Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

Weve been looking at choosing r

objects from a set of n distinct items.
Now, we will look at situations where
we want to know the total number of
possible combinations of any size that
could be chosen from a given number
of items, some of which may be
identical

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

How many different sums of money

can you create with only a penny (p)
and a nickel (n)?
List them:
1.
2.
3.

p=$0.01
n=$0.05
p+n=$0.06

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

How many different sums can you create

with a penny (p), a nickel (n), and a dime
(d)?
List them:
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.
7.

p=$0.01
n=$0.05
d=$0.10
p+n=$0.06
p+d=$0.11
n+d=$0.15
p+n+d=$0.16

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

How many different sums can you create with a penny (p), a nickel (n), a dime
(d), and a quarter(q)?
List them:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

p=$0.01
n=$0.05
d=$0.10
q=$0.25
p+n=$0.06
p+d=$0.11
p+q=$0.26
n+d=$0.15
n+q=$0.30
d+q=$0.35
p+n+d=$0.16
p+n+q=$0.31
p+d+q=$0.36
n+d+q=$0.40
p+n+d+q=$0.41

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS OF DISTINCT ITEMS

The logic that we have seen here can be applied to
any group of distinct objects.
The total number of combinations containing at
least one item chosen from a group of n distinct
items is 2n-1

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

Example: Abby comes home from school and is

looking for a healthy snack. In the fruit basket is
an apple, a pear, a banana, and an orange. How
many ways can Abby have her snack?

Answer: She can either choose to eat each piece of

fruit or not eat each piece of fruit. Thus, she has
2x2x2x2=16 choices. However, if she chooses not
to eat any fruit then she hasnt had a snack.
Therefore she has 24-1=16-1=15 combinations for
her snack.

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

How many different sums of money can you

create with two pennies (p) and a nickel (n)?
List them:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

p=$0.01
n=$0.05
p+p=$0.02
p+n=$0.06
p+p+n=$0.07

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

How many different sums of money can you

create with three pennies (p) and a nickel (n)?
List them:
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.

p=$0.01
n=$0.05
p+p=$0.02
p+n=$0.06
p+p+p=$0.03
p+p+n=$0.07
p+p+p+n=$0.08

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

COMBINATIONS IN WHICH SOME ARE ALIKE

In situations where you can choose all, some, or none
of the p items availableyou have (p+1) choices
Apply the Multiplicative Principle if you have successive
choices of different kinds of items
Consider if it makes sense not to pick any itemsif not
subtract one from the total
If at least one item is chosen, the total number of
selections that can be made from p items of one kind,
q items of another kind, r items of another kind, and
so on is:
(p+1)(q+1)(r+1)-1

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

Summary for choosing objects:

Is order important?

Yes: Use PERMUTATIONS

Can the same object be selected

more than once (replacement)?

Yes: Use FCT/FCM

No: Are some items identical?

Yes: Use n!/(a!b!c!...)

No: Use P(n,r)

Combinations

(Order Doesnt Matter)

Summary for choosing objects:

Is order important?

No: Use COMBINATIONS

Are you choosing exactly r objects?

Yes: Could some objects be identical?

Yes: Count individual cases.

No: Use C(n,r)

No: Are some items identical?

Yes:Use (p+1)(q+1)(r+1)-1
No: Use 2n to find total number of
combinations & subtract 1 if selecting
nothing is not appropriate