Counting and sets

Elements of a set
The multiplication principle
Permutation & combination

Elements of sets
A set

is usually defined in a particular context.

The set which contains all elements to be
considered is called the universal set, S.
The symbol n(A) denotes the numbers of
elements in the set A.
If A is a subset of S, then the complement of A,
denoted by A, is the subset of S that contains
all the elements that are not in A.
Thus,
n(S) = n(A) + n(A)

Union and intersection of sets

If A and B are two sets, then

AB is the set which contains all the elements in A and those
in B;
AB is the set which contains the common elements of both A
and B.
Rules of operations:
(A) = A
(AB) = AB
(A B) = A B
(A B) C = (A C)(BC)
(AB) C = (AC)(BC)

Intersection & Union; Venn diagrams

A

AB

AB

B
A

AB

AB =

BA, AB = B

Number of elements; Venn diagrams

n(A)

denotes the numbers of elements of set A.

Venn diagrams are often useful to illustrate the
operations of intersection and union on sets, as
well as to find the number of elements of sets.
A

C
A(B C) = (AB) (AC)

C
A(B C) = (AB) (AC)

The multiplication principle

If

there are r ways of performing an operation

and for each of these, there are s ways of
performing another operation, then there are
r s ways performing the two operations in
succession.
The principle can be easily extended to more
than two operations

The factorial notation

n! (read as n factorial) is the product of all
consecutive positive integers less than and
equal to n.
n! = n(n 1)(n 2) 3 2 1
It follows that n! = n (n 1)!
Thus,
1! = 1 0!
This is only true if 0! = 1.
Hence, by definition, 0! = 1.

Permutations & combinations

A permutation

or arrangement of a given number of

articles is a set or group of articles chosen from those
given where the order of the articles in the set or
group is taken into consideration.

A combination

or selection of a given number of

articles is a set or group of articles selected from
those given where the order of the articles in the set
or group is not taken into account.

Permutations & combinations

From

a group of 4 students, A, B, C and D,

(i) two students are required to sit on two
chairs in a row in front of the class.
The possibilities:
AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD,
BA, CA, DA, CB, DB, DC.
This is a problem on permutation.
4P = 4!/ = 24/ = 12
2
2!
2

Permutations & combinations

From

a group of 4 students, A, B, C and D,

(ii) two students are selected to go to the staff room to
help a teacher.
The possibilities:
AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD.
(There is no difference between AB and BA, )
This is a problem on combination.
4C = 4!/
24
2
2!2! = /(2)(2)= 6

Permutations & combinations

In

general, the number of permutations of r objects out

of n different objects is
n

n!
Pr
(n r )!

In

general, the number of combinations of r objects out

of n different objects is
n

n!
Cr
(n r )!r!

Permutations with similar objects

Note

that the number of permutations of n objects out

of n different objects is nPn = n!.

But,

if among the n objects, there are p similar objects

of one kind, q similar objects of a second kind, r similar
objects of a third kind, , the number of permutations
is

n!
p!q!r!...

Permutations in a circle
When

objects are arranged in a circle, there is

no beginning and there is no end. So the
permutation remains unchanged when rotated.
To find the number of permutations of n
different objects in a circle, fix an object and
arrange the remaining (n 1) objects.
So, the number of permutations of n objects in
a circle is (n 1)!

Permutations & combinations with conditions

Solve

problems according to the conditions

given in the problems.