prevent me from submitting my mined block until 10 minutes had passed since the last mined block?

This is somewhat unrelated to the randomness, because a more powerful computer can try more hashes anyway so is more likely to find a valid block sooner, yes. But this is the purpose of the mining difficulty. The difficulty changes once every 2016 blocks to keep the time roughly 10 minutes average. If blocks are mined too quickly, the difficulty will increase so it again takes 10 minutes on average.
Also note that quantum computers are a very unlikely threat to bitcoin mining. Quantum computers aren't just better at everything, there is quite a lot of hype around them without foundation :)

user5757: Nope, nothing prevents it.  The actual time from one block to the next is random, and it very often happens to be less than ten minutes, just by chance.  
Ten minutes is the target time.  The block difficulty adjusts with the goal of having ten minutes be the average time between blocks.  Of course if the average is ten minutes, then you would expect some blocks to be faster and others slower.

60469: <p>I have been reading a lot about this 10 minute block in the Bitcoin network.  I'm slightly confused because I thought mining was a somewhat random process, mostly based on how powerful your mining facilities are.  So if I had a quantum computer and could really churn through calculations, couldn't I mine a block faster than 10 minutes?  Or is there something in the network taht would prevent me from submitting my mined block until 10 minutes had passed since the last mined block?</p>
 51948: <blockquote>
  <p>I have been reading a lot about this 10 minute block in the Bitcoin network. I'm slightly confused because I thought mining was a somewhat random process, mostly based on how powerful your mining facilities are.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Correct, and because its random, its theoretically possible to mine the next block within seconds, it could even be the first hash you try. Its just probability, the 10 minutes is the <em>average</em> block time.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>So if I had a quantum computer and could really churn through calculations, couldn't I mine a block faster than 10 minutes? Or is there something in the network taht would prevent me from submitting my mined block until 10 minutes had passed since the last mined block?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is somewhat unrelated to the randomness, because a more powerful computer can try more hashes anyway so is more likely to find a valid block sooner, yes. But this is the purpose of the mining difficulty. The difficulty changes once every 2016 blocks to keep the time roughly 10 minutes average. If blocks are mined too quickly, the difficulty will increase so it again takes 10 minutes on average.</p>

<p>Also note that quantum computers are a very unlikely threat to bitcoin mining. Quantum computers aren't just better at everything, there is quite a lot of hype around them without foundation :)</p>
 5757: <p>Nope, nothing prevents it.  The actual time from one block to the next is random, and it very often happens to be less than ten minutes, just by chance.  </p>

<p>Ten minutes is the <em>target</em> time.  The block difficulty adjusts with the goal of having ten minutes be the <em>average</em> time between blocks.  Of course if the average is ten minutes, then you would expect some blocks to be faster and others slower.</p>
