Question 1

In how many ways can the letters of the word ABACUS be rearranged such that the vowels always appear together?

A.

B. 3! * 3!

C.

D.

E.

The correct choice is (D) and the correct answer is .

Explanatory Answer

ABACUS is a 6 letter word with 3 of the letters being vowels.

If the 3 vowels have to appear together, then there will 3 other consonants and a set of 3 vowels together.

These 4 elements can be rearranged in 4! Ways.

The 3 vowels can rearrange amongst themselves in ways as "a" appears twice.

Hence, the total number of rearrangements in which the vowels appear together are

Question 2

How many different four letter words can be formed (the words need not be meaningful) using the letters of the word "MEDITERRANEAN"
such that the first letter is E and the last letter is R?

A. 59

B.

C. 56

D. 23

E.

The correct choice is (A) and the correct answer is 59

Explanatory Answer

The first letter is E and the last one is R.

Therefore, one has to find two more letters from the remaining 11 letters.

Of the 11 letters, there are 2 Ns, 2Es and 2As and one each of the remaining 5 letters.

The second and third positions can either have two different letters or have both the letters to be the same.

Case 1: When the two letters are different. One has to choose two different letters from the 8 available different choices. This can be done
in 8 * 7 = 56 ways.

Case 2: When the two letters are same. There are 3 options - the three can be either Ns or Es or As. Therefore, 3 ways.

Total number of posssibilities = 56 + 3 = 59

Question 3

What is the probability that the position in which the consonants appear remain unchanged when the letters of the word Math are re-
arranged?

A. 1/4
B. 1/6
C. 1/3
D. 1/24
E. 1/12

The correct choice is (A) and the correct answer is 1/4

Explanatory Answer

The total number of ways in which the word Math can be re-arranged = 4! = 4*3*2*1 = 24 ways.

Now, if the positions in which the consonants appear do not change, the first, third and the fourth positions are reserved for consonants and
the vowel A remains at the second position.

The consonants M, T and H can be re-arranged in the first, third and fourth positions in 3! = 6 ways without the positions in which the
positions in which the consonants appear changing.

Therefore, the required probability =

3. A teacher is making a multiple choice quiz. She wants to give each student the
same questions, but have each student's questions appear in a different order. If
there are twenty-seven students in the class, what is the least number of questions
the quiz must contain?

3. If there were two questions on the quiz, we could

prepare two quizzes with the questions in different order --
2•1 = 2.
If there were three questions, we could get 3•2•1 = 6 different
orders.
If there were four questions, we could get 4•3•2•1 = 24
different orders -- not quite enough for the class of 27
students.
If there were five questions, we could get 5•4•3•2•1 = 120
different orders. The teacher will need at least 5 questions on
the quiz.

5. A coach must choose five starters from a team of 12 players. How many
different ways can the coach choose the starters?

5.
Choose 5 starters from a team of 12 players. Order is not important.

6. The local Family Restaurant has a daily breakfast special in which the customer
may choose one item from each of the following groups:

Breakfast Sandwich Accompaniments Juice

egg and ham breakfast potatoes orange
egg and bacon apple slices cranberry
egg and cheese fresh fruit cup tomato
pastry apple
grape

a.) How many different breakfast specials are possible?

b.) How many different breakfast specials without meat are possible?

Answer
 6.
a.) Basic counting principle:
Sandwiches x Accompaniments x Juice
3 • 4 • 5 = 60 breakfast choices

b.) Meatless means that under Sandwiches there will be only

one choice.
Sandwiches x Accompaniments x Juice
1 • 4 • 5 = 20 meatless breakfast choices

8. There are fourteen juniors and twenty-three seniors in the Service Club. The
club is to send four representatives to the State Conference.

a.) How many different ways are there to select a group of four students to
attend the conference?

b.) If the members of the club decide to send two juniors and two seniors, how
many different groupings are possible?

Answer
. 14 juniors, 23 seniors
37 students total
a.) Choose 4 students from the total number of students. Order is not important.

b.) Choose 2 juniors and 2 seniors.