Math Perm and Comb

Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.
org
01. Fundamental Principle of Counting 01 - 04
02. Introduction To Permutations 05 - 07
03. Introduction To Combinations 08 - 09
04. Applications of Basics 10 - 26
05. More Applications 27 - 59
06. Appendix : Binomial Theorem 60 - 86
CONCEPT NO CONCEPT NO CONCEPT NO CONCEPT NO CONCEPT NOTES TES TES TES TES
P & C,
Binomial Theorem
Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.org
L OCUS L OCUS L OCUS L OCUS L OCUS 1
P & C,
Binomial Theorem
This chapter is one of the most interesting chapters that well study at this level. The beauty and challenge of
this branch of mathematics lies in the innumerous tricks and mathematical artifices that abound in this subject.
Clarity of thought, more than any thing else, is what is required to understand the subject properly. Also, youd
do best if you refrain from memorising any formulae or particular cases here; concentrate on building a logical
approach, solving everything from first principles.
The main objective of this chapter is to count. Given a set U of things or objects or persons ( or whatever), we
need to arrange a subset S of U (according to some constraints) or select a subset S of U (again, according to
certain criteria). In fact, we are actually interested in counting the number of such arrangements or selections.
Read the following questions:
From a team of 15 cricket players, how can we select a playing team of 11players?
There are 20 people whom we need to seat in 2 rows of 10 seats each. How many ways exist of doing so?
From a deck of 52 playing cards, in how many ways can we select two red cards and three black cards?
How many rectangles exist on a standard 88 chessboard?
How many factors does 144000 have? In general, how many factors does a natural number N have?
These are some of the many types of questions which well learn to solve in this chapter.
Well build a systematic approach to deal with such counting issues. To really appreciate the beauty of the
solving techniques that well develop, you are urged to try out each and every question that we solve here, on
your own first, and only then look at the solution. Only this approach will help you solve counting questions
elegantly.
Section - 1 Section - 1 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF COUNTING
The fundamental principle of counting is so fundamental that you already must have used it practically a lot
many times without realising it. In other words, this principle is already programmed into our minds. A logical,
step-by-step application of this principle gives rise to the entire subject of permutations and combinations.
Suppose you have 4 boys and 3 girls. From this group of 7, you want to select a couple ( a boy and a girl).
How many ways exist of forming this couple?
Let us label the boys as
1 2 3 4
, , and B B B B and the girls as
1 2 3
, and G G G .
There are 4 ways to choose a boy. Once youve chosen a boy, say
2
B , there are now 3 ways to choose a girl.
In other words, the boy
2
B can form the couple
2 1 2 2 2 3
( ), ( ) or ( ) B G B G B G . Similarly, for every other
boy, there exist 3 girls with whom that boy can be paired. Thus, the total number of ways in which a pair can
be formed is:
( ) ( ) No. of ways of selecting a boy No. of ways of selecting a girl N
4 3
12
The most crucial aspect in this calculation is that you must realise that the task of selecting a boy is independent
of the task of selecting a girl. This means that which boy you select has no effect what so ever on which girl you
select; the selection of a boy and that of a girl are independent of each other.
Another subtle point must be made here. There are 4 ways to select a boy. These 4 ways are mutually
exclusive. This means that a selection of any particular boy, once made, rules out the selection of the other 3
boys. Similarly, there are 3 mutually exclusive ways to select a girl.
Let us consider another example now. We need to travel from New Delhi, India to Fiji Islands (in the South
Pacific Ocean). We must change flights, first at Singapore and then at Sydney, Australia. There are 6 different
flights available from New Delhi to Singapore, 5 from Singapore to Sydney and 3 from Sydney to Fiji.
New Delhi
Singapore Sydney Fiji Islands
3 flights 5 flights 6 flights
Fig - 1
How may ways exist of making a flight plan from New Delhi to Fiji?
Assume that we are in Singapore. From Singapore, we have 5 available flights to Sydney (5 mutually exclusive
ways). For each of these 5 flights, we have 3 further ways (flights) from Sydney to Fiji. Thus, we have a total
of 5 3 = 15 ways of travelling from Singapore to Fiji.
Now, how many ways do we have to reach Singapore from New Delhi in the first place? 6 flights. For each of
these 6 flights, we have 15 further ways of reaching Fiji From Singapore (as we just calculated in the preceding
paragraph). Thus, the total number of ways N of travelling from New Delhi to Fiji is 6 15 = 90. In other
words,
( ) ( ) ( )
No. of flights from New No. of flights from No. of flights from
Delhi to Singapore Singapore to Sydney Sydney to Fiji
N
Intuitively easy, isnt it?
Let us now generalise the results of these two examples into our fundamental principle of counting.
Consider the set of tasks
1 2 3
{ , , ... }
n
T T T T which are all independent of each other. This means that task
i
T
has no relation to task if ;
j
T i j the choice of how to accomplish task
i
T has thus no effect on the
choice of how to accomplish talk
j
T for i j , (youll realise the meaning of no relation and no effect more
specifically later). Task
i
T can be accomplished in
i
k mutually exclusive ways.
The fundamental principle of counting says that the set of tasks
1 2 3
{ , , ... }
n
T T T T can be accomplished
in
1 2 3
...
n
k k k k ways.
Here are more examples that illustrate this simple yet extremely powerful principle. A proper understanding of
this principle is absolutely essential for the subject of counting to be fully comprehensible.
Think of a standard six-faced die, with the markings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Suppose that you have
two such dice. When these two dice are thrown call the number that shows up on the first die x
and the one on the second die y. How many pairs ( , ) x y are possible?
There are 6 mutually exclusive ways in which a number can show up on the first die. Similarly, 6
such ways exist for the second die. The fundamental principle of counting says that the total
number of possible pairs is 6 6 = 36.
Suppose that we have a (unlimited) supply of the letters , , , , , A B C D E F available with us.
How many 5-letter chains can we form using these letters?
Imagine 5 blank spaces for the 5-letter chain that we are supposed to form (numbered 1 to 5):
1 2 3 4 5
Fig - 2
We now have 5 tasks at hand; each task correspond to filling a space in Fig. 1. Realise that these
5 tasks are independent of each other. For example, what you fill in place 2 has no effect on what
you fill in place 5 since you ve been assured an unlimited supply of letters. Each task can be
accomplished in 6 possible ways. For example, you can fill place -1 in 6 possible ways : with
, , , , , or A B C D E F . Thus, by the fundamental principle of counting, the total number of ways
to form the 5-letter chain would be
5
6 6 6 6 6 6 .
Now consider the scenario when you dont have an unlimited supply of letters available. Suppose
that you have only one of each of the 5 letters available. How many 5-letter chains can be formed
now?
You must realise that this limited-supply-of-letters situation is very different from the previous one.
In this situation, once you fill a particular place with a particular letter, you are left with one letter
less to choose from, from the remaining places.
Let us start with filling the places from left to right. To fill place -1, w e have 6 letters to choose
from, but once weve filled place-1 , we now have only 5 letters to choose from, to fill place-2.
Continuing in this way, place-3, place - 4 and place -5 can then be filled in 4, 3 and 2 ways
respectively.

6 ways to fill 5 ways to fill 4 ways to fill 3 ways to fill 2 ways to fill
this place this place this place this place this place
1 2 3 4 5
! ! ! ! !
Fig - 3
The fundamental principle of counting tells us that the total number of chains in this case will be
6 5 4 3 2 720 . You might think that in this case filling up place-i and place-j are not
independent tasks. In other words, how we fill place-i has a certain relation to how we
fill place-j . For example, if we fill place-1 with A, we cannot fill any other place with A and thus,
how we fill place -1 has a definite effect on how we are able to fill the other places. This is
definitely true. But when we talk about the independence of two events, it is in a different sense:
Let event X be filling place-1 and event Y be filling place-2 after event X has been accomplished,
i.e. after place-1 has been filled. There are 6 ways of accomplishing X and 5 ways of accomplishing
Y. Which 5 letters contribute to event Y (i.e which of the 5 remaining letters can we choose for
place -2) definitely depends on how event X was accomplished, but the event Y is itself the choice
of one of the 5 symbols contributing to event Y. The number of ways in which this choice can be
made is still independent of how event X was accomplished. Whatever selection was made for
event X, the number of ways in which Y can be accomplished still remains 5. This is the sense that
should be attached to the phrase independent events.
____________________________________________________________________________________
These three examples should have given you a pretty good idea about three concepts : mutually exclusive
events, independent events and the fundamental principle of counting. Ponder over these examples for a bit
longer and think up examples of you own till your feel very comfortable with these new concepts.
Section - 2 Section - 1 INTRODUCTION TO PERMUTATIONS
We now formally study the concept of permutations, by generalising the last example in the preceding section.
The fundamental issue in Permutations is the arrangement of things. In the last example, we had 6 letters and
5 places where we could arrange (5 of) those 6 letters, We calculated that there are 720 ways of arranging
those 6 letters, taken 5 at a time. In mathematical terminology, we calculated as 720 the number of permutations
(arrangements) of 6 letters taken 5 at a time.
Let us generalise this: Suppose we have n people. It we had n seats available to seat these people, the total
number of ways to do so would be (by the logic discussed in the preceding section) ( 1) ( 2) ... 1 n n n .
This quantity is denoted by n!.
! ( 1) ( 2) ... 1 n n n n
Suppose now that we have only r seats, where r < n. The total number of ways now would
be ( 1) ( 2) ... ( 1) n n n n r + . This is the number of ways of permuting n things, taken r at a time,
and the notation used for this number is
n
r
P . Thus :
( 1) ( 2) ... ( 1)
n
r
n n r P n n +
( 1) ( 2) ... ( 1) ( ) ...1
( ) ... 1
n n n n r n r
n r
+

!
( )!
n
n r
Thus, using the fundamental principle of counting, you see that weve been able to calculate the value of
n
r
P .
Finally, note that !
n
n
P n
Lets apply this discussion to an example:
Example 1
Find the number of permutations of the word EDUCATION which
(a) consist of all the letters of this word (b) start with E and end with N
(c) contain the string CAT (d) have the letters C, A and T occurring together
(e) start and end with vowels (f) have no two vowels occurring together.
Solution: (a) We have 9 letters and we want to permute all of them. The required number of arrangements
would be
9
9
9! P
(b) Fix E at the start and N at the end of the word
E N
Fig - 4
We now have 7 places which we need to fill using the remaining 7 letters. The number of such
permutations will be
7
7
7! P .
(c) We want all those permutations in which the string CAT occurs. Let us treat CAT as a
single letter/object since this is what we want - we want CAT to appear as a single entity.
We now have the following objects (letters) which we need to permute:
E D U CAT I O N
These are in total 7 objects. Thus, they can be permuted in
7
7
7! P ways. This is the number
of permutations that contain the string CAT .
(d) We now need the permutations which contain the letters C, A and T occurring together. This
means that they can occur together in any order. There are 3! = 6 ways in which C, A and T
can be arranged among themselves, namely CAT, CTA, ACT, ATC, TAC, and TCA.
Now consider from the previous part all those permutations in which the string CAT occurs.
These are 7! in number. Corresponding to each such permutation, we can have 6 permutations
in which the constraint is that C, A and T occur together. This is because the string CAT can
itself be permuted in 6 ways as described above. For example, consider the permutation
EDUCATION; to this permutation will correspond 6 permutations in which C, A and T
occur together:
EDU CAT ION
EDU CTAION
EDU ACT ION
EDU CAT ION
EDU ATC ION
EDU TAC ION
EDU TCAION

' ;

The required number of permutations is therefore
7!3!
.
(e) In the word EDUCATION, there are a total of 5 vowels. We want to have the starting and
ending letters of our permutations as vowels. Let us first arrange the starting and ending letters
and then fill in the rest of the 7 places. Out of the 5 vowels available to us, the first and the last
place can be filled in
5
2
P places. Once weve fixed the first and the last letters, the remaining
7 places can be filled in
7
7
7! P ways. Thus, the total number of required permutations is
5
2
7! P .
(f) There are 5 vowels and 4 consonants in the word EDUCATION. We require permutations in
which no two vowels occur together. We can ensure such permutations by first fixing the 4
consonants and then arranging the 5 vowels in the 5 possible places that arise as depicted in
the following figure.
D C T N
Fig - 5
Convince yourself that any arrangement of the 5 vowels in the 5 blank spaces above will
correspond to a permutation with no two vowels together.
The number of ways of arranging the 4 consonants is
4
4
4! P . After the consonants have
been arranged, the number of ways of arranging the 5 vowels in the 5 blank spaces as depicted
in Fig.5 is 5!. Thus, the required number of permutations is 4! 5!
____________________________________________________________________________________
It would be a good exercise for you to construct more of such examples on your own and solve them. You can
take an arbitrary word and find the number of permutations of that word, that satisfy any particular condition
that you can think of.
Section - 3 Section - 1 INTRODUCTION TO COMBINATIONS
In the previous section, we encountered permutations, which correspond to arrangement of
objects /things/ entities. In this section, we will encounter combinations which correspond to selection of things
(and not their arrangement). We do no intend to arrange things. We intend to select them. For example,
suppose we have a team of 15 cricket players. We intend to select a playing team of 11 out of these 15
players. Thus, we want the number of ways in which we can select 11 players out of 15 players. (We are not
interested in arranging those 11 players in a row - only the group/ combination of those 11 players matters).
Let us make this concept more specific. Suppose we have a set of 6 letters { } , , , , , A B C D E F . In how
many ways can we select a group of 3 letters from this set? Suppose we had to find the number of arrangements
of 3 letters possible from those 6 letters. That number would be
6
3
P . Consider the permutations that contain
the letters A, B and C. These are 3! = 6 in number, namely ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB and CBA.
Now, what we want is the number of combinations and not the number of arrangements. In other words, the
6 permutations listed above would correspond to a single combination. Differently put, the order of things is
not important; only the group/combination matters. This means that the total number of combinations of 3
letters from the set of 6 letters available to us would be
6
3
/ 3! P since each combination is counted 3! times in
the list of permutations. Thus, if we denote the number of combinations of 6 things taken 3 at a time by
6
3
C , we
have
6
6 3
3
3!
P
C
In general, suppose we have n things available to us, and we want to find the number of ways in which we can
select r things out of these n things.
We first find the number of all the permutations of these n things taken r at a time. That number would be
n
r
P .
Now, in this list of
n
r
P permutations, each combination will be counted r! times since r things can be permuted
amongst themselves in r! ways. Thus, the total number of combinations of these n things, taken r at a time,
denoted by
n
r
C , will be
!
! !( )!
n
n r
r
P n
C
r r n r

You should now be able to appreciate the utility of the fundamental principle of counting. Using only a step-by-
step application of this principle, we have been able to obtain an expression for
.
n
r
C
As we progress through
the chapter, youll slowly realise that each and every concept that we discuss and each and every expression
that we obtain follows logically as a consequence of this simple principle.
Example 2
Consider the word EDUCATION.
(a) In how many ways can we select a pair of letters consisting of a vowel and a consonant ? Both
vowels? Both consonants?
(b) In how many ways can a 5-letter selection be made with more than 2 vowels?
Solution: (a) We have 5 vowels and 4 consonants available in the word EDUCATION. A vowel can be
selected in 5 ways while a consonant can be selected in 4 ways. Thus, a pair consisting of a
vowel and a consonant can be selected in 5 4 = 20 ways. Two vowels can be selected in
5
2
C
ways while two consonants can be selected in
4
2
C
ways.
(b) Since we want more than 2 vowels, we could have 3, 4 or 5 vowels in our 5-letter selection.
Suppose we select 3 vowels for our 5-letter group. This can be done in
5
3
C ways. The two
remaining letters (consonants) can be selected in
4
2
C
ways. Thus, 5-letter groups containing
3 vowels can be formed in
5 4
3 2
C C ways. Similarly, if we had 4 vowels, the possible number
of groups would be
5 4
4 1
C C
. Theres only 1 group possible containing (all) the 5 vowels.
Thus, the number of required selections is
5 4 5 4
3 2 4 1
1 C C C C + +
____________________________________________________________________________________
Now that were done with the introductions, lets move on and see some really interesting and diverse applications
of the basic concepts covered till now.
Section - 4 Section - 1 APPLICATIONS OF BASICS
Our approach in the applications of the basic concepts of counting will be to keep everything really basic - and
try to do everything from a first principles approach. Memorization of formulae will do no good! A good deal
of thinking is required.
Lets start with proving certain combinatorial assertions.
Example 3
Prove that
n n
r n r
C C

Solution: We can easily prove this relation using the expression we obtained for
n
r
C
:
! !
!( )! ( )!( ( ))!
n n
r n r
n n
C C
r n r n r n n r

However, what we would really like is not an analytical justification like the one above but a
logical justification, that involves no mathematical manipulations and is instead purely based on the
interpretation of
n
r
C
.
For this example, let us discuss such a logical justification in a good amount of detail.
Suppose you have a group of 6 letters, say {A, B, C, D, E, F}. Out of this group, you want to
count the number of subsets containing 4 letters. Consider a particular selection of 4 letters, say
{B, D, E, F}. This selection can equivalently be obtained if we say that we exclude the group
{A, C} from our original group of 6 letters. This means that each selected group of 4 letters
corresponds to an excluded group of 2 letters. The number of (selected) 4-letter groups will
therefore equal the number of (excluded) 2-letter groups, or in other words, to count the number
of 4 letter groups, we can equivalently count the number of 2-letter groups. Thus,
6 6
4 2
C C
Generalising this logic, we obtain
n n
r n r
C C

Example 4
Prove that
1 1
1
n n n
r r r
C C C

+
Solution: You can prove this assertion yourself very easily analytically. Let us discuss a logical justification.
The left hand side of this assertion says that we have a group of n people out of which we want to
select a subset of r people; more precisely, we want to count the number of such r-subsets.
Fix a particular person in this group of n people, say person X. Now, all the r-groups that we form
will either contain X or not contain X. These are the only two options possible.
To count the number of groups that contain X, we proceed as follows: we already have X; we
need (r 1) more people from amongst (n 1) people still available for selection. Thus, such
groups will be
1
1
n
r
C
in number.
For the number of groups that do not contain X we need to select r people from amongst (n 1)
options available. Therefore, such groups are
1 n
r
C
in number. The total number of r-groups are

hence
1 1
1
n n
r r
C C

+
in number, which is the same as
n
r
C
. With this example, you should begin
to realise the beauty of the logic and skill required in this subject.
Example 5
Prove that
1 1
1
n n n
r r r
P P r P

+
Solution: The analytical justification is again very straightforward and is left to you as an exercise.
The left hand side of this assertion says that we need to count the number of arrangements of n
people, taken r at a time.
We again fix a particular person, say person X. All the possible r-arrangements will either contain
X or not contain X. These are the only two (mutually exclusive) cases possible.
If we do not keep X in our permutation, we have r people to select from a potential group of
(n 1) people. The number of arrangements not containing X will therefore be
1
.
n
r
P
To count the number of permutations containing X, we first seat X in one of the r seats available.
This can be done in r ways. The remaining (r 1) seats can be filled by (n 1) people in
1
1
n
r
P
ways. Thus, the number of arrangements containing X is

1
1
n
r
r P
.
These arguments prove that
1 1
1
n n n
r r r
P P r P

+
Example 6
(a) Prove that
1
1
n n
r r
n
C C
r
(b) Prove that

1
1
n n
r r
n r
C C
r

+
Solution: (a) Let us consider this assertion in a particular example, say with n = 6 and r = 4. This will make
things easier to understand.
Our purpose is to select 4 people out of 6 people, say the set {A, B, C, D, E, F}. To select a
group of 4, we can first select a single person : this can be done in 6 ways. The rest of the 3
people can now be selected in
5
3
C ways. The total number of groups possible would thus be
5
3
6 C . But some careful thought will show that we have overcounted, doing the calculation
this way.
Suppose that in our first step, we select A. While selecting the remaining 3 persons, we then
select B, C, D thus forming the group {A, B, C, D}. But this same group would have been
formed had we selected B in our first step and A, C, D in the second step, or C in the first step
and A, B, D in the second step, or D in the first step and A, B, C in the second step. We have
thus counted the group {A, B, C, D} 4 times in the figure
5
3
6 . C The actual number of
groups will hence be
5
3
6
.
4
C
We now generalise this: to select r people out of a group of n, we first select one person; this
can be done in n ways. The remaining (r 1) persons can be selected in
1
1
n
r
C
ways. The
total number of r-groups thus becomes
1
1
n
r
n C

. However, as described earlier, in this
figure each group has been counted r times. The actual number of r-groups is therefore
1
1
n
n r
r
n C
C
r
(b) The logic for this part is similar to that of part - (a)
To select r people out of n, we first select (r 1) people out of n. This can be done in
1
n
r
C

ways. We now have ( 1) ( 1) n r n r + persons remaining for selection out of which we
have to choose 1 more person. This can therefore be done in (n r + 1)ways. The total
number of r-groups thus becomes
1
( 1) .
n
r
n r C

+
However, each r-group has again been counted r times in this figure (convince yourself about
this by thinking of a particular example). The actual number of r-group is thus
1
( 1)
n
n r
r
n r C
C
r
+

Example 7 Example 7
Prove that
0 1 2
.......... 2
n n n n n
n
C C C C + + + +
Solution: This looks like a tough one! Lets first interpret what the left side means.
0
n
C is the number of
ways in which we can select nothing out of n things (there will obviously be only one such way:
that we do nothing!).
1
n
C
is the number of ways in which we can select 1 thing out of n.
n
r
C
is the
number of ways of selecting r things out of n. We want the value of the sum
0
n
n
r
r
C
, which is the
number of all groups possible of any size what so ever. Thus, our selection could be any size from
0 to n (both inclusive); what we want is the total number of selections possible.
For example, consider the set {A, B, C}. The set of all possible selections that can be made from this set
is
{ } { } { } { } { } { } { }
{ } , , , , , , , . A B C AB AC BC ABC Thus, 8 total different selections are possible
(note that
3
8 2 )
To count the total number of selections possible if we have n persons, we adopt an individuals
perspective. An individual can either be or not be in our selection. Thus, we have two choices with
respect to any individual; we either put him in our group or do not put him in our group.
These two choices apply to every individual. Also, choosing or not choosing any individual is
independent of choosing or not choosing another. Thus, the total number of ways in which an
arbitrary number of individuals can be selected from n people is
times
2 2 2 ........ 2 2
n
n

"###$###%
This proves that
0
2
n
n n
i
i
C

Example 8
Prove that
0 1 1 2 2 0
.........
n m n m n m n n n m
r r r r r
C C C C C C C C C
+

+ + + +
Solution: We interpret the left hand side as the number of ways of select r people out of a group of (n + m)
people.
Let this group of (n + m) people consist of n boys and m girls. A group of r people can be made
in the following ways:

0
1 1
2 2
1 1
0
1 0 boys, girls
2 1 boy, ( 1) girls
3 2 boys, ( 2) girls
.
.
.
. ( 1) boys, 1 girl
( 1) boys, 0 girsl
n m
r
n m
r
n m
r
n m
r
n m
r
C C
r
C C
r
r
C C
r r
C C
r r
C C
Sl. Group contains No. of ways possible

This table is self-explanatory. The ( r + 1) types of groups that have been listed are mutually
exclusive. Thus, the total number of r-groups is
0 1 1 0
........
m m m n m n n n
r r r r
C C C C C C C
+
+ + +
Example 9
(a) Consider the set of letters { } , , , , , . a a a b c d How many permutations of this set exist?
(b) Consider the set of letters { } , , , , , , , . a a a b b c d e How many permutations of this set exist?
(c) Generalise the results of the previous two parts. If we have a set of ( ) ..... m n p + + + things where
a particular thing, say X, is repeated m times, Y is repeated n times, Z is repeated p times, and so
on, find the number of permutations of this set.
Solution: The main issue now is that we have a repetition of things. If the things we have were all different,
the number of permutations would have been easy to calculate. But now, with repetition of things,
the number of permutations will change (it will actually decrease, if you think about it carefully).
Let us calculate the permutations in this case from first principles
(a) We have 3 (repeated) a letters, a b, a c and a d. In all, 6 letters. Consider, for a
moment, that the 3 a s are all different. Let us denote the 3 different as by a
1
, a
2
and a
3
.
Our set of letters is now
{ }
1 2 3
, , , , , . a a a b c d The number of permutations of this set is simply
6
6
6! P
If we list down all these 6! permutations, we will see that 6 permutations from this list will
correspond to only one permutation, had the as been all the same. Why?
Consider any particular permutation with the a s all different, say
{ }
1 2 3
, , , , , . b a a c a d If we
fix the letters b, c and d, the 3 different a s can be permuted amongst themselves in
3! 6
ways. We now list down all the 6 permutations so generated on the left hand side in the
figure below, and see that these 6 permutations correspond to a single permutation if the a s
were all the same:

1 2 3
1 3 2
2 1 3
2 3 1
3 1 2
3 2 1
b a a c a d
b a a c a d
b a a c a d
b a a c a d
b a a c a d
b a a c a d
b a a c a d
The 6 permutations on the left with different as as correspond to

a single permutation with the a s all same.
Fig - 6
Thus, the actual number of permutation with the as all same will be
6! 6!
120
3! 6

(b) We now have 3 repeated a s and 2 repeated b s, and a total of 8 letters. If we for a
moment take the a s and b s as all different, the total number of permutations of this set of
8 letters would be
8
8
8! P
However, once we list down these 8! permutations, we will see that (as in the previous part)
3! = 6 permutations in this list will correspond to a single permutation if the as were all the
same. Similarly, 2! = 2 permutations in this list will correspond to a single permutation if both
the bs were the same. Thus, the actual number of permutations if as and bs were the
same would be
8!
3!2!
(c) These results can now easily be generalised for this general set and the number of permutations
will be
( .....)!
! ! !......
m n p
m n p
+ + +

____________________________________________________________________________________
From this example once again, the power of the fundamental principle of counting should be quite evident.
Using a logical development/extension of this principle, we see that weve been able to solve non-trivial
questions like the one above.
Example 10
Consider the integral equation
1 2
4 x x + where
1 2
, x x &. The non-negative solutions to this equation
can be listed down as { } 0, 4 , { } 1, 3 , { } 2, 2 , { } 3,1 and { } 4, 0 . Thus, 5 non-negative integral solutions
exist for this equation.
We would like to solve the general case. How many non-negative, integral solutions exist for the equation
1 2
.....
n
x x x r + + +
Solution: You might be surprised to know that this question can be solved using the general result obtained
in the previous example. Can you think how?
Let us consider an arbitrary integral equation, say
1 2 3
8. x x x + + Consider any particular non-
negative integral solution to this equation, say { } 2, 3, 3 . We some how need to tag this solution
in a new form; a form which is easily countable. This is how we do it. We break up the solution
2 + 3 + 3 = 8 as shown below:
11 111 111 8
...(1)
Similarly, 1 + 6 + 1=8 would be written as
1 111111 1 8
...(2)
and 0 + 1 + 7 = 8 would be written as
1 1111111 8
...(3)
and0 + 0 + 8 = 8 would be written as
11111111 8
...(4)
An alert reader must have realised the trick by now. In each of (1), (2), (3) and (4), we have on
the left hand side 8 1 symbols and 2 symbols, in different orders. Any non-negative integral
solution can thus be represented by a unique permutation of 8 1 symbols and 2 symbols.
Conversely, every permutation of 8 1 symbols and 2 symbols represents a unique non-
negative integral solution to the equation .
Thus, the set of non-negative integral solutions to the equation and the set of permutations of 8 1
symbols and 2 symbols are in one-to-one-correspondence. To count the required number
of solutions, we simply count the permutations of 8 1 symbols and 2 symbols, which as
described in the last example would be
(8 2)! 10!
45
8!2! 8!2!
+

This beautiful artifice described about should make it clear to you the significance of (and the
challenge of producing!) elegant proofs/solutions.
We now generalise this result. Any non-negative integral solutions to the equation
1 2
.....
n
x x x r + + +
can be represented using r 1 symbols and n 1 symbols. The total
number of permutation of these symbols will be
1
( 1)!
!( 1)!
n r
r
n r
C
r n
+
+
and hence, this is the required number of solutions.

Example 11
Consider a rectangular integral grid of size . m n For
example, a 4 5 integral grid is drawn alongside:
A person has to travel from point A(0, 0) to the diagonally
opposite point C(m, n). He moves one step at a time, towards
the east or towards the north (that is, never moves towards
the west or south at any time). How many distinct paths exist
from the point A to the point C?

A B
C D
Fig - 7
Solution: Let us draw a random path on our
4 5
grid in Fig. 6 and think of some way to mathematically
specify/describe this path

A B
C D
Fig - 8
A random path across the 4 5
grid that our travelling person
can follow.
The question now is:
How do we mathematically
characterise this path?
Suppose you had to describe this path to a blind person. If you use E for a step towards the east
and N for a step towards the north, youd tell the blind person that the travelling person took the
following path.
E E N E N E E N N
This string that we just formed should immediately make you realise how to calculate the number
all the possible paths. We have 5 E steps and 4 N steps. Any permutation of these 9 steps
gives rise to a different unique path. For example, the string E E E E E NNNN is the path
that goes straight east from A to B and then straight north from B to C. Thus, any path can be
uniquely characterised by a permutation of these 9 steps. The number of permutations of these 9
letters, 5 of which are Es and 4 are Ns, is
9!
5!4!
. This is therefore the number of different paths
that the travelling person can take from A to C. For an m n grid we will have (m + n) total steps,
m of them being E s and the remaining n being N s Thus, the number of possible paths
is
( )!
! !
m n
m n
+
.
Example 12
(a) We have m apples, n oranges and p bananas. In how many ways can we make a non-zero selection
of fruit from this assortment?
(b) How many factors does 144000 have? In general, how many factors does a natural number N have?
Solution: These two seemingly unrelated questions have exactly the same approach to their solutions!
Before reading the solution, can you imagine how?
(a) The most important point to realise in this question is the nature of objects to be selected. We
have m apples. These m apples are exactly identical to each other. You cannot make out one
apple from another. This means that if you have to choose r apples out of n, theres only one
way of doing it: you just pick (any of the) r apples. It doesnt matter which apples you
choose, because all the apples are identical. Thus, only 1 r-selection is possible. So how many
total selections are possible? We either select 0 apples, 1 apple, 2 apples, .... r apples, ... or
m apples. Thus (m + 1) ways exist to select apples.

Make sure you properly understand the essence of this discussion and why
choosing apples out of can be done in only 1 and not ways.
n
r
r n C

' ;

We therefore have (m + 1) ways to select apples, (n +1) ways to select oranges and (p + 1)
ways to select bananas. The selection of a particular fruit is independent of the selection of
another fruit.
Hence, we have (m +1) (n +1) (p +1) ways to select a group of fruit.
But wait! In the (m +1) ways of selecting apples, theres also one way in which we select no
apple. Similarly, in the (n + 1) ways of selecting oranges, theres one in which we select no
orange, and in the (p + 1) ways of selecting bananas, theres one in which we select no
banana. Thus, in the product (m +1) (n +1) (p +1), therell be one case involving no fruit of
any type. We have to exclude this case if we want a non-zero selection of fruit.
Therefore, the number of ways of making a non-zero selection is (m +1)(n +1)(p +1) 1.
(b) You might be wondering how the factors problem is related to the first part! Read on.
Lets consider a smaller number first. Take 60, for example, and list down all its factors
(including 1 and 60):
{ } 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,10,12,15, 20, 30, 60
From elementary mathematics, you know that any number can be factorized into a product of
primes. For example, 60 can be written in its prime factorization from as:
60 2 2 3 5
2 1 1
2 3 5
Such a representation exists for every natural number N. Can we somehow use this
representation to find the number of factors?
Consider any factor of 60, say 12, The prime factorization from of 12 is
2 1
2 3 . Similarly, this
representation for 15, for example, is
1 1
3 5 and for 30 would be
1 1 1
2 3 5 .
With discussion in our mind, we rephrase our problem: We have 60 whose prime representation
is
2 1 1
2 3 5 . Thus, we have 2 twos, 1 three and 1 five with us. (You could imagine that we
have 2 apples, 1 orange and 1 banana).
To form a factor of 60, what we have to do is to make a selection of prime factors from
amongst the available prime factors. For 60, we have 2 twos (apples), 1 three (orange) and 1
five(banana). In how many ways can we make our selection?
The last part tells is that we can do it in ( 1)( 1)( 1) m n p + + + ways or (2 1)(1 1)(1 1) 12 + + +
in this particular case. (We also allow no selection of any prime factor - this corresponds to the
factor 1 of 60)
Do you feel the elegance of this solution?
For the general case of a natural number N whose prime representation is of the
form
1 2
1 2
........ ,
n
n
p p p

the number of factors (including 1 and N) is
1 2
( 1)( 1)........( 1)
n
+ + +
For example, 144000 can be represented as
7 2 3
144000 2 3 5
The required number of factors is
(7 1)(2 1)(3 1) 96 + + +
Example 13
12 person are sitting in a row. In how many ways can we select 4 persons out of this group such that no two
are sitting adjacent in the row?
Solution: To make the question more clear, heres a valid and a non-valid selection:
Valid
Non-valid
Fig - 9
We have to find some (mathematical) way of specifying a valid-selection. An obvious method that
strikes is this: In our row, we represent every unselected person by U and every selected person
by S. Thus, the valid selection in the figure above becomes:
U S U U S UU S U S UU
To count the numbers of valid selections, we count the number of permutation of this string above,
consisting of 8 U symbols and 4 S symbols, subject to the constraint that no two S symbols
are adjacent.
To count such permutation, we first fix the 8 U symbols. There will then be 9 blank spaces
generated for the S symbols as shown below:
__U__U__U__U__U__U__U__U__
From these 9 blank spaces, any 4 spaces can be chosen and the S symbols can be put there and
itll be guaranteed that no two S symbols will be adjacent. Thus, our task now reduces to just
selecting 4 blank spaces out of the 9 available to us, which can be done simply in
9
4
C
ways.
These are the required number of selections.
Example 14 DIVISION INTO GROUPS
We will use a standard pack of 52 cards to illustrate the concepts involved.
(a) (i) In how many ways can a pack of 52 cards be divided equally into 4 sets?
(ii) Equally among 4 players?
(b) (i) In how many ways can this pack be divided into 4 sets of 9, 13, 14 and 16 cards each?
(ii) Distributed among 4 players with 9, 13, 14 and 16 cards?
(c) (i) In how many ways can this pack be divided into 4 sets of 10, 14, 14 and 14 cards each?
(ii) Distributed among 4 players with 10, 14, 14 and 14 cards?
(iii) Distributed among 4 players with 12, 12, 14 and 14 cards?
Solution: For this question, you must understand that the division of a set into a number of subsets is different
from the division of a set into a number of subsets and then distribution of those subsets to different
persons. For example, suppose you are alone by yourself and you are dividing your deck of
cards into 4 sets. What youll do is do the division of the deck and keep the 4 sets in front of you.
Which set lies where in front of you doesnt matter. Your only objective was to divide the pack into
4 sets which you did. Precisely speaking, the order of the groups doesnt matter.
On the other hand, suppose you were playing a game of Bluff with 3 other people. Before starting
the game, you divide the deck into 4 sets of 13 cards each. But now you have to give each set of
13 cards to a different person. Where a set of cards goes matters. In other words, the order of the
groups matters.
As another example, suppose you had to divide a class into 3 sub-groups. You do your job-the
order of the groups doesnt matter, you just have to divide them. But suppose you had to divide
the class into 3 sub-groups and place each sub-group in a different bogey of a roller coaster. In
this case the order of the groups matters because which sub-group sits in which bogey matters.
Once again, make sure that you understand very clearly when the order of the groups matters and
when it doesnt
(a) (i) We want to divide the pack into 4 equal sets of 13 cards each. We proceed as follows;
First select a group of 13 cards from the 52 cards; call this group A. This can be done
in
52
13
C ways. Group B of another 13 cards can now be selected from the remaining 39
cards in
39
13
C ways. Group C of another 13 cards from the remaining 26 can now be
selected in
26
13
C ways. This automatically leaves group D of the last 13 cards.
Thus, the division can be carried out in
52 39 26
13 13 13
C C C ways.
However, notice that the order of the groups doesnt matter, as discussed earlier. This
means that even if our order of group selection was BACD or ADBC (or for that matter
any other permutation of ABCD), such a selection would essentially be the same as ABCD.
The number of permutations of ABCD is 4! = 24.
Thus, the actual number of ways of division is

( )
52 39 26
13 13 13
1
24
C C C
1 52! 39! 26!
24 13! 39! 13! 26! 13! 13!
_

,
( )
4
52!
13! 4!
(ii) If we had to distribute the cards equally among 4 players, the order of group selection
would have mattered. For example, ABCD would be different from BACD. Thus, we
dont divide by 4! in this case. The number of possible distributions is
( )
4
52!
13!
(b) (i) For this part, observe that the group sizes are all unequal. This is a somewhat different
situation than the previous part where the group sizes were equal. Well soon see why.
We follow a similar sequence of steps as described earlier.
(i) Select group A of 9 cards from the deck of 52 :
52
9
C ways
(ii) Select group B of 13 cards from the remaining 43 :
43
13
C ways
(iii) Select group C of 14 cards from the remaining 30 :
30
14
C
ways.
(iv) This automatically leaves group D of the remaining 16 cards.
The number of ways for this division is
52 43 30
9 13 14
C C C
52! 43! 30!
9! 42! 13! 30! 14! 16!

52!
9! 13! 14! 16!

From now on, note and remember that
( )
! ! ! !
m n p q n p q p q q
m n p q
C C C C
m n p q
m n p q
+ + + + + +

' ;
+ + +

Why dont we divide by 4! here as we did earlier, even when the order of groups
doesnt matter? This is because the group sizes are unequal. A particular selection in a
particular order, say ABCD, will never be repeated in any other order of selection.
Our order of selection (in terms of group size) is 9, 13, 14 and 16 cards. Carefully
think about it; a particular selection like ABCD will be done only once (and not 4!
times as in the previous part due to equal group sizes)
(ii) If we had to distribute the 4 sets to 4 players, the situation changes because which subset
of cards goes to which player matters. A particular group of sets of cards, say ABCD, can
be distributed among the 4 players in 4! ways. Thus, now the number of distributions will
be
no. of ways of division of the no. of ways of Distribution
deck as specified into the 4 sets of those sets to the 4 players
_ _

, ,
( )
52!
4!
9! 13! 14! 16!
_

,
(c) (i) In this part, the situation is a hybrid of the previous two parts. 3 of the 4 groups are equal
in size while the 4
th
is different.
We first select 10 cards out of 52. This can be done in
52
10
C ways. The remaining 42
cards can be divided into 3 equal groups (by the logic of part -(a)) in
3
42! 1
3! (14!)

(Division by 3! is required since the order of groups doesnt matter. Thus, a particular
order of 15-card groups, say ABC, is, for example, the same as ACB)
Thus, the required number of ways is
52
10 3
42! 1
3! (14!)
C
3
52! 1
3! 10!(14!)

...(1)
(ii) For the second question where we have 4 players and we want to give them 10, 14, 14
and 14 cards, we already have obtained the number of possible division in (1). To distribute
the subsets, each division of 4 sets can be given to the 4 players in 4! ways. Thus, the
number of distributions of the 4 subsets is
( )
3 3
52! 1 4 52!
4!
3! 10!(14!)
10! 14!

We can also look at this current problem in the following way. We want to distribute the
52 cards to the 4 players in sets of 10, 14, 14 and 14.
We first decide which guy to give the set of 10 cards. This can be done in 4 ways. Now
we choose 10 cards for him (in possibly
52
10
C ways). The other three players will now
get the remaining 42 cards equally. We can select 12 cards for one of them in
42
14
C
ways.
The third one can get another 14 cards in
28
14
C
ways and finally the fourth one gets the
remaining 14 cards.
Thus, the number of possible ways of distribution is
52 42 28
10 14 14
4 C C C
3
52!
10! (14!)
4

(iii) Finally, we now have two sets of one size and two of another size. We first just carry out
the division into subsets, without assigning any subset to any player.
This can be done in

52 40 28 14
12 12 14 14
Group A of Group B of Group C of Group D of
Groups A and Groups C and
12 cards 12 cards 14 cards 14 cards
B are of the D are of the
same sizer same sizer
1 1
2! 2!
C C C C

! ! !
( )
2 2 2
52! 1
(12!) (14!)
2!

Once the division of the deck into the 4 subsets has been accomplished, we assign a
subset to each of the 4 players. This can be done in 4! ways.
Therefore, the possible number of ways of distribution of the cards to the 4 players is
( )
2 2 2
52! 1
4!
(12!) (14!)
2!

Example 15 CIRCULAR PERMUTATIONS
In this example, we talk about circular permutations, i.e., arrangements in a circular fashion
(a) In how many ways can n people be seated around a circular table?
(b) We have a group of 5 men and 5 women. In how many ways can we seat this group around a
circular table such that:
(i) all the 5 women sit together (ii) no two women sit together.
(c) In how many ways can a necklace be formed from n different beads?
Solution: Circular permutations are somewhat different from linear permutations. Lets see why.
Consider the letters A, B, C and D. The 4 linear permutations ABCD, BCDA, CDAB and DABC
correspond to a single circular permutation as shown in the figure below:

In a circular permutation, only the relative
ordering of the symbols matters.
The 4 linear permutations ,
and all have the same
relative ordering so that they correspond to
a single circular permutation.
ABCD BCDA,
CDAB DABC
Fig - 10
A
B
C
D
This means that the number of circular permutations of ABCD is only
4!
3! 6
4

(a) We have n people, say
1 2
, ............ .
n
P P P As just described, n linear permutations of these
people will correspond to a single circular permutation as depicted in the figure below:
1 2
2 3 1
3 4 1 2
1 2
1 2 1
...............
...............
...............
...........
:
:
:
:
...............
linear permutations
a single circular permutation
correspond to
because of
n
n
n
n n n
PP P
P P P P
PP PP
PP P
P P P P
n

the same relative

ordering.
Thus, the number of circular permutations is
!
( 1)!
n
n
n

We can also arrive at this number in another way. We take a particular person, say
1
P, and
seat him anywhere on the table. Once
1
' P s seat becomes fixed, the rest of the (n 1) seats
bear a fixed relation to
1
' P s . In other words, once
1
' P s seat becomes fixed, we can treat the
(n 1) seats left as a linear row of (n 1) seats. Thus, the remaining (n 1) people can be
seated in (n 1)! ways.
(b) Let the 5 women be represented by
1 2 3 4 5
, , , , and W W W W W and the 5 men by
1 2 3 4 5
, , , , and M M M M M . Since we need all the women to sit together, we first treat all the
5 women as a single entity W. Now, the 5 men and the entity W can be seated around the table
in ( ) (5 1) 1 ! + ways, i.e., 120 ways.
(i) Once the 5 men and the entity W have been seated, we now permute the 5 women inside
the entity W. This can be done in 5! = 120 ways. The total number of ways is thus
120 120 = 14400
M
1
W
1
M
3
M
4
M
5
First seat the 5 men
and the entity W
Then permute the women
inside the entity . W
(i)
(ii)
Fig - 11
W
2
W
3 W
4
W
5
The entity W
M
2
(ii) Since we want no two women to sit together, we first seat all the 5 men, which can be
done in (5 1)! = 24 ways. Seating the 5 men first creates 5 non-adjacent seats where the
women can then be seated in 5! = 120 ways.

M
1
M
2
M
3
M
4
M
5
First seat the 5 men,
4! ways are possible
Then seat the 5 women
in the 5 spaces created
as shown in the figure
5! ways are possible
(i)
(ii)
Fig - 12
The total number of ways is this 5! 4!.
(c) The situation of a necklace is slightly different than that of seating people around a circular
table. The reason is as follows:
Suppose we have 5 beads A, B, C, D and E. Consider two circular necklaces of these 5
beads

A A
B B E E
C C D D
Necklace-1 Necklace-2
Fig - 13
Are these two necklaces different? No, because a-necklace can be worn from both ways.
Necklace-2 is the same as necklace-1 if I look into it from the other side of the page. In other
words, for a necklace, a clockwise permutation and its corresponding anti-clockwise
permutation are identical. Thus, the number of circular permutations would reduce by a factor
of two, i.e., the number of different necklaces possible is
1
( 1)!.
2
n

TRY YOURSELF - I
Q. 1 How many words can be made with the letters of the word TECHNOLOGY which do not begin
with T but end with Y ?
Q. 2 In how many ways can the letters of the word CINEMA be arranged so that the order of vowels do
not change?
Q. 3 How many sides are there in a polygon which has 35 diagonals?
Q. 4 In how many ways can 6 boys and 4 girls sit in a row so that no boy is between two girls?
Q. 5 How many words can be made with the letters of the word BHARATI so that all the vowels are
consecutive?
Q. 6 Let n N and 300 < n < 3000. If n is made of distinct digits by taking from 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 then find
the greatest possible number of values of n.
Q. 7 How many words can be made with the letters of the word INSTITUTION such that vowels and
consonants alternate?
Q. 8 How many different committees of 5 members can be formed from 6 men and 4 ladies if each
committee is to contain at least one lady?
Q. 9 Six Xs are to be placed in the squares of the given figure, such that each row contains at least one X.
In how many different ways can this be done?
Q. 10 In how many ways can 16 identical mangoes be distributed among 4 persons if none gets less than 3
mangoes?
Section - 5 Section - 1 MORE APPLICATIONS
By now, you should have a pretty good idea about the basics of permutations and combinations. In this
section, we will encounter more advanced problems.
All the questions discussed in the following pages are directly or indirectly based on the concepts already
discussed in the previous sections. In case you find anything confusing, refer to the relevant parts again.
Example 16
On a standard 8 8 chessboard, find the
(a) number of rectangles (b) number of squares
Solution: (a) Visualise any arbitrary rectangle on the chessboard, say the one depicted on the left in the
figure below:

P
Q
An arbitrary rectangle on the
chessboard. How to specify
this rectangle is explained
in the figure on the right
To mathematically characterise the rectangle that
we selected, we specify the pair of vertical edges
and and the pair of horizontal edges and .
Doing so uniquely determines the rectangle
X Y P Q
X Y
As explained in the figure above, any rectangle that we select can be uniquely determined by
specifying the pair of lines X and Y that make up the vertical edges of the rectangle and the pair
of lines P and Q that make up the horizontal edges of the rectangle.
On the chessboard, there are 9 vertical lines available to us from which we have to select 2.
This can be done in
9
2
C ways. Similarly, 2 horizontal lines can be selected in
9
2
C ways. Thus,
the total number of rectangles that can be formed is
9 9
2 2
1296 C C .
(b) To select a square, observe that the pair of lines X and Y must have the same spacing within X
and Y as the pair of lines P and Q. Only then can the horizontal and vertical edges of the
selected rectangle be of equal length (and thus, the selected rectangle is actually a square).
In how many ways can we select a pair (X, Y) of lines which are spaced a unit distance apart
? Its obviously 8. Corresponding to each of these 8 pairs, we can select a pair (P, Q) of lines
in 8 ways such that P and Q are a unit distance apart. Thus, the total number of unit squares is
8 8 = 64 (This is obvious otherwise also). Now we count the number of 2 2 squares. In
how many ways can we select a pair (X, Y) of lines which are 2 units apart ? A little thought
shows that it will be 7. Corresponding to each of these 7 pairs, we can select a pair (P, Q) of
lines in 7 ways such that P and Q are 2 units apart. Thus, the total number of 2 2 squares
is 7 7 = 49.
Reasoning this way, we find that the total number of 3 3 squares will be 6 6 = 36, the total
number of 4 4 squares will be 5 5 = 25 and so on.
Thus, the total number of all possible squares is
7 7 8 8 1 1squares 2 2 3 3
squares squares squares squares
64 49 36 ........... 4 1 204

+ + + + +

Example 17
Consider an n-sided convex polygon.
(a) In how many ways can a quadrilateral be formed by joining the vertices of the polygon ?
(b) How many diagonals can be formed in the polygon?
Solution: (a) Observe that a selection of any 4 points out of the n vertices of the quadrilateral will give rise
to a unique quadrilateral (since the polygon is convex, the problem of our selection containing
all or 3 collinear points does not exist). 4 points out of n can be selected in
4
n
C ways. Thus,
we can have
4
n
C different quadrilaterals.
(b) To form a diagonal, we need 2 non-adjacent vertices ( because 2 adjacent vertices will form
a side of the polygon and not a diagonal). The total number of ways of selecting 2 vertices out
if n is
2
n
C . This number also contains the selections where the 2 vertices are adjacent. Those
selections are simply n in number because the polygon has n sides. Thus, the total number of
diagonals is

2
n
C n
( 1)
2
n n
n

( 3)
2
n n

Example 18
Give a combinatorial (logical) justification for this assertion:
1 2 1
0 1 2
...
n n n n r n r
r r
C C C C C
+ + + + +
+ + + +
Solution: The right hand side tells us that we have to select r persons out of a group of
1 n r + +
persons. To
do so, we consider any particular group of r persons from these
1 n r + +
persons. Specify these
r persons by the symbols
1 2
, ...
r
A A A .
Now, to count all the possible r-groups from this group of 1 n r + + , we consider the following
mutually exclusive cases:
(1) The r -group does not contain A
1
Such r-groups can be formed in
n r
r
C
+
ways since we have to select r people out of n + r.
(2) The r -group contains A
1
but not A
2
We have to select (r 1) people out of ( 1) n r + because we already have selected
1
A
so we need only r 1 more people and since we are not taking
2
A , we have ( 1) n r +
people to choose from. This can be done
1
1
n r
r
C
+
ways.
(3) The r -group contains A
1
, A
2
but not A
3
We now have to select (r 2) people out of ( 2) n r + . This can happen in
2
2
n r
r
C
+
ways. Proceeding in this way, we arrive at the last two possible cases.

'
(r) The r -group contains A
1
, A
2
... A
r 1
but not A
r
.
We need to select only 1 person out of (n + 1) available for selection. This can be done in
1
1
n
C
+
ways.
(r + 1)The r-group contains A
1
, A
2
... A
r
In this case, our r-group is already complete. We need not select any more person. This
can be done in
0
n
C or equivalently 1 way.
Convince yourself that these (r + 1) cases cover all the possible cases that can arise in the formation
of the r - groups. Also, all these cases are mutually exclusive. Thus, adding the number of possibilities
of each case will give us the total number of r-groups possible, i.e.
1 2 1 1
0 1 2 1
...
n n n n r n r n r
r r r
C C C C C C
+ + + + + +
+ + + + +
Example 19
How many distinct throws are possible with a throw of n dice which are identical to each other, i.e. indistinguishable
among themselves ?
Solution: The important point to be realised here is that the dice are totally identical. Suppose we had just
2 dice, say die A and die B. Suppose that, upon throwing these dice, we get a two on A and a
three on B. This case would be the same as the one where we get a three on A and a two
on B because we cannot distinguish between A and B. What we are concerned with is only what
numbers show up on the top of the dice. We are not concerned with which die shows what
number. This means that if we have n dice and we throw them, we are only concerned with how
many ones, twos, threes etc show on the top faces of the dice; we are not at all interested in
which die throws up what number.
If we denote the number of ones we get by
1
x , number of twos we get by
2
x and so on, we
will have
1 2 6
... x x x n + + +
Thus, the total number of distinct throws will be simply the number of non-negative solutions to this
integral equation.
As discussed earlier, this number will be
6 1 5
6 1 5
n n
C C
+ +
.
What would be the number of distinct throws if the n dice were not identical?
Example 20
Give combinatorial arguments to prove that
1
1
2
n
n n
r
r
r C n

Solution: Let us first interpret what the left hand side of this assertion says.
Suppose we have a group of n people. We select a sub-group of size r from the group of n
people. This can be done in
n
r
C ways. Once the sub-group has been formed, we select a leader
of that sub-group, and send that sub-group on an excursion. The leader can be selected in r ways.
Thus, the total number of different ways in which an r - group can be formed with a unique leader
is
n
r
r C .
Now r can take any integer value from 1 to n, i.e. 1 r n . Thus, the total number of all possible
sub-groups, each sub-group being assigned a unique leader, will be
0
n
n
r
r
r C
which is the left

hand side of our assertion.
To prove this equal to the right hand side, we count the sub-groups from a different angle. We
count all those sub-groups in which a particular person, say A, is the leader.
Since A is the leader, A is fixed in our sub-group. For each of the remaining (n 1) people, we
have two options. We either put the person in the group led by A or we dont. Thus, the total
number of sub-groups in which A is the leader will be
1
( 1) times
2 2 2 ... 2 2
n
n

"##$##%
Since any of the n persons can be the leader, and under each persons leadership,
1
2
n
groups can
be formed, the total number of sub-groups, each sub-groups under some unique persons leadership
is
1
2
n
n

. This proves our assertion that
1
1
2
n
n n
r
r
r C n

Example 21
A composition of a natural number N is a sequence of non-zero integers {a
1
, a
2
.......... a
k
} which add up to N.
How many compositions of N exist?
Solution: Let us make the question more clear by taking a particular example for N, say N = 4.
As described in the question, the compositions of N = 4 will be
{ } { } { } { } { } 4 , 1, 3 , 2, 2 , 3,1 , 1,1, 2 , { } { } { } 1, 2,1 , 2,1,1 and 1,1,1,1 which are 8 in number.
Observe carefully the compositions listed out. How can we characterize each of these compositions
mathematically? Recall the problem of finding the number of non-negative solutions of the integral
equation
1 2
....... + + +
n
x x x r where each solution corresponded to a unique permutation of r
1 symbols and n - 1
" "
symbols. Can we do something like that here? In other words, can we
represent each composition in another form whose permutations are easier to count?
It turns out that we can, as follows:
{4} = 1 1 1 1
{1, 3} = 1 + 1 1 1
{3, 1} = 1 1 1 + 1
{2, 2} = 1 1 + 1 1
{1, 1, 2} = 1 + 1 + 1 1
{1, 2, 1} = 1 + 1 1 + 1
{2, 1, 1} = 1 1 + 1 + 1
{1, 1, 1, 1} = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1
On the right hand side, we have 4 1s and thus 3 blank spaces between the 4 1 s. We can insert
+ signs in these blank spaces; each different arrangement of + signs in these blank spaces will
correspond to a different composition.
To count the number of these arrangements, we proceed as follows: For each blank space, we
have 2 options, we can either insert or not insert a + sign into that space. There are 3 blank
spaces; so the total number of all arrangements of + signs in the 3 blank spaces is 2 2 2 = 8
(which is the number of compositions we already listed out).
In the general case, we will have (N 1) blank spaces and 2 options for each such blank space.
Thus, the total number of ways in which we can arrange + signs in these blank spaces, and
therefore, the total number of compositions, will be
( )
1
1 times
2 2 2 ........2 2

"##$##%
N
N

Example 22
Prove logically the following assertion:
0
2 3
n
k n n
k
k
C
Solution: Suppose that we have to form a string of length n, consisting of only letters from the set {A, B, C}.
Thus, we have 3 options to fill any particular place in the string: We fill that place with either A, B
or C. Thus the total number of different strings of length n would be
times
3 3 3 ........ 3 3
"##$##%
n
n
We now approach the task of formation of these strings from a different perspective.
Suppose that our string contains a total of r A s. How many such strings will exist? We first
select r places out of n which we will fill with A. This can be done in
n
C
r
ways. For each of the
remaining (n r) places, we have two options; we either fill it with B or C. Thus, the number
of strings containing r A s will be
n
C
r
.2
nr
.
Now we vary r from 0 to n and thus get the total number of strings as
( )
0 0
2 2 where
n n
n n r n k
r n k
r k
C C k n r

0
2
n
n k
k
k
C

( )
since
n n
n k k
C C

Thus,
0
2 3
n
n k n
k
k
C

Example 23
Prove logically the following assertion:
1 2 1
1
......
n n n r n
r r r r r
C C C C C
+
+
+ + + +
Solution: The right hand side says that we have to select (r + 1) people out of a group of (n +1).
To do so, we list down the following (mutually exclusive) cases which exhaust all the possible
cases:
(1) The group contains A
1
:
n
r
C ways
(since we have to select r people more
apart from A
1
from n that are available
for selection)
(2) The group does not contain :
1 n
r
C ways
A
1
but contains A
2
apart from A
2
from (n 1) that are
available for selection)
(3) The group does not contain A
1
and A
2
:
2 n
r
C ways
but contains A
3
apart from A
3
from (n 2) that are
available for selection)

'
(n r) The group does not contain :
1 r
r
C
+
ways
A
1
,

A
2
....... A
nr1
but contains A
nr
(since we have to select r people
more apart from A
nr
from the (r + 1)
that are available for selection
(n r + 1) The group does not contain :
r
r
C ways (since we have to select r

1 2
, ...
n r
A A A

but contains
1 n r
A
+
more people apart from
1 n r
r
+
from the
remaining r that are available for
selection)
Convince yourself that all these cases are mutually exclusive and exhaust all the possibilities. Thus,
the total number of (r + 1) - groups from (n + 1) people is

1 1 2
1
...
n n n n r
r r r r r
C C C C C
+
+
+ + + +
Example 24
Consider n points in a plane such that no three of them are collinear. These n points are joined in all possible
ways by straight lines. Of these straight lines so formed, no two are parallel and no three are concurrent. Find
the number of the points of intersection of these lines exclusive of the original n points.
Solution: To gain more insight into the problem, let us consider the case when n = 4.
Fig - 15
A
B
1
C
3
D
2
We originally have 4 points in the plane labelled as A, B, C and D. When we draw all the straight
lines possible (by joining every possible pair of points), we see that 3 new intersection points are
generated, labelled as 1, 2 and 3.
As we now discuss the general case, refer to this figure for help.
Since we have n points, the number of straight lines that can be generated is equal to the number
of pairs of points that can be selected from n points, which is equal to
2
n
C . Every pair of straight
lines so generated will intersect at some point. Thus, the total number of intersection points if we
count this way should be equal to the number of pairs of straight lines possible from the
2
n
C lines,
which is
2
( )
2
n
C
C
.
However, observe that in this number, the original intersection points have also been counted, and
that too multiple times. Lets determine how many times a particular point, say A has been counted.
(n 1) lines pass through A. Thus
1
2
n
C
pairs of straight lines are possible from these (n 1) lines.

Thus, A has been counted
1
2
n
C
times. This means that the n original points have been counted
1
2
n
n C
times.
To calculate the new intersection points, we subtract this number from the (supposed) number of
intersection points we obtained earlier.
Thus, the actual number of new intersection points is

2
( ) 1
2 2
n
C n
C n C

( 1) ( 1)
1
( 1)( 2) 2 2
2 2
n n n n
n n n
_

,

2
( 1)( 2) ( 1)( 2)
8 2
n n n n n n n

2
( 1){( 2) 4( 2)}
8
n n n n n
2
( 1)( 5 6)
8
n n n n +
( 1)( 2)( 3)
8
n n n n
Verify that this formula works for n = 4

Example 25
How many 4 letters strings can be formed from the letters of the work INEFFECTIVE ?
Solution: Observe that some letters repeat more than once:

Letter E F I C T V N
Frequency 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
This means that our string of 4 letters could contain repeated letters. (Its thus obvious that we
cannot straightway use
n
r
P to evaluate the number of strings.
In such a case, we divide the types of strings that we can form into different mutually exclusive
cases:
Case 1: All 4 letters are different
In this case, we have 7 letters to choose from and we have to arrange them in 4
places. The number of such strings will be
7
4
840 P
Case 2: 2 letters are same, the other 2 are different
We have 3 types of letters (E, F and I) that can be repeated twice. Thus, the twice-
repeated letter can be selected in 3 ways. Once that is done, the rest of the 2 letters
can be selected from amongst the remaining 6 options in
6
2
15 C ways. Once we
ve formed the combination of the 4 letters we can permute them in
4!
12
2!

ways. The
2! occurs in the denominator because of the twice-repeated letter.
Thus, the total number of such strings will be 3 15 12 540 .
Case 3: 2 letters are the same, the other 2 are also the same
For example, the string EFEF will be such a string.
There are 2 letters now that we want to be twice-repeated; observe that there are
only 3 types of letters (E, F and I) that can be twice repeated. Thus, the letters that will
occur in the string can be selected in
3
2
3 C ways. Once that is done, we can
permute the 4 letters in
4!
6
2!2!
ways.
The total number of such strings is therefore 3 6 = 18.
Case 4: 3 letters are the same, the 4
th
is different
Only E can be repeated thrice so that E must occur in this string. The 4
th
letter can
be selected in 6 ways. Then, the combination so formed can be permuted in
4!
4
3!

ways.
The number of such strings is 6 4 = 24.
Verify that these four cases are mutually exclusive and they exhaust all the possibilities.
The total number of strings is 840 + 540 + 18 + 24 = 1422
Example 26
(a) In how many ways can 3 girls and 9 boys be seated in 2 vans, each having numbered seats with 3 seats
in the front and 4 seats at the back?
(b) How many seating arrangements are possible if 3 girls should sit together in a back row on adjacent
seats?
Solution: (a) We have 12 people to seat and 14 available seats. We first select the 12 seats on which to seat
these people. This can be done in
14
12
C ways.
Once that is done, we can permute the 12 people amongst these 12 seats in 12! ways.
Thus, the total number of seating arrangements is
14
12
12! C .
(b) Since the 3 girls need to be seated together in one back row, we first select the back row. This
can be done in 2 ways since there are 2 vans. In this row, 3 adjacent seats can be selected in
2 ways.
selection of 3 adjacent seats
can be done in 2 ways.

"#$#% "#$#%
In the 3 adjacent seats, the 3 girls can be permuted in 3! ways.
Thus, the girls can be seated in 223! = 24 ways. We now have 11 remaining seats. The 9
boys can be seated in these 11 seats in
11
9
P ways.
Thus, the total number of ways to seat the entire group is

11
9
11!
24 24 12 11! 12!
2!
P
.
Example 27
We have 3n objects, of which n are identical and the rest are all different. In how many ways can we select n
objects from this group ?
Solution: To select n objects, we select k objects from the identical ones and the remaining (n k) from the
different ones. ( k will vary from 0 to n) As discussed somewhere earlier, from the group contain-
ing identical objects, there will always be only 1 way of selection. From the group of 2n non-
identical objects, (n k) objects can be selected in
2n
n k
C

ways.
Thus, the group of n objects containing k identical objects and the remaining (n k) as non-
identical objects can be formed in
2 2
1
n n
n k n k
C C

ways. The total number of ways is S where

2 2 2 2
1 0
0
...
n
n n n n
n k n n
k
S C C C C

+ +
A closed-form expression for S can be obtained by the following manipulation :

2 2 2
1 0
2 2( ... )
n n n
n n
S C C C
+ + +

2 2 2
1 0
2 2 2
1 0
...
...
n n n
n n
n n n
n n
C C C
C C C
+ + +

+
' ;

+ + +


2 2 2
1 0
2 2 2
1 2
...
...
n n n
n n
n n n
n n n
C C C
C C C
+
+ + +

+
' ;

+ + +

2 2
2
For all the terms in the
lower row, we can use
n n
r n r
C C

_

,

2 2 2 2 2
0 1 2 2
( ... )
n n n n n
n n
C C C C C + + + + +

2 2
2
n n
n
C + (This step uses the result of example - 7)

2 2 1
1
2
2
n n
n
S C

+
Example 28
5 balls are to be placed in 3 boxes. Each box can hold all the 5 balls. In how many ways can we place the balls
into the boxes so that no box remains empty, if
(a) balls and boxes are all different
(b) balls are identical but boxes are different
(c) balls are different but boxes are identical
(d) balls as well as boxes are identical
(e) balls as well as boxes are identical, but the boxes are kept in a row.
Solution: One of the constraints that should always be satisfied is that no box should remain empty. Thus,
each box should get at least one ball. This means that the distribution of balls can have the
configuration ( 1, 1, 3) or (1, 2, 2). Only in these two configurations does no box remain empty.

Readers might observe some similarity between this problem and Example - 14
where we discussed division of a deck of cards into groups. Observe carefully
which part in this problem corresponds to which case in Example - 14

' ;

(a) In this case, the balls and the boxes are all different. If you observe carefully, you will note that
this case is equivalent to dealing cards to players. Here, we are dealing balls (all different) into
boxes (all different). In the card game, we were dealing cards (all different) to players
(all different).
Suppose we distribute the balls in the configuration (3, 1, 1). We first divide the group of balls
into this configuration. This can be done in
5
3
C ways since we just need to select a group of 3
balls and our division will be accomplished. Once the division of the group of balls into 3-
subgroups in the configuration (3, 1, 1) has been done, we can permute the 3 sub-groups
among the 3 different boxes in 3! ways.
Thus, the number of ways to achieve the (3, 1, 1) configuration is
5
3
3! 60 C
We now find the number of ways to achieve the (1, 2, 2) configuration .
We first select 2 balls out of the 5 which can be done in
5
2
C ways. We then select 2 balls from
the remaining 3, which can be done in
3
2
C ways. Thus simple division into the configuration
(2, 2, 1) can be achieved in
5 3
2 2
2!
C C
ways. Division by 2! is required since two subgroups
are of the same size and right now we are just dividing into sub groups so the order to the sub-
groups doesnt matter. Once division has been accomplished, we permute the 3 subgroups so
formed amongst the 3 different boxes is 3! ways.
Thus, the number of ways to achieve the (2, 2, 1) configuration is
5 3
2 2
3! 90
2!
C C

The total number of ways is 60 + 90 = 150
To make things more clear, let us list down in detail the various configurations possible for the
3 different boxes, A, B & C:

Box - A Box - B Box - C Number of ways
1 1 3 20
1 3 1 20
3 1 1 20
1 2 2 30
2 1 2 30
2 2 1 30
Total:150
(b) The balls are now identical so it doesnt matter which ball goes into which box. What matters
is only the configuration of the distribution.
By simple enumeration, only 6 configurations exist for this case. (The notation [a, b, c] implies
that Box - A has a balls, Box - B has b balls and Box - C has c balls.)
[ ] [ ] [ ] 1,1, 3 1, 3,1 3,1,1
[ ] [ ] [ ] 1, 2, 2 2,1, 2 2, 2,1
Thus, 6 possible ways exist for this case
(c) The boxes are identical. This means that it does not matter which sub-group of balls you put in
which box. What matters is only the division of the group of balls. This case is akin to the one
where you have to divide a deck of cards into sub-groups. (you arent required to distribute
those sub-groups to players).
For the configuration (1, 1, 3), the number of ways of division is
5
3
10 C (we just choose 3
balls out the 5 and the division is automatically accomplished. For the configuration (1, 2, 2),
the number of ways of division is
5 3
2 2
15
2!
C C
(division by 2! is required since two

sub-groups are of the same size, and here the order of the group doesnt matter)
Thus, the total number of ways is 10 + 15 = 25
(d) This case is quite straightforward. The balls are identical. The boxes are identical too. The
only 2 possible configuration are (1, 1, 3) and (1, 2, 2). There can be no permutation of these
configurations since the boxes are indistinguishable. Thus, only 2 ways of division exist.
(e) If we keep the boxes in a row, we have inherently ordered them and made them non-identical,
since the boxes can be numbered now.
Therefore, in this case, the balls are identical but the boxes are different so this question
becomes the same as the one in part - (b)
Example 29 PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN
In the Caribbean Sea, 13 pirates, while plundering an English ship, come upon a chest full of gold. Since the
pirates have found the chest simultaneously, no one can claim the chest as his own.
To protect the chest from the avarices of the pirates, the pirate leader Captain Jack Sparrow suggests a
scheme. We must put a certain number of locks on this chest and distribute their keys amongst ourselves in
such a way that it can be opened only when 7 or more then 7 pirates decide to open it. In other words, only
when a majority of the 13 pirates agree should the chest be able to be opened.
How can this scheme be implemented? What would be the minimum number of locks required and how must
their keys be distributed?
Solution: This interesting problem can be easily solved by the application of the elementary concepts
developed in this chapter.
Let us rephrase our problem slightly.
We want that only a group of 7 or more pirates should be able to open the chest. This means that
whenever such a majority group decides to open the chest, they should have amongst themselves
the keys to all the locks on the chest.
Suppose on the other hand, that only 6 pirates decide to open the chest. Then there should be at
least one lock on the chest whose key(s) are not with anyone amongst that group of 6. Thus, that
single lock will prevent the minority group of 6 pirates from opening the chest.
This is the approach we now follow. For every possible group of 6 pirates, we put a lock on the
chest and distribute 7 keys of the lock amongst the remaining 7 pirates. That lock will prevent our
group of 6 pirates from opening the chest.
Such a lock will exist for every group of 6 pirates. Thus, whenever any group of 6 pirates decides
to open the chest, they will be prevented by one lock whose keys are with the other 7 pirates (the
case when even less than 6 pirates decide to open the chest is automatically solved because then
there will be more than one lock to prevent that group from opening the chest)
Also, whenever any group of 7 pirates decides to open the chest, there is no lock whose key is
not amongst one of the 7 members of that group. Thus, any group of 7 pirates (or more) will be
able to open the chest.
Thus, what we need to do is put ( )
13 13
6 7
C C locks on the chest and for each lock, we select a
group of 7 pirates, make 7 keys of that lock and give one key to each member of this group.
Example 30
Prove that (n!)! is divisible by (n!)
(n1)!
Solution: We can equivalently show that
( )
( )
( ) 1 !
! !
!
n
n
n

is an integer.
To keep things easier, let us take n = 6. Thus, we need to show that
( )
( )
5!
6! !
6!
is an integer. (You must
appreciate the magnitude of the numbers we are dealing with here!)
Consider the following sequence of symbols:

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 120 120 120 120 120 120
.................... a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
This is a sequence of symbols whose length is 720, because each symbol a
i
occurs 6 times in this
sequence and there are in total 120 symbols, and thus the total number of symbols is
6 120 = 720. Let us find the number of permutations of this string. Since there are 120 types
of symbols, each symbol being repeated 6 times, we will have to divide by 6! a total of 120 times,
i.e, the number of permutations of this string will be

( )
120 times
720 !
6! 6! 6! .......6!
"###$###%

( )
( )
5!
6! !
6!
Since the number of permutations of any string must obviously be an integer, the term
( )
( )
5!
6! !
6!
must be an integer!
We can now easily generalise this result.
Example 31
n persons are seated around a circular table. In how many ways can we select 3 persons such that no 2 of
them are adjacent to each other on the table?
Solution: We will solve this problem by first considering the total number of selections possible and then
subtracting from this, the number of cases where 2 persons or all the 3 persons are adjacent.
Observe the following figure for reference.
P
1
P
2
P
3
P
4
P
n
P
n-1
Fig - 16
The total number of ways of selecting 3 persons out of these n is
3
.
n
C
Let us count the cases where only 2 of the 3 persons are adjacent. 2 adjacent people can be
selected as follows:
{ } { } { } { }
1 2 2 3 3 4 1
or or ...............or
n
PP P P PP P P
Thus, there are n ways in which 2 adjacent persons can be selected. Once these 2 have been
selected (for example, say we select {P
2
P
3
}), we can select the third non-adjacent person in
(n 4) ways (since for example, if we selected {P
2
P
3
}, we cannot select P
1
or P
4
). Thus the
cases where only 2 of the 3 people are adjacent are n (n 4) in number.
We now count the cases where all 3 persons are adjacent. 3 persons can be adjacent in the
following manner:
{ } { } { }
1 2 3 2 3 4 1 2
or or ..................or
n
PP P P PP P PP
Thus, observe that there are n ways of selecting 3 persons who are adjacent.
Finally, the number of ways to select 3 persons such that no 2 are adjacent is
( )
3
4
n
C n n n

( )( )
( )
1 2
4
6
n n n
n n n

( )( )
1
4 5
6
n n n
Example 32
We have 21 identical balls available with us which we need to be distributed amongst 3 boys A, B and C such
that A always gets an even number of balls. How many ways of doing so are possible?
Solution: The only constraint is that A should get an even number of balls. Theres no constraint on the
minimum number of balls a boy should get. This means that a boy can also not be given any ball.
We can represent the number of balls given to A by 2x since A must get an even number of balls.
If we represent the number of balls given to B and C by y and z, we should have
2 21 x y z + + ... (1)
This means that to find the number of distributions possible, we find the number of non-negative
integral solutions to the equation (1).
Note that x can take a maximum value of 10 and a minimum value of 0.
We rearrange (1) so that we get an integral equation with y and z as variables, treating x as a
constant
21 2 y z x + .... (2)
The number of non-negative integer solutions of (2) is

21 2 2 1 22 2
1 1
22 2
x x
C C x
+

We now add the number of solutions so obtained for all the possible values of x. The total number
of solutions is therefore ( )
10
0
22 2 132.
x
x

Note: An alert reader must have noticed that we can form arbitrarily complex integer equations.
For example, what do we do if we intend to find out the number of non-negative integer
solutions to the equation

1 1 2 2
...........
n n
x x x r + +
where the '
i
s are integers that are not necessarily equal to unity.
In addition, what if we impose constraints on the
'
i
x s themselves say, we define an
upper and lower bound for x
i
, i.e

i i i
l x u
For example, how do we distribute 20 apples among 4 boys such that each boy gets more
than 2 apples but less that 8 apples, in addition to the constraint that one of the boys, say
A, must always get an even number of apples? Think about it. We will revisit the problem
of such general integral equations in Example - 39 and in the chapter on Binomial
Theorem. There well learn to solve such problems using the Multinomial theorem.
Example 33
Find the sum of the divisors of 120. Generalise the result for an arbitrary natural number N.
Solution: The divisors of 120 are listed out below:
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30, 40, 60, 120}
The sum of these divisors is 360. We have to determine an elegant way to deduce this sum
because we cannot repeat everytime the procedure of listing down all the factors and summing
them.
For this purpose, we again resort to the use of the prime factorization form.

3 ' 1
120 2 3 5
The sum of the divisors will be

0 3
0 1
0 1
2 3 5
i j k
i
j
k
S

This notation is simply a shorthand which implies that we vary the integral indices i, j and k (in their
respective allowed ranges) and this way we will have listed down all the factors and hence
evaluated the required sum.
To generate the expression for the sum S, we can alternatively use the following method:
( )( )( )
1 2 3 1 1
1 2 2 2 1 3 1 5 S + + + + +
Did you realize the trick? Writing S this way also gives rise to all the factors. You are urged to
convince yourself about this by expanding this expression and observing that all possible factors
will be generated.
Thus, S can now be simply evaluated as follows:
( ) ( ) ( )
1 2 3 1 1
1 2 2 2 1 3 1 5 S + + + + +

15 4 6

360
This is the same result that we got earlier!
To do the general case, assume that the prime factorization form of N is

1 2
1 2
........
n
n
N p p p

where the
'
i
are all positive integers and the
'
i
p s are all primes. The sum S
f
of all the factors will
be
( ) ( ) ( )
1 2
2 2 2
1 1 1 2 2 2
1 ..... 1 ..... ......... 1 .....
n
f n n n
S p p p p p p p p p

+ + + + + + + + + +
Example 34
Find the sum of all the five-digit numbers that can be formed using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 if no digit is
repeated.
Solution: This problem can be solved very easily if we view it from an individual digits perspective.
Suppose that we only consider the digit 4. How many numbers will there be with 4 in the units
place?
There are 24 numbers with 4 in the
units place because the remaining
four digits can be permuted among
the remaining 4 places in 4!=24 ways
4
4
4
'
'
From these 24 numbers, what is the total contribution of the digit 4 to the sum we are required
to calculate? Since 4 is at the units place and it occurs 24 times, its contribution will be
4 24 = 96
Similarly, there will be 24 numbers where 4 is at the tens place. The total contribution of 4
from these 24 numbers will be 4 240 = 960
Proceeding in this way, we see that the total contribution of the digit 4 from all the 120 numbers
that can be possibly formed is:
( ) 4 24 240 2400 24000 240000 + + + +
( ) 4 24 1 10 100 1000 10000 + + + +
4 24 11111
This is the contribution to the sum from only the digit 4. To calculate the entire sum S, we
calculate the contributions from all the five digits. Thus, the sum is
( ) 1 2 3 4 5 24 11111 S + + + +
= 3999960
Example 35 DEARRANGEMENTS
Find the number of ways in which 5 different letters can be taken out of their 5 addressed envelopes and put
back into the envelopes in such a way that all letters are in the wrong envelope.
Solution: The problem of rearranging objects so that each object is assigned to a place different from its
original place is referred to as the problem of dearrangments. Here, we need to find out the
number of dearrangements possible with 5 letters and 5 envelopes.
Let us denote by D
n
the number of dearrangements possible with n things. We will attempts a
general solution, that is for an arbitrary n, and then substitute n = 5
Denote by L
i
the i
th
letter and by E
i
, the original envelope of the i
th
letter.
Consider the envelope E
1
. It can be assigned a wrong letter in (n 1) ways. Suppose that we
assign the letter L
2
to E
1
.

1 2
1 2
............
............
n
n
E E E
L L L
(
The dearrangements that can now arise can be divided into two mutually exclusive classes:
(i) Those in which L
1
is assigned to E
2
(ii) Those in which L
1
is not assigned to E
2
If L
1
is assigned to E
2
, we have the following configuration:

1 2
1 2
............
............
n
n
E E E
L L L
(!
In this case, we have a remaining of (n 2) letters which can be dearranged in D
n2
ways.
Suppose the other case now, where we do not assign L
1
to E
2
. In this case, we have (n 1) letters
to dearrange (L
1
will also be counted as a letter to be dearranged since it is being assigned to an
envelope other than E
2
). This can be done in D
n1
ways.
Thus, if we give L
2
to E
1
, the total dearrangements possible are
1 2
.
n n
D D

+
Since E
1
can assigned a wrong letter in (n 1) ways, the overall total number of dearrangements
D
n
is
( )( )
1 2
1
n n n
D n D D

+
We have thus related the n
th
order 'dearrangementscoefficient' D
n
to lower order coefficients.
We now have to somehow use this relation to obtain D
n
only in terms of n. This is how we do it:
( )( )
1 2
1
n n n
D n D D

+
( )
( )
( )
1
1 1 2
1
n
n n n n
D nD D D

... (1)
But if we substitute ( ) 1 n n we get
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1 2 2 3
1 1 2
n n n n
D n D D n D

... (2)
We substitute (2) back into (1) to get

( ) ( ) ( )
2
1 2 3
1 2
n n n n
D nD D n D

( ) ( ) ( ) { }
3
3 4
By the same process 1 3
n n
D n D

'

( ) ( )
2
2 1
1 2
n
D D

It is obvious that D
1
= 0 since one letter cannot be dearranged while D
2
= 1 because two letters
can be dearranged in only one way : by exchanging them.
Thus,

( )
2
1
1
n
n n
D nD

... (3)
We still have not obtained a relation involving only D
n
. We do it using (3) repeatedly

( ) ( )
2
1
1 1
n n
n n
D nD

( )
( )
1
1
! 1 ! !
n
n n
D D
n n n
(Division by n!)
Now we substitute ( ) ( ) 1 , 2 n n n n .... successively and add the corresponding sides
of all the relations so obtained to get

( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
1 2 2
1
1 1 1 1
......
! 1! ! 1 ! 2 ! 2!
n n n
n
D D
n n n n

+ + + +

Since D
1
= 0, we finally get

( ) 1
1 1 1
! ........
2! 3! 4! !
n
n
D n
n
_
+

,

( ) 1
1 1 1
! 1 ...
1! 2! 3! !
n
n
n
_
+ +

,

1
The first two terms "1"and " "
1!
are just added to make the
series look more sequenced

' ;

This is the number of de arrangements possible with n things For n = 5, we have
5
1 1 1 1 1
D 5! 1
1! 2! 3! 4! 5!
_
+ +

,
= 44
Thus, there are 44 ways to rearrange the letters back into their envelopes so that each letter goes
to a wrong envelope.
Since n = 5 is a small number, we could have worked out an alternative solution as follows:

Total No. of arrangements -
No. of ways in which all letters go to
correct envelopes - No. of ways in
No. of dearrangemets
which one letter goes to incorrect envelope-
No. of ways in which two letters
go to incorrect
envelopes -.............................and so on

' ;

You are urged to work out the solution by this way yourself.
Example 36
Prove that for 4, n the sum 1! 2! 3! ... ! n + + + + cannot be the square of a positive integer.
Solution: The approach lies in realizing the general properties of a perfect square. Note that a square will
have, at its unit place, a digit from amongst the set {1, 4, 5, 6, 9}. It cannot have a 3 or an 8 as
its unit digit. Work it out yourself.
Now, for the given sum, the first four terms add to 33:
1! 2! 3! 4! 1 2 6 24 + + + + + +
= 33
For any integer greater than 4, its factorial will always have a 0 at its unit place. Can you see
why?
This means that the given sum will have a 3 at its unit place, so it cannot be a perfect square!
Example 37
A set P contains x elements while Q is another set which contains y elements. How many functions : f P Q
exist which are (a) one - one (b) onto?
Solution: Obviously, the total number of functions possible is
x
y
(a) If the function is to be one-one, y, the number of elements in the co-domain of f, must be
greater than or equal to x :
y x
In that case, the number of one-one functions will simply be ,
y
x
P since you are creating a
mapping from x elements in P to x elements in Q, out of a total y elements in Q.
(b) For the function to be onto, the only constraint that needs to be satisfied is that each element
in the co-domain Q must have a pre-image, which means that x must be greater than or equal
to y.
The remaining part is left to the reader as an exercise.
Example 38
Four non-identical dice are rolled simultaneously. How many rolls are possible in which 6 shows up on at least
one dice?
Solution: Its easiest to proceed by considering the complementary case:
Total number of rolls possible : 6
4
(Why ?)
Rolls in which no 6 shows up : 5
4
(Why ?)
Our answer is therefore 6
4
5
4
.
Now, a very important issue which we leave to you to resolve: what if the four dice were identical?
Example 39
In an examination, the maximum marks for each of three papers is n and that for the fourth paper is 2n. Find
the number of ways in which a candidate can get 3n marks.
Solution: We need to find the number of solutions to the non-negative integral solution
1 2 3 4
3 , x x x x n + + + ... (1)
where
1 2 3
, , x x x all lie in [0, n], while
4
x can vary upto 2 , n i.e.,
4
[0, 2 ], x n where all the
'
i
x s
are integers. Let us construct the polynomial ( ) P x given by
2 3 2
( ) (1 ... ) (1 ... )
n n
P x x x x x x x + + + + + + + +
Now, think hard ! The first bracket in ( ) P x is actually three identical brackets
2
(1 ... ).
n
x x x + + + +
When ( ) P x is expanded , each of these three brackets can contribute at the most an n
th
power
in x, whereas the fourth bracket can contribute upto 2n in powers of x.
When ( ) P x is expanded and the terms written out, note that
3n
x will also be formed. But what
will be the coefficient of
3
?
n
x It will be precisely the number of solutions to the equation (1) under
consideration !
Why ? Because, each time
3n
x is formed is a unique combination of power contribution from each
of the four brackets. For example,
2
3
2
Take Take 1 Take 1
Take
Product formed =
( ) (1 ... )(1 ... )(1 ... )(1 ... )
n
n
n
n n n n
x
x
x
P x x x x x x x x x

+ + + + + + + + + +
"##########$##########%
In this example, we take the term 1( or x
0
) from the first two brackets,
n
x from the third and
2n
x
from the fourth. This is a unique combination in which
3n
x
can be generated, but this is only one
such. There will be many more ways in which
3n
x can be generated. How many ? Precisely, the
coefficient of
3n
x when ( ) P x is expanded !
To find out the coefficient, youll have to wait until you are familiar with the Binomial / Multinomial
expansion.
Example 40
In how many ways can one fill an m n table with 1 t such that the product of the entries in each row and each
column equals 1?
Solution: Denote by
ij
a the entries in the table. For 1 1 i m and 1 1, j n we let 1
ij
a t in an
arbitrary way. This can be done in
( 1)( 1)
2
m n
ways. The values for
mj
a with 1 1, j n and for
in
a with 1 1, i m are uniquely determined by the condition that the product of the entries in
each row and each column equals 1. The value of
mn
a is also uniquely determined, but it is
necessary that
1 1
1 1
n m
mj in
j i
a a

(*)
If we denote by

1 1
1 1
m n
ij
i j
P a

we observe that

1
1
1
( 1)
n
n
mj
j
P a
and

1
1
1
( 1)
m
m
in
i
P a
Hence (*) holds if and only if m and n have the same parity.
CONCLUSION : A MAGIC TRICK
For those of you interested in cards, here is a very interesting card trick that has its basis in an elementary
application of this chapters concepts.
A magician sends out his assistant into the audience with a well-shuffled standard deck of cards. The assistant
asks 5 different people chosen at random from this audience to pick a card each from the deck. The magician
is on-stage and cannot see the cards drawn from the deck. The magician then asks the assistant to reveal
4 of the 5 drawn cards while keeping the fifth card secret.
The magician then thinks for a while and tells the audience the number and suit on the fifth secret card ! We
have to figure exactly how the assistant conveys the information about the fifth card to the magician. You can
assume that no one is cheating!
The trick explained
Somehow, the assistant has been able to convey information about the fifth card to the magician, even though
he reveals only 4 of the 5 cards. The information must be embedded in the order in which the assistant reveals
the 4 cards. Thus, the magician and assistant must have pre-decided on a scheme whereby the magician can
deduce the secret card from the order of the 4 revealed cards. Here is how this can be done.
Since 5 cards are drawn, at least 2 cards must be of the same suit. If there are more than 2 cards of the same
suit, the assistant simply chooses any 2 of them.
Now, one of these 2 cards will be revealed first by the assistant while the other card will become the secret
card. So, the magician knows from the suit of the first revealed card what the suit of the secret card is.
The first issue is that, of the 2 cards of the same suit, how does the assistant decide which one to reveal and
which one to keep secret?
For that, the assistant refers to the following diagram (mentally of course!):
A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
J
Q
K
Fig - 17
In this circular arrangement, observe that the difference between any two members is at the most 6. For
example, the difference between 7 and Q is 6 while that between J and 2 is 4
A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
J
Q
K
A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
J
Q
K
Fig - 18
4

s
t
e
p
s
6

s
t
e
p
s
Thus, of the 2 cards of the same suit, the assistant reveals that card from which it is possible to reach the other
card in at most 6 steps.
For example, if the assistant finds a J of Hearts and a 2 of Hearts in the 5 drawn cards, he will reveal the
J of Hearts first and keep the 2 of Hearts secret since in our circular arrangement it is possible to reach
from J to 2 in 4 steps.
Thus, till now the scheme is that the secret card is of the same suit as the first revealed card and lies within at
the most 6 steps from the first card, that is, the offset of the secret card from the first card is at the most 6.
We now require a scheme whereby the assistant can communicate the offset to the magician.
For this purpose, they pre-decide upon an order of all the 52 cards of the deck. For example, suppose they
order the deck like follows:

A of 2 of 4 of A of 3 of 2 of 3 of A of A of K of
clubs clubs clubs spades clubs spades spades hearts diamonds diamonds
1 2 3 4 ... 14 15 16 ... 27 ... 40 ... 52
Increasing order

Fig 19
Now, after the assistant has revealed the first card, he has 3 more cards to reveal. Those 3 cards can be
ordered according to the order of Fig 19. Thus, one of those 3 cards will be the smallest, one will be the
middle card and one will be the largest. Label the 3 cards as S, M and L.
To communicate the offset to the magician, the assistant reveals the 3 cards in a particular order as shown in
the table below
Offset Order in which the assistant reveals the 3 cards
1 S M L
2 S L M
3 M S L
4 M L S
5 L S M
6 L M S
Since the maximum offset can be 6, the 6 permutations of S, M and L cover all the possible offsets!
Once the offset is communicated, the magician simply adds it to the first card to deduce the fifth, secret card!
Let us try this out with a particular example. Suppose that the following 5 cards are drawn: A of spades 2
of Hearts 3 of clubs 7 of Hearts 8 of clubs.
The assistant picks 2 cards of the same suit. Here we have 2 options for the 2 cards. We can choose either.
Suppose the assistant chooses 2 of Hearts and 7 of Hearts. The offset of 7 from 2 is 5 which is less
than 6.
Therefore, 2 of Hearts is the first card that the assistant reveals.
To communicate the offset, the assistant orders the three other cards (to be revealed) according to Fig. 19 as
follows:
"3 of clubs" "8 of clubs" "A of spades"
S M L
< <
Since the offset required is 5, the assistant reveals these three cards (according to the Table on the previous
page) in the order L S M.
Thus, this is what the assistant says:
2 of Hearts
A of spades
3 of clubs
8 of clubs
The magician thinks for a while and says, The fifth card is the 7 of Hearts ! And the audience gasps!
P & C [ ASSIGNMENT ]
[ OBJECTIVE ]
LEVEL - I
Q. 1 The number of ways in which 4 balls can be selected from a bag containing 4 identical and 4 different
balls, is
(a) 120 (b) 80 (c) 14 (d) 16
Q. 2 The maximum number of intersection points of n straight lines, none of which are parallel to each other,
is
(a)
2
n
C (b)
2
n
P (c)
2
2
n
C
(d)
2
n
C n
Q. 3 There are 4 bulbs in a room. The number of ways of illuminating the room, is
(a) 16 (b) 15 (c) 24 (d) 4
Q. 4 There are n different books and each book has p copies. The number of selection of books from these
is
(a)
( ) 1 1
n
p + (b)
( ) 1 2
n
p + (c) ( ) 1 1 n p + (d) none of these
Q. 5 The value of
18 17 16 15 14
2 2 2 2 3
C C C C C + + + + is
(a)
17
3
C (b)
18
3
C (c)
19
16
C (d) none of these
Q. 6 The number of ways in which 6 men can be made to sit round a table in 6 numbered seats is
(a)
5!
(b)
6!
(c)
6 6!
(d) none of these
Q. 7 The number of diagonals that can be formed by joining the vertices of an n-sided polygon, is
(a)
2
n
C n (b)
3
n
P (c) ( ) 1 n n (d) ( )
2
1
n
C n +
Q. 8 The maximum number of intersection points of n circles, is
(a)
2
n
C (b)
2
n
P (c)
2
2
n
C
(d)
2
n
C n
Q. 9 In an examination there are 5 multiple choice questions. Each question has four choices of which only
one is correct. The number of ways in which an examinee can get at least one answer wrong, is
(a)
5
4 1
(b)
4
5 1 (c)
5!4! 1
(d)
5
4
1 C
Q. 10 The exponent of 4 in 200!, is
(a) 86 (b) 101 (c) 47 (d) 65
Q. 11 The number of different messages by signals with three dots and two dashes is
(a) 120 (b) 12 (c) 10 (d) 20
Q. 12 If
1
36, 84
n n
r r
C C
,
1
126
n
r
C
+
then the value of r is
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) none of these
Q. 13 Five persons including one lady are to deliver lectures to an audience. The organiser can arrange the
presentation of their lectures, so that the lady is always in the middle, in
(a)
5
5
P ways (b)
4
4
4. P ways (c)
4!
ways (d)
5
4
C ways
Q. 14 The number of ways in which a set A where n(A) = 12 can be partitioned in three subsets P, Q, R each
of 4 elements if P Q R A , , P Q , Q R R P , is
(a)
( )
3
12!
4!
(b)
( )
4
12!
3!
(c)
( )
3
12! 1
.
3!
4!
(d) none of these
Q. 15 In a test of 10 multiple-choice questions of one correct answer, each having 4 alternative answers, the
number of ways to put ticks at random for the answers to all the questions is
(a)
10
4
(b)
4
10
(c)
10
4 4 (d)
4
10 10
Q. 16 The number of positive integral solutions of the equation 50, x y z + + is
(a)
51
2
C (b)
50
3
C (c)
49
2
C (d)
48
3
C
Q. 17 The number of zeros at the end of 50!, is
(a) 17 (b) 5 (c) 12 (d) 47
Q. 18 The number of ways in which 9 different objects can be distributed to three different people giving 2,
2 and 5 objects to each of them, is
(a) 328 (b) 984 (c) 756 (d) 2268
Q. 19 If m parallel straight lines intersect n parallel straight lines, then the number of parallelograms thus
formed, is
(a)
n
m (b)
2
m n
C
+
(c) mn (d)
2 2
m n
C C
Q. 20 There are 2 points on a line, 3 points on another line and 4 points on yet another line. The total number
of triangles that can be formed by joining these points, is
(a) 30 (b) 205 (c) 79 (d) 85
[ LEVEL - II ]
Q. 1 The number of divisors of 1008 of the form 4 2( 0, n n n + N) , is
(a) 5 (b) 6 (c) 11 (d) 7
Q. 2 Numbers are formed using the digits 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4 all at a time. The number of such numbers
in which the odd digits occupy even places, is
(a) 162 (b) 175 (c) 180 (d) 160
Q. 3 The number of ways of distributing 10 different toys among 4 children C
1
, C
2
, C
3
, C
4
such that C
1
and
C
2
get 2 toys each and C
3
and C
4
get 3 toys each, is
(a)
( ) ( )
2 2
10!
2! 3!
(b)
( ) ( ) ( )
2 2 2
10! 4!
2! 3! 2!
(c)
( ) ( )
2 2
10 10
2 3
C C (d) none of these
Q. 4 There are n different colours and p balls of each colours. The number of ways in which one or more
than one ball can be chosen, is
(a)
( ) 1 1
p
n + (b)
( ) 1 1
n
p + (c) 1
p
n
C (d)
1
1
p
n
C
+
Q. 5 A four digit number is formed using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The total number of numbers which have at
least one digit repeated, is
(a) 625 (b) 500 (c) 120 (d) 505
Q. 6 The number of integral solutions of the equation ( )
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 , , 3 x x x x x x + + , is
(a)
( )
3
3! (b)
( )
3
9!
3!
(c)
11
3
C (d)
11
2
C
Q. 7 The number of natural numbers less than 2000 that can be formed using the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 without
repeating any digit, is
(a) 78 (b) 102 (c) 88 (d) 92
Q. 8 In the identify
( )( ) ( )
0
!
1 2 ...
n
k
k
A n
x k x x x x n
+ + + +
the value of
k
A is
(a)
n
k
C (b)
1
n
k
C
+
(c)
( ) 1 .
k
n
k
C (d)
( )
1
1
1 .
k
n
k
C
Q. 9 The number of times the digit 1 will occur in natural numbers less than 1000, is
(a) 250 (b) 300 (c) 350 (d) 450
Q. 10 The number of ways in which m prizes can be distributed among n players if each player can receive
any number of prizes, is
(a)
n
m
(b)
m
n (c)
m
n
C (d)
n
m
c
Q. 11 There are n identical seats (unmarked) around a circular table. The number of ways in which ( ) m m n <
people can be seated, is
(a) ( ) 1 ! m (b)
( )
( )
1 !
!
n
n m
(c) ( ) 1 ! n m + (d) ( ) 1 !
n
m
C m
Q. 12 The number of non-negative integral solutions of the equation 3 10 x y z + + , is
(a) 26 (b)
10 9
2 3
C C (c) 160 (d)
10!
2!3!
Q. 13 There are p points in space, no four of which are in the same plane with the exception of q points which
are all in the same plane. The number of different planes determined by the points is
(a)
( )( ) ( )( ) 1 2 1 2
6 6
p p p q q q
(b)
( )( ) ( )( ) 1 2 1 2
1
6 6
p p p q q q
+
(c)
( )( )( ) ( )( )( ) 1 2 3 1 2 3
1
24 24
p p p p q q q q
+
(d) none of these
Q. 14 The number of ways in which 8 candidates
1 2 3 8
, , ,....., A A A A can be ranked such that
3
A is always
comes before
4
A and
4
A always comes before
5
A , is
(a)
8
6
2 P (b)
8!
6
(c) 8! (d)
8!
3
Q. 15 The number of ways in which 8 candidates
1 2 8
, ,....., A A A can be ranked such that
4
A is always
above
5
A , is
(a)
8
6
2 P (b)
8
6
P (c) 8! (d)
8!
3
Q. 16 The number of triangles that can be formed from n points of which m are collinear, is
(a) ( )
3
n
C m n + (b)
3
n
C (c)
3 3
n m
C C (d)
3
n m
C
Q. 17 The number of ways in which a sum of 10 can be obtained by throwing a dice thrice, is
(a) 21 (b) 27 (c) 6 (d) 15
Q. 18 There are 6 identical blue balls and 6 identical red balls. The number of ways in which 6 balls out of the
given 10 balls can be arranged in a row such that the number of blue balls is equal to the number of red
balls, is
(a) 6 (b) 64 (c) 20 (d) 9
Q. 19 The sum of the digits in the units place of all numbers formed with the digits 1, 1, 2, 3 when taken all at
a time, is
(a) 21 (b) 17 (c) 32 (d) 28
Q. 20 If n objects are arranged in a row, then the number of ways of selecting three of these objects so that
no two adjacent object is selected, is
(a)
3 2
n n
C C (b)
( )
3
!
3!
n
(c)
3
n
C (d)
2
3
n
C

[ SUBJECTIVE ]
Q. 1 A letter lock consists of 4 rings each marked with 15 different letters. In how many ways is it possible
to make an unsuccessful attempt to open the lock?
Q. 2 Show that the greatest value of
2n
r
C for 0 2 r n is
2n
n
C
Q. 3 There are an unlimited number of identical balls of four different colors. How many arrangements of at
the most 8 balls in a row can be made by using them?
Q. 4 How many different numbers greater than 5000 can be formed with the digits 1, 2, 5, 9, 0 when
repetition of digits is not allowed?
Q. 5 A polygon has 44 diagonals. How may sides does it have?
Q. 6 There are m points on one straight line AB and n points on another straight line AC, none of them being
A. How many triangles can be formed with these points as vertices (excluding A)?
Q. 7 In how many ways can five different rings be worn in four fingers with at least one ring in each finger?
Q. 8 m men and n women are to be seated in a row so that no two women sit together. If m > n, show that
the number of ways in which they can be seated is
( )
( )
! 1 !
1 !
+
+
m m
m n
.
Q. 9 How many four digit numbers with distinct digits can be formed using the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 which
are
(a) divisible by 3? (b) divisible by 6?
Q. 10 How many words can be formed by taking 4 letters at a time out of the letters of the word
MATHEMATICS?
Q. 11 Find the total number of ways of selecting 5 letters from the letters of the word INDEPENDENT.
Q. 12 Two numbers a and b are chosen from the set {1, 2, 3, ....., 3n}. In how many ways can these integers
be selected such that
(a) a
2
b
2
is divisible by 3? (b) a
3
+ b
3
is divisible by 3?
Q. 13 What is the number of non-negative integral solutions of the equation
1 2 3 4
4 20? + + + x x x x
Q. 14 An exam consists of four papers. Each paper has a maximum of m marks. Show that the number of
ways in which a student can get 2m marks in the exam is
( )
2
1
2 4 3
3
+
+ +
m
m m
Q. 15 Find the total number of positive unequal integral solutions of the equation 20 + + + x y z w
Q. 16 In how many ways can 10 persons take seats in a row of 24 fixed seats so that no two persons take
consecutive seats?
Q. 17 There are 15 seats in a row numbered 1 to 15. In how many ways can 4 persons sit in such a way that
seat number 6 is always occupied and no two persons sit in adjacent seats?
Q. 18 In how many ways can 2n + 1 identical balls be placed in distinct boxes so that any two boxes
together will contain more balls than the third?
Q. 19 12 seats are to be occupied by 4 people. Find the number of possible arrangements if
(i) no two persons sit side by side.
(ii) there should be at least two empty seats between any two persons.
(iii) each person has exactly one neighbour.
Q. 20 The sides of a triangle are a, b, c inches where a, b, c are integers and a b c . If c is given, show
that the number of different triangles that can be formed is
( 2)
4
+ c c
if c is even and
2
( 1)
4
+ c
if c
is odd.
[ TRY YOURSELF - I ]
1. 161280 2. 120 3. 10 4. 120960 5. 360
6. 180 7. 1200 8. 246 9. 26 10. 35
SUBJECTIVE
1. 15
4
1 3. 87380 4. 48 5. 11 6. ( ) 2
2
mn
m n +
7. 480 9. 96, 52 10. 2454 11. 72 12.
2 2
5 3 3
,
2 2
n n n n
13. 536 15. 552 16.
15
10
P 17. 3072 18.
( )
1
2
n n +
19.
9 6 9
4 4 2
, , 4! P P C
[ ASSIGNMENT ]
LEVEL - II
1. b 2. c
3. a 4. b
5. d 6. d
7. d 8. c
9. b 10. b
11. b 12. a
13. b 14. b
15. d 16. c
17. b 18. c
19. a 20. d
OBJECTIVE
LEVEL - I
1. d 2. a
3. b 4. a
5. c 6. b
7. a 8. b
9. a 10. d
11. c 12. c
13. c 14. c
15. a 16. c
17. c 18. d
19. d 20. c
P & C / ANSWER
APPENDIX : BINOMIAL THEOREM
Binomial theorem is something that has been known to mathematicians since many centuries ago. In this
introduction, well trace the origins of this theorem to the coefficients we obtain when we expand any binomial
term raised to an integral power.
Consider the following expansions, which can be verified by direct multiplication:
( )
0
1 x y +
( )
1
x y x y + +
( )
2
2 2
2 x y x xy y + + +
( )
3
3 2 2 3
3 3 x y x x y xy y + + + +
( )
4
4 3 2 2 3 4
4 6 4 x y x x y x y xy y + + + + +
( )
5
5 4 3 2 2 3 4 5
5 10 10 5 x y x x y x y x y xy y + + + + + +
( )
6
6 5 4 2 3 3 2 4 5 6
6 15 20 15 6 x y x x y x y x y x y xy y + + + + + + +
'
and so on
Do you notice anything special about these expansions, in particular, any general rule or trend these expansions
follow that might enable us to expand
( )
n
x y + directly for a general n ? First of all, notice that the number of
terms in each expansion is one more than the power of the binomial term. For example,
( )
5
x y + has 6 terms.
However, mathematicians long back also realized another important fact, namely, the relation between the
coefficients obtained upon expansion. To see what this relation is, let us write the coefficients in the following
triangular pattern:
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
3 3
4 4
5 5 10 10
15 6 20
6
15 6
Fig - 20
n = 0
n = 1
n = 2
n = 3
n = 4
n = 5
n = 6
Do you observe any relation between the various coefficients. If not, consider this same arrangement in a
slightly modified form:
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 (1+1)
(1+2) (2+1)
(1+3) (3+1)
(1+4) (4+1) (6+4) (4+6)
(3+3)
Fig - 21
The rule for constructing this triangular pattern should be pretty obvious now. All edge-numbers are 1. Any
other is obtained by adding the number directly above and to the left with the number directly above and to the
right, as in Fig-34 Extending this process gives us all the binomial coefficients. This geometrical arrangement
of the binomial coefficients in a triangle is called Pascals triangle. The figure below shows a Pascal triangle
containing the coefficients upto n = 15.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
3 3
4 6 4
5 10 10 5
6 15 20 15 6
7 21 35 35 21 7
8 28 56 70 56 28 8
9 26 84 126 126 84 26 9
10 45 120 210 252 210 120 45 10
11 55 165 330 462 462 330 165 55 11
12 66 220 495 792 924 792 495 220 66 12
13 78 286 715 1287 1716 715 286 1716 1287 78 13
1 14 14 91 364 1001 2002 3003 3003 1001 3432 2002 364 91 1
Pascal's triangle,
upto = 15 n
Fig - 22
If we denote the (i + 1)
th
number at the n
th
level by T
n, i
, then we have
, 1 1, 1, 1 n i n i n i
T T T
+ +
+ ... (1)
Later on, when we actually write
, 1 n i
T
+
in terms of combinational notation (in fact, well see that
, 1 n i
T
+
corresponds to
n
i
C ), we will immediately understand that (1) is equivalent to
1 1
1
n n n
i i i
C C C

+
which, as we already know from the last chapter on P & C, is true.
Section - 1 Section - 1 BINOMIAL THEOREM, POSITIVE INTEGRAL INDEX
Let us now consider more formally the binomial theorem. We need to expand
( )
n
x y + , where x, y are two
arbitrary quantities, but n is a positive integer.
In particular, if we write
( ) ( )( )( ) ( ) ( ) ... times
n
x y x y x y x y x y n + + + + + ... (1)
we need to find out the coefficient of
i j
x y . Note that i j + must always equal n, so that we can write a
general term of the expansion (without the coefficient) as
r n r
x y

so that
0 r n
.
Now, to find the coefficient of
r n r
x y

, note that we need the quantity x, r times, while y is needed n r times.
Thus, in (1),
r n r
x y

will be formed whenever x is contributed by r of the binomial terms, while y is contributed
by the remaining n - r of the binomial terms. For example, in the expansion of
( )
5
x y + , to form
2 3
x y , we
need x from 2 terms and y from 3:
( ) ( )( )( )( )( )
5
x y x y x y x y x y x y + = + + + + +
take x
take y
One of the ways to form x y
2 3
Fig - 23
How many ways are there to form
2 3
x y ? In other words, how many times will
2 3
x y be formed? The number
of times
2 3
x y is formed is what is the coefficient of
2 3
x y . That number, which would be immediately obvious
to the alert reader, is simply
5
2
C . Why? Because this is the number of ways in which we can select any 2
binomial terms from 5. These 2 terms will contribute x. The remaining will automatically contribute y.
In the general case of
( )
n
x y + , we see that the coefficient of
r n r
x y

would be
n
r
C . (which is infact the same
as
n
n r
C

). Thus, the general binomial expansion is
( )
1 2 2
0 1 2
...
n
n n n n n n n n
n
x y C x C x y C x y C y
- -
+ = + + + +
( )
0
n
n
n n r r
r
r
x y C x y

The coefficients
n
i
C are called the binomial coefficients, for a reason that should now be obvious.
Note that the
( )
th
1 i + coefficient in this expansion is
n
i
C , which now explains the relation
, 1 1, 1, 1 n i n i n i
T T T
+ +
+
we observed in the Pascal triangle; this relation simply corresponds to
1 1
1
n n n
i i i
C C C

+
Also, the binomial coefficients of terms equidistant from the beginning and the end are equal, because we have
n n
r n r
C C

. The general term of expansion,
n n r r
r
C x y
, is the (r + 1)
th
term from the beginning of the expansion
and is conventionally denoted by
1 r
T
+
, i.e.
1
n n r r
r r
T C x y
+

Since we have (n + 1) terms in the general expansion, we see that if n is even, there will be an odd number of
terms, and thus there will be only one middle term, which would be
/ 2 / 2
/ 2
n n n
n
C x y . For example,
( )
4
4 3 2 2 3 4
onlyone
middleterm
4 6 4 x y x x y x y xy y + + + + +
On the other hand, if n is odd , then there will be an even number of terms in the expansion, and thus there will
be two middle terms, namely
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1
2 2
and
n n n n
n n
n n
C x y C x y
+ +

For example;

( )
5
5 4 3 2 2 3 4 5
Two middle terms
5 10 10 5 x y x x y x y x y xy y + + + + + +
Example 1
Find the middle term(s) in the expansion of
9
1
x
x
_

,
Solution: Since n = 9, there will be 10 terms in the expansion, which means that there will be 2 middle
terms in the expansion, the 5
th
and the 6
th
:
( )
4
9 4
9
5 4
1
126 T C x x
x
_

,
( )
9 5
9
6 5
5
1 126
T C x
x x
_

,
Example 2
Is there any term in the expansion of
10
2
2 1
5
x
x
_

,
that will be independent of x?
Solution: The general term in the expansion is

10
2
10
1
2 1
5
r r
r r
x
T C
x
+
_ _

, ,
( )
10
20 2
10
2
2
1
5
r
r
r
r
r
C x

_

,
( )
10
5
20
10
2
2
1
5
r
r
r
r
C x
_

,
Thus, for the term that is independent of x, we have
5
20 0
2
r

8 r
Thus, the term free of x is the 9
th
term given by
( )
2
8
10
9 8
2 36
1
5 5
T C
_

,
Example 3
Evaluate the sum
0 1 2
...
n n n n
n
C C C C + + + + .
Solution: We have already evaluated this sum in the chapter on P & C. That approach was as follows: this
sum basically counts the number of all sub-groups of a set of size n; this can also be counted by
focusing on each element of the set, which has two corresponding choices - you either include it
into your sub-group or you dont, which means that the total number of ways to form sub-groups
is 2 2 2 .... n times = 2
n
. The sum of the binomial coefficients therefore equals 2
n
.
Here, we evaluate the same sum using a binomial approach. Consider the following expansion:
( )
2 3
0 1 2 3
1 ...
n
n n n n n n
n
x C C x C x C x C x + + + + + +
If we put x = 1, we simply obtain
0 1 2
2 ...
n n n n n
n
C C C C + + +
Thus, the same result is obtainable from both a combinatorial and a binomial approach.
We can also derive another useful result by putting x = 1 in the above relation, so that we
obtain

( )
0 1 2 3
0 ... 1
n
n n n n n
n
C C C C C + + +
0 2 4 1 3 5
... ...
n n n n n n
C C C C C C + + + + + +
This states the sum of the even-numbered coefficients is equal to the sum of the odd-numbered
coefficients. Can you prove this using a combinatorial approach?
As an exercise, prove the following relations:

1 2
0 1 2
2 2 2 ... 3
n n n n n n n n
n
C C C C

+ + +

( ) ( )
2
0 1 2
... 1 1
n n
n n n n n
n
C C x C x C x x + +

( )
3 1 2
0 2 3
1
1
...
2 2 2 2 2
n
n n n n
n n
n n
C
C C C
C

+ + +
Example 4
(a) What is the greatest coefficient in the expansion of
( )
n
x y + ?
(b) What is the greatest term in the expression of
( )
n
x y + ?
Solution: (a) For this part, we basically need to only determine ( )
max for 0 ;
n
r
C r n x and y have
no role to play in this part.
To find the greatest coefficient, consider the following ratio:
( ) ( )
( )
1
!
1 ! 1 !
!
! !
n
r
n
r
n
r n r C
q
n
C
r n r
+
+

1
n r
r
+
Thus,
1 1
1
n r
q
r
> >
+
1 n r r > +
1
2
n
r

<
Similarly,
1 1
1
n r
q
r
< <
+

1 n r r < +

1
2
n
r

>
Thus,
1
1
1
whenever
2
1
and whenever
2
n n
r r
n n
r r
n
C C r
n
C C r
+
+

> <
< >
... (1)
If n is odd, we have

1 3
2 2
n n
n n
C C

>
and
3 1
2 2
n n
n n
C C
+ +
<
Also, since

1 1
2 2
n n
n n
C C
+
we see that for odd n, the two middle coefficients are the greatest. This can be verified by
considering the following expansion:
( )
5
5 4 3 2 2 3 4 5
The two middle coefficients are
the greatest for odd
5 10 10 5
n
x y x x y x y x y xy y + + + + + +
! (
If n is even, (1) gives

1
2 2
n n
n n
C C
>
and
1
2 2
n n
n n
C C
+
<
In this case therefore, the greatest coefficient is the single middle coefficient
2
n
n
C . Lets verify
this again:
( )
6
6 5 4 2 3 3 2 4 5 6
The single middle coefficient is
the greatest for even
6 15 20 15 6
n
x y x x y x y x y x y xy y + + + + + + +
!
(b) To find the greatest term, we must also consider x and y. We again follow the approach of
part (a):
1
1 1
1
n n r r
r r
n n r r
r r
T C x y
q
T C x y
+
+

( ) 1
.
n r
y
r x
+
Observe that
( ) 1
1 1
n r
y
q
r x
+
> >
( ) 1
0
n y
x y
r
x y r x
+ _ +
>
' ;
+
,
If
( ) 1 n y
x y
+
+
is an integer m, which must lie in (0, n ], we see that there are two greatest terms
T
m
and T
m + 1
. (Why). Heres the explanation:
We have
1 q > for
1 r m <
and 1 q < for r m >
1 r r
T T
+
< for
1 r m <
and
1 r r
T T
+
> for 1 m r n +
1 1 2 1
, ,
m m m m m m
T T T T T T
+ + +
< >
1
and
m m
T T
+
are the two greatest terms
Now, if
( ) 1 n y
x y
+
+
is a non-integer, assume
( ) 1 n y
m
x y
+ 1
1
+
]
.
We now have
1 q > for
1 r m
and 1 q < for r m >
1 r r
T T
+
< for
1 r m
and
1 r r
T T
+
> for r m >
1 1 2
,
m m m m
T T T T
+ + +
< >
1 m
T
+
is the greatest term.

Example 5
How will you expand the multinomial expression
( )
1 2
...
n
m
x x x + + + ?
Solution: We will approach this problem using combinatorics. Note that a general term of the expansion
would be of the form (without the coefficient)

3 1 2
1 2 3
....
m
n n n n
m
x x x x ... (1)
where the various powers must always sum to n (why?).
i.e.,
1 2 3
...
m
n n n n n + + + +
Now, to evaluate the coefficient of the term in (1), we consider the multinomial expression in
expanded form:
( )( ) ( )
1 2 1 2 1 2
times
... ... .............. ...
m m m
n
x x x x x x x x x + + + + + + + +
"###########$###########%
To generate the term in (1), we must get x
1
from n
1
terms, x
2
from n
2
terms and so on. Let us find
the number of ways in which this can be done.
First select those n
1
multinomials that will contribute x
1
: this can be done in
1
n
n
C ways. Now,
from the remaining ( )
1
n n multinomials, select those n
2
multinomials that will contribute x
2
: this
can be done in
( )
1
2
n n
n
C
ways. Continuing this process, we see that the number of ways to get
1 1 2
from , x n x from n
2
... and so on, that is, the number of times the term in (1) will be generated
in the expansion is
( ) ( )
1 1 2
1 2 3
...
n n n n n n
n n n
C C C

( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
1 1 2
1 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3
! ! !
...
! ! ! ! ! !
n n n n n n
n n n n n n n n n n n n

1 2
!
! !... !
m
n
n n n
This is what is known as the general multinomial coefficient. The multinomial expansion can
now be written compactly as
( )
1 2
1 2 1 2
1 2
!
... ...
! !... !
m
n
n n n
m m
m
n
x x x x x x
n n n
+ + +

where the summation is carried out over all possible combinations of the n
i
's such that
i
n n
.
For example, in
( )
4
1 2 3
x x x + + , let us consider some terms in the expansion:

Multinomial Term Coefficient
( + + ) x x x
1 2 3
4
2
1 2 3
x x x
3
1 2
x x
4
2
x
1 2 3
x x x
2
4!
2!1!1!
= 12
4!
3!1!
= 4
4!
4!
= 1
4!
1!1!2!
= 12
etc
Example 6
Find the coefficient of x
4
in the expansion of
10
2
2
1 x
x
_
+

,
.
Solution: From the previous example, the general term in the expansion will be

3
2
1
2
1 2 3
10! 2
(1) ( )
! ! !
n
n
n
x
n n n x
_

,
=
2 3 3
2
1 2 3
10
( 2)
! ! !
n n n
x
n n n
where
1 2 3
n n n + + must be 10.
Now, x
4
is generated whenever
2 3
2 4. n n The possible values of the triplet
1 2 3
( , , ) n n n can
now simply be listed out:
1 2 3
( , , ) (6, 4, 0), (3, 6, 1), (0, 8, 2) n n n
Thus, the (total) coefficient of x
4
is
0 1 2
10! 10! 10!
( 2) ( 2) ( 2)
6! 4! 0! 3! 6!1! 0!8! 2!
+ +
= 1290 (verify)
Section - 2 Section - 1 DIFFERENTIATION & INTEGRATION TECHNIQUES
The techniques of calculus enable us to sum a lot of series involving binomial coefficients. This is the subject of
this section.
Suppose that we have to evaluate the sum S given by
1 2 3
2 3 ......
n n n n
n
S C C C n C + + + +
From now on, to avoid clutter, well write
n
r
C as simply C
r
, where the upper index n should be understood
to be present. Thus,
1 2
2 .....
n
n
S C C C + + +

r
rC
This series can be generated using a manipulation involving differentiation, as follows:
Consider the binomial expansion
2
0 1 2
(1 ) ......
n n
n
x C C x C x C x + + + + +
If we differentiate both sides with respect to x, look at what well obtain:
1 2 1
1 2 3
(1 ) 2 3 .....
n n
n
n x C C x C x nC x

+ + + + +
Now, all that remains is to substitute x = 1, upon which we obtain:
1
1 2 3
2 2 3 .....
n
n
n C C C nC
+ + + +
This is what we were looking for. Thus,
1
2
n
S n

Had we substituted 1 x , we wouldve obtained
1
1 2 3
0 2 3 ....... ( 1)
n
n
C C C nC
+ +
Thus, we have evaluated another interesting sum.
Suppose that we now wish to evaluate S
1
given by
1 2
1 0
....
2 3 1
n
C C C
S C
n
+ + + +
+
The alert reader would immediately realize that integration needs to be applied here. How exactly to do so is
now described. Consider again the expansion.
2
0 1 2
(1 ) .....
n n
n
x C C x C x C x + + + + +
If we integrate this with respect to x, between some limits say a to b, we obtain
1 2 3 1
0 1 2
(1 )
....
1 2 3 1
b b b b
n n
b
n
a
a a a a
x x x x
C x C C C
n n
+ +
+
+ + + +
+ +
To generate the sum
1
, S a little thought will show that we need to use a = 0, b = 1, so that we obtain
1
1 2
0
2 1
.....
1 2 3 1
n
n
C C C
C
n n
+
+ + + +
+ +
Thus, S
1
equals
1
2 1
1
n
n
+
+
Try some other values for a and b and hence generate other series on your own. Be as varied as you can in
choosing these limits.
Example 7
Find the sum S given by
2 2 2 2
1 2 3
1 2 3 ....
n
S C C C n C + + + +
Solution: We have to plan an approach wherein we are able to generate r
2
with C
r
. We can generate one r
with every C
r
, as we did earlier, and which is now repeated here:
2
0 1 2
(1 ) ......
n n
n
x C C x C x C x + + + + +
Differentiating both sides with respect to x, we have
1 2 1
1 2 3
(1 ) 2 3 ......
n n
n
n x C C x C x nC x

+ + + + +
Now we have reached the stage where we have an r with every C
r
. We need to think how to get
the other r. If we differentiate once again, well have r(r 1) with every C
r
instead of r
2
(understand
this point carefully). To make-up for the power that falls one short of the required value, we
simply multiply by x on both sides of the relation above to obtain:
1 2 3
1 2 3
(1 ) 2 3 ....
n n
n
nx x C x C x C x nC x
+ + + + +
It should be evident now that the next step is differentiation:

2 1 2 2 2 2 1
1 2 3
( 1) (1 ) (1 ) 2 3 ....
n n n
n
n n x x n x C C x C x n C x

+ + + + + + +
Now we simply substitute x = 1 to obtain
2 1 2 2 2
1 2 3
( 1) 2 2 2 3 .....
n n
n
n n n C C C n C

+ + + + +
The required sum S is thus
2 1
( 1) 2 2
n n
S n n n

+
{ }
2
2 ( 1) 2
n
n n
+

2
( 1) 2
n
n n

+
Example 8
Evaluate the following sums:
(a)
0 2 4
1
.......
1 3 5
C C C
S + + +
(b)
3 5 1
2
.......
2 4 6
C C C
S + + +
Solution: The first sum contains only the even-numbered binomial coefficients, while the second contains
only odd-numbered ones. Recall that we have already evaluated the sum S given by
1
1 2
0
2 1
......
2 3 1 1
n
n
C C C
S C
n n
+
+ + + +
+ +
Note that S is the sum of S
1
and S
2
, i.e.,
1
1 2
2 1
1
n
S S
n
+
+
+
Thus, if we determine S
1
, S
2
is automatically determined, and vice-versa. Let us try to determine S
1
first.
(a) Consider again the general expansion
2
0 1 2
(1 ) ....
n n
n
x C C x C x C x + + + + +
Integrating with respect to x, we have (we have not yet decided the limits)
1 2 3 1
0 1 2
(1 )
.....
1 2 3 1
b b b b
n n
b
n
a
a a a a
x x x x
C x C C C
n n
+ +
+
+ + + +
+ +
Since we are trying to determine S
1
which contains only the even-numbered terms, we have to
choose the limits of integration such that the odd-numbered terms vanish. This is easily achievable
by setting a = 1 and b = 1 (understand this carefully). Thus, we have
1
2 4
0
2
2 ....
1 3 5
n
C C
C
n
+
_
+ + +

+
,
which implies that
1
2
1
n
S
n
+
(b) S
2
is now simply given by
2 1
S S S

1
2 1 2
1 1
n n
n n
+

+ +

2 1
1
n
n
+
Section - 3 Section - 1 MISCELLANEOUS TECHNIQUES
Not all questions can be subjected to the method(s) described earlier. For example, consider the sum S given
by
0 1 1 2 2 3 1
......
n n
S C C C C C C C C
+ + + +
Let us first go through a combinatorial approach, using the observation that
0 1 1
,
n n
C C C C

and so on, so
that S can be rewritten as
1 1 2 2 3 1
......
n n n n
S C C C C C C C C

+ + + +
Consider a general term of this sum, which is of the form
1 n r r
C C
+
. We can think of this as the number of ways
of selecting (n r) boys from a group of n boys and (r + 1) girls from a group of n girls. The total number of
people we are thus selecting is ( ) ( 1) ( 1) n r r n + + + . Therefore, S represents the total number of ways of
selecting (n + 1) people out of a group of 2n, so that S is simply
2
1
n
n
C
+
.
Now to a binomial approach. This will involve generating the general term
1 r r
C C
+
somehow, which is the
same as
1 n r r
C C
+
. Consider the general expansion of (1 )
n
x + .
2
0 1 2
(1 ) .....
n n
n
x C C x C x C x + + + + + ...(1)
We have to have the terms
1 1 2
,
n n
C C C C
and so on, which suggests that we write (1) twice, but in the second
expansion we reverse the terms, multiply, and see what terms contain the (combinations of) coefficients we
require.
(1 ) + x = C + C x + C x + ..........+ C x
n n
0 1 2
2
n
(1 ) + x = C x + C x + C x + .....+ C x + C
n n n n
n n n 1 2 1 0
1 2
Multiplying, we find on the left hand side we have
2
(1 )
n
x + , while on the right hand side, the terms containing
the (combinations of) coefficients we want will always be of the form
1
( )
n
x
+
, that is, the power of x will be
(n + 1). No other terms will contain
1 n
x
+
, verify this for yourself. Thus, the sum
1 1 2 1
........
n n n
C C C C C C
+ + +
is actually the total coefficient of
1 n
x
+
on the right hand side, and from the left hand side we know that the
coefficient of
1 n
x
+
would be simply
2
1
n
n
C
+
. Thus,
2
1
n
n
S C
+
A very similar approach could have been:

(1 + ) = + C + + ........ + x C x C x C x
n n
0 1 2
2
n
1 +
1
x
n
= C C
0 1
+
1
x

+ C
2
1
x
2
+ ........ + C
n
1
x
n
Thus, S = Coefficient of x in
1
(1 ) 1
n
n
x
x
_
+ +

,
= Coefficient of x in
2
(1 )
n
n
x
x
+
= Coefficient of
1 n
x
+
in
2 2
1
(1 )
n n
n
x C
+
+
Example 9
2 2 2 2
0 1 2
......
n
S C C C C + + + +
Solution: Note that S can be rewritten as
0 1 1 2 2 0
......
n n n n
S C C C C C C C C

+ + + +
Using a combinatorial approach, the sum should be immediately obvious to the alert reader as
2n
n
C . In brief, this is because the right hand side represents, as an example, the total number of
ways of selecting n people from a group of n boys and n girls, etc.
Now, we discuss the binomial expansion approach:
2 3
0 1 2 3
1 2
1 2 0
(1 ) .....
(1 ) .....
n n
n
n n n n
n n n
x C C x C x C x C x
x C x C x C x C

+ + + + + +
+ + + + +
) * * *
Thus, we observe that the required sum is the coefficient of x
n
in
2
(1 )
n
x + , which is simply
2n
n
C .
Example 10
1 2
0 1 2
........
n n n n r
r
S C C C C
+ + +
+ + + +
Solution: We have already evaluated this sum in P & C; here well use a binomial approach. Note that
Coeff. of in (1 )
n r n n r
r
C x x
+ +
+
( )
Coeff. of in (1 )
n r n n r
r
C x x
+ +
+
= Coeff. of in (1 )
n n r
x x
+
+
Thus,
1
Coeff. of in (1 ) (1 ) ...... (1 )
n n n n r
S x x x x
+ +
1 + + + + + +
]
{
2
Coeff. of in (1 ) 1 (1 ) (1 ) ...... (1 )
n n r
x x x x x 1 + + + + + + + +
]

{ }
1
(1 ) (1 ) 1
Coeff. of in
n r
n
x x
x
x
+
+ +
{ }
1 1
Coeff. of in (1 ) (1 )
n n r n
x x x
+ + +
+ +

1 n r
r
C
+ +
1 n r
r
S C
+ +
, which is the same result we obtained in P & C.
TRY YOURSELF - I
Q 1. Find the sum of all the rational terms in the expansion of
( )
12
1/ 4 1/ 3
3 4 + .
Q. 2 Prove that three consecutive terms in a binomial expansion can never be in G.P.
Q. 3* (a) Show that the integral part of
( )
67
5 5 11 + is even
(b) Show that the integral part of
( )
8 3 7
n
+ is odd
Q. 4 Use the binomial theorem to show that 7
103
when divided by 5 leaves a remainder 3.
Q. 5 Find the coefficient of x
301
in the expansion of
500 499 2 498 500
(1 ) (1 ) (1 ) ...... x x x x x x + + + + + + +
Q. 6* Suppose
2
(1 )
n
x x + + is written in expanded form, i.e., in the form
2
0
n
r
r
r
a x
. Show that
2 r n r
a a

Q. 7* Use the binomial theorem to show that

32
32
32 when divided by 7 leaves the remainder 4.
Q. 8 Prove the following relations:
(a)
2 2 1 2 2
0 1 2
....... ( 1) 1
n n n n n n n n n
n n n n n
C C C C C C C C

+ +
(b)
2 2 2 2 4
0 1 2
..... 2
n n n n n n n
n n n
C C C C C C

+
(c)
2
0 1 1 2 2
......
n
r r r n r n n r
C C C C C C C C C
+ + +
+ + + +
(d)*
2 3 1 1
1 2 3
..... ( 1) ( 1)
m n m n m n m m nm m m
m m m m m
C C C C C C C C n
+
+ +
(e) ( )( ) ( )
0 1 1 2 1 1 2
( 1)
..... .....
!
n
n n n
n
C C C C C C C C C
n
+
+ + +
Q. 9 Find the sums of the following series.
(a)
0 1 2 3
2 3 4 ..... C C C C + + (b)*
0 3 1 2
.....
3 4 5 6
C C C C
+ +
Q. 10 Using the binomial theorem, show that
0
r
n k n k
r j r j
j
C C C
Q. 11 Find the sum of the series

0
1 3 7 15
( 1) .... terms
2 4 8 16
r r r n
r n
r r r r r
r
C m
_
+ + + +

,
Q. 12* Show that

1 2
2
2 ....... ( 1)
n n m n
m m m m
C C n m C C
+
+
+ + + +
Section - 4 Section - 1 BINOMIAL THEOREM, RATIONAL INDEX
In the previous section, we discussed the expansion of ( )
n
x y + , where n is a natural number. Well extend
that discussion to a more general scenario now. In particular, well consider the expansion of (1 )
n
x + , where
n is a rational number and | x | < 1. Note that any binomial of the form ( )
n
a b + can be reduced to this form.:
) 1 (
n
n
b a
a
a
b _
+
' ;

,
+
(we are assuming | a | > | b |)

1
n
n
b
a
a
_
+

,
(1 )
n n
a x + where | x | < 1
The general binomial theorem states that
2 3
( 1) ( 1)( 2)
(1 ) 1 ........
2! 3!
( 1)( 2)......( 1)
........ .......
!
n
r
n n n n n
x nx x x
n n n n r
x
r

+ + + + +
+
+ +
That is, there are an infinite number of terms in the expansion with the general term given by
1
( 1)( 2).......( 1)
!
r
r
n n n n r
T x
r
+
+
For an approximate proof of this expansion, we proceed as follows: assuming that the expansion contains an
infinite number of terms, we have:
( )
2 3
0 1 2 3
1 ... ...
n
n
n
x a a x a x a x a x + + + + + + +
Putting x = 0 gives a
0
= 1. Now differentiating once gives
( )
1
2
1 2 3
1 2 3 .....
n
n x a a x a x
+ + + +
Putting x = 0 gives a
1
= n.
Proceeding in this way, we find that the r
th
coefficient is given by
( )( ) ( ) 1 2 ... 1
!
n
n n n n r
a
r
+
Note that if n is a natural number, then this expansion reduces to the expansion obtained earlier, because
1 r
T
+
becomes
n r
r
C x , and the expansion terminates for r n > . For the general
1 r
T
+
, we obviously cannot use
n
r
C
since that is defined only for natural n.
One very important point that we are emphasizing again is that the general expansion holds only for | | 1 x < .
Let us denote the genral binomial coefficient by V
r
. Thus, we have
( 1)( 2)......( 1)
!
r
n n n n r
V
r
+
and
0
(1 )
n r
r
r
x V x
Let us discuss some particularly interesting expansions. In all cases, | | 1: x <

(1)
1
(1 ) x

+ : Since 1, n we see that
( 1)(( 1) 1)(( 1) 2)......(( 1) 1)
!
r
r
V
r
+
( 1)
r

so that the expansion is
1 2 3
(1 ) 1 ...... x x x x
+ + +
(2)
1
(1 ) x

: Again, ( 1)
r
r
V and thus
1 2 3
(1 ) 1 ...... x x x x
+ + + +
(3)
2
(1 ) x

+ : We have n = 2;

( 2)(( 2) 1)(( 2) 2)....(( 2) 1)
!
r
r
V
r
+
=
( 1) ( 1)!
!
r
r
r
+
= ( 1) ( 1)
r
r +
Thus,
2 2 3
(1 ) 1 2 3 4 ...... x x x x
+ + +
(4)
2
(1 ) x

: Again, ( 1) ( 1)
r
r
V r + so that
2 2 3
(1 ) 1 2 3 4 ........ x x x x
+ + + +
Example 11
(a) For | | 1 x < , expand
3
(1 ) x

(b) Find the coefficient of

n
x in the expansion of
2 3
(1 3 6 10 ....... )
n
x x x

+ + + +
Solution: (a) We have

( 3) (( 3) 1)(( 3) 2))......(( 3) 1)
!
r
r
V
r
+

( 1) ( 2)!
2( !)
r
r
r
+

( 1) ( 1) ( 2)
2
r
r r + +
Thus,
0 1 2 3
1, 3, 6, 10........ V V V V
so that
3 2 3
(1 ) 1 3 6 10 ....... x x x x
+ + + +
(b) We use the result of part (a) in this:
( )
2 3 3
(1 3 6 10 ....... ) (1 )
n
n
x x x x

+ + +

3
(1 )
n
x
The coefficient of
n
x in this binomial expansion (note: the power is now a positive integer)
would be
3
( 1)
n n
n
C .
Example 12
Find the magnitude of the greatest term in the expansion of
( )
2/ 7
1 5y

for
1
8
y .
Solution: Let us first do the general case: what is the greatest term in the expansion of (1 )
n
x + , where n is
an arbitrary rational number. We have,
1
r
r r
T V x
+

and
1
1
r
r r
T V x

so that
1
1
r r
r r
T V
x
T V
+

1 n r
x
r
+

Now, let us find the conditions for which this ratio exceeds 1. We have
1 r r
T T
+

1 1
1
| |
n
r x
+

...(1)
For this particular problem, (1) becomes
2
1
1
7
1
5
8
r
5 8
1
7 5 r

5 13
7 5 r

25
91
r
r = 0
Thus,
1 1 r
T T
+
is the greatest term, with magnitude 1.
Example 13
Find the sum of the series
2 2.5 2 5 8
1 ......
6 6.12 6 12 18

+ + + +

if you are told that this corresponds to an expansion of a binomial, of the form (1 )
n
x + .
Solution: We need to determine n and x. For that, we can compare the terms of this series with the
corresponding terms in the following general expansion.

2 3
( 1) ( 1) ( 2)
(1 ) 1 ......
2! 3!
n
n n n n n
x nx x x

+ + + + +
Thus,

2
6
nx
2
( 1) 2.5
2! 6.12
n n
x
Solving for n and x from these two equations, we get

2
3
n
and
1
2
x
. Thus, the sum of the
series is
( )
2
3
1
1 1
2
n
S x
_
+

,

1/ 3
4
Example 14
Find the sum of the series
1 1 1
......
2 3 a b a b a b
+ + +
+ + +
to n terms
for b << a
Solution: Before solving this problem, ponder a moment over the following fact:
In the expansion of (1 )
n
x + , if x << 1, that is, if x is much smaller than 1, then the expansion can
be approximated as
(1 ) 1
n
x nx + +
since all higher order terms can be neglected due to the small magnitude of x.
Coming to the problem, note that if b << a, i.e, if 1
b
a
<< , then,
1 1
1
b a rb
a r
a
+ _
+

,

1
1
1
b
r
a a
_
+

,
1
1
rb
a a
_

,
since
1
b
a
<<
Thus, the sum S of the series is (to a good approximation)
1
1
1
n
r
b
S r
a a
_

,

1 ( 1)
2
n n b
n
a a
+ _

,

2
( 1)
2
n n n b
a a
+

Example 15
Evaluate 99
3/2
correct to four decimal places.
Solution: We have

( )
3/ 2
3/ 2
99 100 1
( )
3/ 2
3/ 2
100 1 0.01
( )
3/ 2
1000 1 0.01
( ) ( )
2
3 1
3
2 2
1000 1 0.01 0.01 ......
2 2!
_

+

,
3 3
1000 1 .......
200 80000
_
+

,
1000 15 0.0375 ...... +
= 985.0375
Note that we only considered the first three terms of the expansion because the higher order terms
would not have had any effect on the answer upto the fourth decimal place.
TRY YOURSELF - II
1 1.3 1.3.5
1 ......
3 3.6 3.6.9
+ + + +
1 1.3 1.3.5
1 ......
4 4.8 4.8.12
+ + + +
Q. 3 Find the magnitude of the greatest term in the expansion of ( )
2/ 5
1 3y

+ for
1
5
y
.
Q. 4 Find the magnitude of the greatest term in the expansion of
( )
3/ 5
1 5y for
1
3
y
Q. 5 If | | 1 x << , find the approximate value of
3
5
1 (1 )
1 (1 )
x x
x x
+ +
+ +
Q. 6 If
2 3 4
...... y x x x x + +
, show using the general binomial theorem that
1
y
x
y
Q. 7 If a is very nearly equal to b, then show that the value of

2
2
b a
a b
+
+
is nearly equal to
1
3
a
b
_

,
.
Hint: Write 1
a
x
b
+ , where | | 1 x <<
Q. 8 Using the general binomial theorem, find the approximate value for 9
3/2
.
Q. 9* Prove that the coefficient of x
n
in the expanded represent ation of
2 4
3
1
(1 )
x x
x
+
+
will be equal to
( )
2
5 8
1
2
n n n _ +

,
Q. 10 Find the coefficient of x
n
in the expanded representation of
( ) ( )
x
x a x b
, if | | x < min (a, b)
ASSIGNMENT / BINOMIAL THEOREM
Q. 1 The number of terms in the expansion of ( ) ( )
2 1 2 1
1 1
n n
x x
+ +
+ is
(a) 2n (b) n (c) n + 1 (d) 2n + 1
Q. 2 If the expansion of
3/ 2
2
n
x
x
_

,
has a term independent of x, then n must be of the type
(a) 4 , k k I (b) 3 , k k I (c) 2 , k k I (d) , k k I
Q. 3 If the sum of the binomial coefficients in the expansion of
2
3
2
n
x
x
_
+

,
is 243, then the term indepen-
dent of x is equal to
(a) 11 (b)
7
2
(c) 15 (d) 40
Q. 4 The expansion
( ) ( )
2 2
1 1
n n
x x x x + +
is a polynomial of degree
(a) n (b)
2 n
(c)
4 n
(d) none of these
Q. 5 Sum of the coefficients in the expansion of
( )
103
80
2
2
1 3
1 3 3 x x
x x
_
+ +

,
is equal to
(a) 1 (b) 0 (c) 2
183
(d) 1
Q. 6 The term which is greatest magnitude in the expansion of
18
1
2 3
x _
+

,
when x = 2 is
(a) 11 (b) 12 (c) 13 (d) 7
Q. 7 The greatest coefficient in the expansion of ( )
3 2
1 2
n
x

+
is
(a)
3 2 2 1
1
.2
n n
n
C

(b)
3 2 2 1
1
.2
n n
n
C
+
+
(c)
3 2
.2
n n
n
C
(d)
3 2 2 2
.2
n n
n
C

Q. 8 If A and B respectively denote the sum of the odd terms and sum of the even terms in the expansion of
( )
n
x y +
, then the value of
( )
2 2
n
x y
, is equal to
(a)
2 2
A B + (b)
2 2
A B
(c)
4AB
(d)
( )
2
A B
Q. 9 The number of integral terms in the expansion of
( )
87
3
2 3 +
, is equal to
(a) 23 (b) 7 (c) 15 (d) 11
Q. 10 The coefficient of
83
x in ( ) ( )
3
2 3 4
1 1
n
n
x x x x x
+
+ + + +
, is equal to
(a) ( )
7
1
n
n
C (b)
16
n
C (c)
13
n
C (d)
9
n
C
Q. 11 The value of
( ) ( )
0
1
2 ! 2 2 !
n
r
r n r

, is equal to
(a)
( )
2
2
2 !
n
n
(b)
( )
2 1
2
2 !
n
n
(c)
1
2
!
n
n
(d)
2
!
n
n
Q. 12 The coefficient of
2
x in the expansion of
( )
10
2
1 2 3 x x + is equal to
(a) 65 (b) 210 (c) 90 (d) 150
Q. 13 The value of
1
0
1
n
r
r
r r
C
C C
+
+
where
n
r r
C C is equal to
(a)
2n
n
C (b)
1
2
n
(c)
( )
1
2
n n +
(d)
2
n
Q. 14 The value of
( ) ( )( )
0
1
n
r
n
r
r
C a r b r
is equal to
(a) ( )
4
n
ab
(b)
n n
a b +
(c)
( )
2 2
n
a b +
(d) 0
Q. 15 The value of expression
0 2 1 3 2 4 2
....
n n
C C C C C C C C
+ + + + is equal to
(a)
2
1
n
n
C

(b)
2
2
n
n
C

(c)
2n
n
C (d) none of these
Q. 16 The sum of the last n coefficients in the expansion of
( )
2 1
1
n
x

+ when expanding in ascending proves
of x is equal to
(a)
2 1
2
n
(b)
2 2
2
n
(c)
2
2
n
(d)
2
2 2
n n
Q. 17 The fractional part of

( )
( )
2
6
5
n
nN is equal to
(a) 0 (b) 1/3 (c) 1/5 (d) 1/6
Q. 18 If the unit digit of 13 7 3 , ,
n n n
n + N is 7, then the value of n is
(a) 4 1, k k + I (b) 4 2, k k + I (c) 4 3, k k + I (d) 4 , k k I
Q. 19 The integral value of ( )
2 1
3 1
n+
+
is equal to
(a) 2 1, k k + I (b) ( )
3
2 1 ,
2
k k + I
(c) 2 , k k I (d) none of these
Q. 20 Let
10 20
0
m
i m i
i
S C C

. The value of m for which S is maximum is

(a) 10 (b) 12 (c) 15 (d) 20
[ TRY YOURSELF - I ]
1.
4 4
3 4 +
5.
501
301
C
9. (a) 0, (b)
( )
( )( )( )
2
2 3 1
1 2 3
n n
n n n
+ +
+ + +
11.
( )
2 1
2 2 1
mn
mn n
[ TRY YOURSELF - II ]
1.
3
2.
2
3.
1
1 T
4. There are two terms with greatest
magnitude :
1 2
1 T T
5.
1
2
x
+
8. 4.3264
10.
1 1 1
n n
a b b a
_
,
[ ASSIGNMENT ]
1. c
2. a
3. d
4. a
5. a
6. a
7. a
8. b
9. c
10. b
11. b
12. d
13. d
14. d
15. b
16. b
17. c
18. a
19. c
20. c
ANSWER / BINOMIAL THEOREM

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Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.

in number. The total number of r-groups are

ways. Thus, the number of arrangements containing X is

(b) Prove that

Sl. Group contains No. of ways possible

The 6 permutations on the left with different as as correspond to

and hence, this is the required number of solutions.

Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.org

the same relative

which is the left

pairs of straight lines are possible from these (n 1) lines.

Verify that this formula works for n = 4

A closed-form expression for S can be obtained by the following manipulation :

(division by 2! is required since two

Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.org

Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.org

is the greatest term.

Mathematics / P & C, Binomial Theorem www.locuseducation.org

A very similar approach could have been:

Q. 7* Use the binomial theorem to show that

Q. 11 Find the sum of the series

Q. 12* Show that

Let us discuss some particularly interesting expansions. In all cases, | | 1: x <

(b) Find the coefficient of

Solving for n and x from these two equations, we get

Q. 7 If a is very nearly equal to b, then show that the value of

Q. 17 The fractional part of

. The value of m for which S is maximum is

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