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Fundamental counting principle

[ AP TI TU D E]
P ER M U TATI O N C O M B I N AT I O N
M AD E EASY
W I TH O U T FO R M U LAS
By Mrunal Patel
If following questions make you uncomfortable, perhaps this is the article you should read.
1. In how many ways can 5 member committee be formed out of 20 students? Or
2. How many ways can the word UPSC be arranged so that U is always second from left.
3. In a party of 20 guest, if every member shakes hands with other, how many total
handshakes are done?

CONTENTS
Fundamental counting principle ........................................................................................................................................1
Permutation (Place, arrangement) ....................................................................................................................................2
Case 1: Six men and 6 chairs...........................................................................................................................................2
Case 2: Six men and 3 chairs?.........................................................................................................................................2
Case 3: One chair always occupied ..............................................................................................................................3
Combination (choice)...............................................................................................................................................................4
Case 1: Committee formation.........................................................................................................................................4
Case 2: Handshakes .............................................................................................................................................................5
The Formulas................................................................................................................................................................................6

First the basics

FUNDAMENTAL COUNTING PRINCIPLE

There are 3 trains from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and 7 trains from Ahmedabad to Kutch. In how
many ways can Jethalal reach Kutch?
From Mumbai to Abad, Jethalal can go in 3 ways. (Because there are three train, he can pick
anyone)
Similarly From Abad to Kutch, he can go in 7 ways.
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Permutation (Place, arrangement)

Total ways: simple multiplication =3 ways x 7 ways =21 ways Jethalal can reach Kutch.
This is fundamental counting.
Lets extend this further to sitting arrangement:

PERMUTATION (PLACE, ARRANGEMENT)

6 Men of Gokuldham society go to Abduls sodashop. And there are 6 chairs. Yes Im talking
about our beloved Jetha, Bhide, Sodhi, Haathi, Mehta and Aiyyar.
In how many ways can they be seated? Or How many way can you arrange these 6 gentlemen
into 6 chairs?

CASE 1: SIX MEN AND 6 CHAIRS

Lets do one chair at a time.

For the first chair, youve 6 candidates:
Just pick one man and make him sit.
How many ways can you do it? Ans. 6 ways, bcoz youve 6 men and pick one. (Just like the train)
Now second chair: youve to pick one guy from the remaining 5 members. So 5 ways.
Third chair: 4 men remaining and youve to pick one: again 4 ways..

For the 6th chair only one man remains. So you can pick in 1 way only.
Now Just extending the fundamental counting principle
So total number of ways in which men of Gokuldham society can sit in chairs
=6x 5x4x 3x 2x1
=6! (six factorial ways)

CASE 2: SIX MEN AND 3 CHAIRS ?

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Permutation (Place, arrangement)

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How many arrangements possible?

= 6 x 5 x 4 x ..OK STOP! Because there are only 3 chairs.

Why?
First chair= 6 men pick one=6 ways.
Second chair = 5 men pick one=5 ways
Third chair=4 men pick one= 4 ways
Thats all.
So number of ways
=6x5x4
=120 ways.

CASE 3: ONE CHAIR AL WAYS OCCUPIED

In the 6 men 6 chairs problem, Dr.Haathi insists that hell sit in the number #1 chair only. Then
How many arrangements are possible?

1 Man
1 choice

6 chairs and 6 choice

First chair= 1 man (Haathi) and youve to pick one= 1 way only!
Second chain=5 men remain, pick one =5 ways
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Combination (choice)

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So here weve
=1x5x4x3x2x1
=5! Ways.
=120 ways.

This is permutation. Here order / ranking matters. i.e. who sits in the first chair, who sits in the
second chair etc.
The same question can appear under different wordings example
1. How many 4 lettered words can be formed out of UPSC, without repetition?
Answer: Same logic. Consider U, P, S, C are four gentlemen and theyve to be arranged in 4
seats.
2. How many 4 letter words can be formed out of UPSC so that U always occupies the
second position from left?
Answer: Same Dr.Haathi logic.
Second Topic is

COMBINATION (CHOICE)
CASE 1: COMMITTEE FORMATION
The one and only Secretary of Gokuldham society, Master Bhide decides to form a 3 memberCommittee for arrangement of Holi-festival. Out of the 5 members (Jetha, Sodhi, Mehta, Popat
and Aiyyar) how many ways can he do this?
Ans.
Here order or ranking doesnt matter.
Because in case of chair sitting: we can say yes Mr.Sodhi is in first chair, Mehta saab in Second
chair and so on
But in case of Committee: it is only IN or OUT i.e. Yes Sodhi is in the Committee, No Mehta
saab is not in the Committee.
So order doesnt matter. Only selection matters.
Lets proceed
How many ways can you pick up the first member? = 5 ways.
Second member? = 4 men remain, 4 ways
Third member? = 3 ways.
So total ways= 5 x 4 x 3= 60.
But wait, there is over counting.
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Combination (choice)

A committee made up of Mehta, Sodhi and Aiyyar (MSA) is same as a Committee made up of
Aiyyer, Mehta and Sodhi. (AMS) (because order doesnt matter, only selection matters: are you
In or Out?).

All of these
three
selections are
one and same
because
order
doesnt
matter in a
Committee.

But in this answer 60, weve over counted such orders.

Thats why we need to divide the answer
Suppose Mehta, Sodhi and Aiyyar are in the committee.
Suppose theyve to sit in three chairs. How many ways can you do it?
Just like permutation in first example
3 x 2 x 1=6.
Thats the overcounting : 6.
Our answer is

=10 ways.
CASE 2: HANDSHAKES
Handshakes is another type of combination problem because
Aiyyar shakes hand with Sodhi or Sodhi shakes hand with Aiyyer= both incidents are one and
same. order doesnt matter!

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The Formulas

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=same as=
So How many ways can 6 men of Gokuldham society shake hands with each other?
To shake hands, you need two men.
How many ways can you pick up first man? = 6 ways.
How many ways can you pick second man? = 5 men remaining so 5 ways.
Hence answer is 6 x 5=30
But wait, over counting!!
Suppose Sodhi and Aiyyer (SA) are selected for handshaking: =two men.
How many ways can you make two men sit in two chairs?
= 2 x 1 =2 ways. (SA and AS)
Thats the over counting.
So weve to divide this over counting: to get the correct answer.

THE FORMULAS
The books give readymade formulas:

But essentially theyre derived from above concepts of fundamental counting principle.
Permutation =place them = order matters in placement
Combination= choice = only Yes or No or In or Out

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The Formulas

Open your books right now, solve the sums using both the method shown above as well as the
readymade formulas, to get a good command over this topic.
Remember, You can never learn the aptitude by reading the sums.
Youve to get your hands dirty, and learn from mistakes so start solving them on paper by
yourself.
To be continued

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