Need details on use of wild card <space> in the simple searches.

<space> is a charater space

When we do simple and use the below example searches:

"abcd<space>e" - we get "wild card query returns too many results, refine the search".

"8<space>9<space>1<space>248" - we get the releated objects.

Can anyone explain the reason for the difference in the behaviour of the searches?

Is <space> a wild card character?

What is the equivilent of using <space> as a wild card?

Someone please help.

Regards,

Shaaz.