630 CHAPTER 11 Counting Methods

11.1 Counting by Systematic Listing

The methods of counting presented in this section all involve coming up with an
actual list of the possible results for a given task. This approach is practical only for
fairly short lists. Other methods, developed in the remainder of the chapter, will
enable us to find “how many” without actually listing all the possibilities.
When listing possible results, it is extremely important to use a systematic
approach. If we just start listing the possibilities as they happen to occur to us, we
are likely to miss some of them.

One-Part Tasks The results for simple tasks consisting of one part can often be
listed easily. For the task of tossing a single fair coin, for example, the list looks like
Counting methods can be used this: heads, tails. There are two possible results. If the task is to roll a single fair die
to find the number of moves
(a cube with faces numbered 1 through 6), the different results are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, a
required to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
total of six possibilities.
The scrambled cube must be
modified so that each face is a
solid color. Rubik’s royalties from
sales of the cube in Western EXAMPLE 1 Consider a club N with five members:
countries made him Hungary’s
richest man. N  Andy, Bill, Cathy, David, Evelyn ,
or, as a shortcut, N  A, B, C, D, E .

In how many ways can this group select a president (assuming all members are
eligible)?
The task in this case is to select one of the five members as president. There are
five possible results: A, B, C, D, and E. 

TABLE 1 Two-Part Tasks; Using Product Tables

Second Digit EXAMPLE 2 Determine the number of two-digit numbers that can be writ-
1 2 3 ten using digits from the set 1, 2, 3.
1 11 12 13
This task consists of two parts: choose a first digit and choose a second digit.
First Digit

2 21 22 23 The results for a two-part task can be pictured in a product table such as Table 1.
3 31 32 33 From the table we obtain our list of possible results: 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32,
33. There are nine possibilities. 

EXAMPLE 3 Determine the number of different possible results when two

ordinary dice are rolled.
Assume the dice are easily distinguishable. Perhaps one is red and the other
green. Then the task consists of two parts: roll the red die and roll the green die.
Table 2 on the next page is a product table. It shows that there are thirty-six possible
results. 

You will want to refer to Table 2 when various dice-rolling problems occur in
the remainder of this chapter and the next.

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 11.1 Counting by Systematic Listing 631

TABLE 2 Rolling Two Fair Dice

TABLE 3 Electing Two Officers
Green Die
Secretary
1 2 3 4 5 6
A B C D E
1 1, 1 1, 2 1, 3 1, 4 1, 5 1, 6
2 2, 1 2, 2 2, 3 2, 4 2, 5 2, 6 A AB AC AD AE
Red Die

President
3 3, 1 3, 2 3, 3 3, 4 3, 5 3, 6 B BA BC BD BE
4 4, 1 4, 2 4, 3 4, 4 4, 5 4, 6 C CA CB CD CE
5 5, 1 5, 2 5, 3 5, 4 5, 5 5, 6 D DA DB DC DE
6 6, 1 6, 2 6, 3 6, 4 6, 5 6, 6 E EA EB EC ED

EXAMPLE 4 Find the number of ways that club N of Example 1 can elect
both a president and a secretary. Assume that all members are eligible, but that no
one can hold both offices.
Again, the required task has two parts: determine the president and determine the
secretary. Constructing Table 3 gives us the following list (where, for example, AB de-
notes president A and secretary B, while BA denotes president B and secretary A):

AB, AC, AD, AE, BA, BC, BD, BE, CA, CB,
CD, CE, DA, DB, DC, DE, EA, EB, EC, ED.

Notice that certain entries (down the main diagonal, from upper left to lower right)
are omitted from the table, since the cases AA, BB, and so on would imply one per-
son holding both offices. Altogether, there are twenty possibilities. 

EXAMPLE 5 Find the number of ways that club N can appoint a committee
of two members to represent them at an association conference.
The required task again has two parts. In fact, we can refer to Table 3 again, but
this time, the order of the two letters (people) in a given pair really makes no differ-
ence. For example, BD and DB are the same committee. (In Example 4, BD and DB
Bone dice were unearthed in the
remains of a Roman garrison,
were different results since the two people would be holding different offices.) In the
Vindolanda, near the border case of committees, we eliminate not only the main diagonal entries, but also all en-
between England and Scotland. tries below the main diagonal. The resulting list contains ten possibilities:
Life on the Roman frontier was
occupied with gaming as well as AB, AC, AD, AE, BC, BD, BE, CD, CE, DE . 
fighting. Some of the Roman dice
were loaded in favor of 6 and 1.
Life on the American frontier Tasks with Three or More Parts; Using Tree Diagrams
was reflected in cattle brands that
were devised to keep alive the
Problem Solving
memories of hardships, feuds, and
romances. A rancher named Ellis A task that has more than two parts is not easy to analyze with a product table. It
from Paradise Valley in Arizona would require a table of more than two dimensions, which is hard to construct on
designed his cattle brand in the paper. Another helpful device is the tree diagram, which we use in the following
shape of a pair of dice. You can examples.
guess that the pips were 6 and 1.

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632 CHAPTER 11 Counting Methods

EXAMPLE 6 Find the number of three-digit numbers that can be written

using digits from the set 1, 2, 3, assuming that (a) repeated digits are allowed,
(b) repeated digits are not allowed.
(a) The task of constructing such a number has three parts: select the first digit, se-
lect the second digit, and select the third digit. As we move from left to right
through the tree diagram in Figure 1, the tree branches at the first stage to all
possibilities for the first digit. Then each first-stage branch again branches, or
splits, at the second stage, to all possibilities for the second digit. Finally, the
third-stage branching shows the third-digit possibilities. The list of possible
results (27 of them) is shown in Figure 1.
(b) For the case of nonrepeating digits, we could construct a whole new tree dia-
gram, as in Figure 2, or we could simply go down the list of numbers from the
first tree diagram and strike out any that contain repeated digits. In either case
we obtain only six possibilities.
First Second Third
digit digit digit Number
1 111
1 2 112
3 113
1 121
1 2 2 122
3 123
1 131
3 2 132
3 133
1 211
1 2 212
3 213
1 221
2 2 2 222
3 223
1 231
3 2 232
3 233
1 311 First Second Third
1 2 312 digit digit digit Number
3 313
1 321 2 3 123
1
3 2 2 322 3 2 132
3 323 1 3 213
2
1 331 3 1 231
3 2 332 1 2 312
3
3 333 2 1 321
Tree diagram for three-digit numbers with Tree diagram for nonrepeating three-digit
digits from the set {1, 2, 3} numbers with digits from the set {1, 2, 3}

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 

Notice the distinction between parts (a) and (b) of Example 6. There are 27 pos-
sibilities when “repetitions (of digits) are allowed,” but only six possibilities when
“repetitions are not allowed.” Here is another way to phrase the question of Ex-
ample 6: A three-digit number is to be determined by placing three slips of paper
(marked 1, 2, and 3) into a hat and drawing out three slips in succession. Find the
number of possible results if the drawing is done (a) with replacement, (b) without
replacement. Drawing “with replacement” means drawing a slip, recording its digit,
and replacing the slip into the hat so that it is again available for subsequent draws.
Drawing “with replacement” has the effect of “allowing repetitions,” while drawing
“without replacement” has the effect of “not allowing repetitions.”

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 11.1 Counting by Systematic Listing 633

The words “repetitions” and “replacement” can be important keys in the state-
ment of a problem. But there are many other ways to express the same meaning.
In Example 2, since no restrictions were stated, we can assume that repetitions
(of digits) are allowed, or equivalently that digits are selected with replacement.

EXAMPLE 7 Michelle Clayton’s computer printer allows for optional set-

tings with a panel of four on-off switches in a row. How many different settings can
she select if no two adjacent switches can both be off?
This situation is typical of user-selectable options on various devices, including
computer equipment, garage door openers, and other appliances. In Figure 3 we de-
note “on” and “off” with 1 and 0, respectively (a common practice). The number of
possible settings is seen to be eight. Notice that each time on the tree diagram that a
switch is indicated as off (0), the next switch can only be on (1). This is to satisfy
the restriction that no two adjacent switches can both be off.
First Second Third Fourth Switch
switch switch switch switch settings
0 1 0101
0 1 0 0110
1
1 0111
0 1010
0 1
1 1011
1
0 1 1101
1 0 1110
1
1 1111

Tree diagram for printer settings

FIGURE 3 

EXAMPLE 8 Aaron, Bobbette, Chuck, and Deirdre have tickets for four re-
served seats in a row at a concert. In how many different ways can they seat them-
selves so that Aaron and Bobbette will sit next to each other?
Here we have a four-part task: assign people to the first, second, third, and fourth
seats. The tree diagram in Figure 4 again avoids repetitions, since no person can oc-
cupy more than one seat. Also, once A or B appears at any stage of the tree, the other
one must occur at the next stage. (Why is this?) Notice that no splitting occurs from
stage three to stage four since by that time there is only one person left unassigned. The
right column in the figure shows the twelve possible seating arrangements.
First Second Third Fourth Seating
seat seat seat seat arrangement
C D ABCD
A B
D C ABDC
C D BACD
B A
D C BADC
A B D CABD
C B A D CBAD
A B CDAB
D
B A CDBA
A B C DABC
D B A C DBAC
A B DCAB
C
B A DCBA

Tree diagram for concert seating

FIGURE 4 

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634 CHAPTER 11
D EXAMPLE 9
E C
F ones that are not triangles in the figure.
A B
FIGURE 5
The “tree diagram” on the map
came from research on the
feasibility of using motor-sailers
(motor-driven ships with wind-sail
auxiliary power) on the North
Atlantic run. At the beginning of a
run, weather forecasts and
computer analysis are used to
choose the best of the 45 million
possible routes.
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Counting Methods
Although we have applied tree diagrams only to tasks with three or more parts,
they can also be used for two-part or even simple, one-part tasks. Product tables, on
the other hand, are useful only for two-part tasks.
Other Systematic Listing Methods Product tables (for two-part tasks)
and tree diagrams (for tasks of any number of parts) are useful methods for pictur-
ing and listing the possible results for given tasks. There are additional systematic
ways to produce complete listings of possible results.
In Example 4, we used a product table (Table 3) to list all possible president-
secretary pairs for the club N  A, B, C, D, E. We could also systematically con-
struct the same list using a sort of alphabetical or left-to-right approach. First,
consider the results where A is president. Any of the remaining members (B, C, D,
or E) could then be secretary. That gives us the pairs AB, AC, AD, and AE. Next, as-
sume B is president. The secretary could then be A, C, D, or E. We get the pairs BA,
BC, BD, and BE. Continuing in order, we get the complete list just as in Example 4:
AB, AC, AD, AE, BA, BC, BD, BE, CA, CB,
CD, CE, DA, DB, DC, DE, EA, EB, EC, ED.
How many different triangles (of any size) are included in Fig-
ure 5?
One systematic approach is to label the points as shown, begin with A, and pro-
ceed in alphabetical order to write all three-letter combinations, then cross out the
ABC, ABD, ABE, ABF, ACD, ACE, ACF , ADE, ADF , AEF,
BCD, BCE, BCF, BDE, BDF , BEF , CDE, CDF , CEF, DEF
Finally, there are twelve different triangles in the figure. Why are ACB and CBF (and
many others) not included in the list?
Another method might be first to identify the triangles consisting of a single re-
gion each: DEC, ECF, AEF, BCF, ABF. Then list those consisting of two regions
each: AEC, BEC, ABE, ABC; and those with three regions each: ACD, BED. There
are no triangles with four regions, but there is one with five: ABD. The total is again
twelve. Can you think of other systematic ways of getting the same list? 
Notice that in the first method shown in Example 9, the labeled points were con-
sidered in alphabetical order. In the second method, the single-region triangles were
listed by using a top-to-bottom and left-to-right order. Using a definite system helps
to ensure that we get a complete list.
London
New
York