EECS 203: Discrete Mathematics

Fall 2019
Discussion 7 Notes
Definitions
• Permutation:
• Combination:
• Binomial coefficient:
• Combinatorial proof:
• Permutations w/ Repetition:
• Stars and Bars:
• Permutations with Indistinguishable Objects:

Solution:

• Permutation: A permutation of a set of distinct objects is an ordered arrange-

ment of these objects. The number of k-permutations of n distinct objects (i.e., no
n!
repetition) is P (n, k) = (n−k)! .

• Combination: A combination of a set of distinct objects is an unordered ar-

rangement of these objects. The number of k-combinations of n distinct objects
(i.e., no repetition) is C(n, k) = nk = (n−k)!k!
n!


.

• Binomial coefficient: related to k-combinations via the Binomial Theorem, de-

n


noted by k

• Combinatorial proof: Proves an identity by using counting arguments to prove

that both sides of the identity count the same objects but in different ways, or a
proof that is based on showing that there is a bijection between the sets of objects
counted by the two sides of the identity. Use the Combinatorial Proof Template
from the slides to ensure that your proof is complete.

• Permutations w/ Repetition: The number of permutations of length k of a set

of n objects when repetition is allowed is nk .

1
 • Stars and Bars aka Combinations w/ Repetition: This approach is used when
putting indistinguishable objects into distinguishable containers (or selecting indis-
tinguishable objects of distinguishable types).
# of stars = # of objects
# of bars = # of types −1
The number of ways to put indistinguishable objects into distinguishable containers
is:    
stars + bars stars + bars
=
stars bars

• Permutations with Indistinguishable Objects: This is sort of like permuta-

tions with partial repetition, in that each type has a different number of repetitions.
The number of different permutations of n objects, where there are n1 indistin-
guishable objects of type 1, n2 indistinguishable objects of type 2, . . . , and nk
indistinguishable objects of type k, is:
n!
n1 !n2 ! · · · nk !

1. Section 6.4 Not in Book

Find the constant term in the expansion of (2x + 5 x1 )6 .

Solution: The constant term occurs when the power of the two x terms
are3the same,
6
which is when they are both raised to the 3rd power. Thus, we have 3 (2x) · (5 x1 )3 =
6


3
· 8 · 125

2. Section 6.4 Exercise 33

Give a combinatorial proof that nk=1 k nk = n2n−1 . [Hint: Count in two ways the number
P

of ways to select a committee and then to select a leader of the committee.]

Solution: Consider choosing a committee (of any size > 0) from a group of n people,
with one leader of the committee.
RHS: First choose the leader, then select the rest of the committee.
We can choose the leader from a group of n people in n different ways. Once the leader
is chosen, there are n − 1 people remaining, each of which you can either select or not
select to be on the committee (2 choices for each person). So there are 2n−1 ways to
select the rest of the committee. Hence, there are n 2n−1 ways to choose the committee

2
 and its leader.
LHS: Choose the committee first, then select the leader from among those on the com-
mittee.
There are nk ways to choose a committee of k people from a pool of n people. Once the

of k people is chosen, there are k1 = k ways to select the leader. So there

committee
are k nk ways to select a committee of size k with one leader. Because the size of the

committee can be anywhere from 1 and n people, we must considerPall values
for k from
n n
1 to n. So the number of ways to create the desired committee is k=1 k k .
Pn n


As both sides count the same thing, k=1 k k
= n 2n−1 .

3. Section 6.4 Not In Book

n+1 n n




Prove Pascal’s identity algebraically: r
= r−1
+ r
.

n+1 n n




Solution: Pascal’s identity r
= r−1
+ r
   
n n n! n!
+ = +
k−1 r (r − 1)!(n − r + 1)! r!(n − r)!
 
n! 1 1
= +
(r − 1)!(n − r)! n − r + 1 r
 
n! n+1
=
(r − 1)!(n − r)! r(n − r + 1)
(n + 1)!
=
r!(n − r + 1)!
 
n+1
=
r

4. Not In Book
How many different strings can be made from the letters in ATREYATATA, using all the
letters?

Solution: The letter “A” is repeated 4 times and “T” is repeated 3 times.
Number of ways =
10!
4!3!

3
5. Exercise 6.5.8
How many different ways are there to choose a dozen donuts from the 21 varieties at a donut
shop?

Solution: This is a stars and bars question. There
are 12+20

12 stars and
20 bars. Thus
the number of ways to choose donuts are stars+bars 32


stars
= 12
= 12
or equivalently
stars+bars 12+20 32




bars
= 20 = 20

6. Exercise 6.5.38
How many different bit strings can be formed using six 1s and eight 0s?

Solution: There are 14 digits out of which we have to count the number of ways for us
to place six 1’s (the remaining digits will be 0).
Number of ways =
C(14, 6) = 3003

7. Exercise 6.5.44 Modified

How many ways are there to distribute 52 cards equally amongst 4 players?

Solution: If 52 cards are dealt to 4 people, each player will receive 13 cards. Distributing
52 distinguishable objects into 4 distinguishable boxes can be done in:
Number of ways =
52
13! · 13! · 13! · 13!

8. Section 6.5 Exercise 55 Modified

(a) How many ways are there to put 6 employees in 4 identical offices if at least one
employee must be assigned to each office?

(b) How many ways are there to put 6 employees in 3 identical offices if there are no
restrictions on the number of people per office?

4
Solution:
1. Well, it is sufficient to count the number of employees who are in a double / triple
office. You have these 2 possibilities: {1, 1, 1, 3}, {1, 1, 2, 2} for arrangement of staff
into offices. For the first arrangement/configuration, choose three of thesix  to be
6
placed into the same office, then the rest will get their own. There are ways
3
to do this.
For the second configuration, start by selecting the two who  will
 get their own
4
office, leaving four employees to be paired off. There are 21 ways to do this
2
giving a total of     
6 1 6 4
+ = 65
3 2 2 2
ways to put 6 employees in 4 identical offices if each office is nonempty.
2. For this case, consider the number of empty offices. There can be zero, one, or two
empty offices.
(1) One empty office:
To address this case, it is the same as putting six employees into two offices. There
are the following possibilities for doubling up on offices {1, 5}, {2, 4}, {3, 3} For the
first possibility, there are 6 ways to do this, simply choose the person who has their
 
6
own office then cram everyone else into the other. For the second, there are
4
possibilities, choose a set of 4 employees, these are the office mates for one office 
1 6
and the remaining two go into the other. For the third possibility, there are 2
  3
6
where the is obvious and the 21 comes from the fact that choosing one subset
3
of three is the same as choosing a subset of the other three, for example, choosing
{1, 2, 3} to be office mates is the same as choosing {4, 5, 6}. Giving a total of
   
6 1 6
6+ +
4 2 3
ways to select office mates for two offices (three with one empty)
(2) Two empty offices:
There is a single way to do this since everyone must be assigned to the same office.
(3) No office is empty:
  for the offices: {1, 1, 4}, {1, 2, 3}, {2, 2, 2},
There are then the following possibilities
6
For the first possibility, there are possibilities, where the four chosen are put
4
in one office and the remaining two get their own. For the second possibility, start

5
by selecting who will have their own office. There are 6 options, now from the five
remaining, select a group of 2 andthen  the remaining 3 will be put into the same
5
office. This gives that there are 6 ways to configure the staff into the second
2
configuration. For the third configuration, we must determine for any individual,
who their office partner will be. Starting with the 6 employees, choose two to be
paired off, leaving four, then pair off two of these giving
  
6 4
2 2

but then each configuration has been counted 6 times. This can be seen by con-
sidering how we counted. We selected a pair, and then another, leaving a third.
These pairs can be selected in any order so there are 3! ways we counted a given
configuration. This gives a total of
  
1 6 4
3! 2 2

for the final configuration of {2, 2, 2}. For the third case then there are a total of
      
1 6 4 5 6
+6 +
3! 2 2 2 4

ways to configure 6 faculty into three nonempty offices. This gives a grand total of
        
1 6 4 5 6 1 6
+6 +2 +7+
3! 2 2 2 4 2 3

ways to place 6 faculty into three identical offices where any number of people(up
to 6) may be put in a single office.