DISCTRUC: ACTIVITY 3- COMBINATORICS

COMBINATION AND PERMUTATION

WEEK 5 DATE SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

SECTION 3BAPPDEV SCORE

OVERVIEW

Combinatorics is the branch of mathematics studying the enumeration,

combination, and permutation of sets of elements and the mathematical relations
that characterize their properties.
Permutations and combinations, the various ways in which objects from a set
may be selected, generally without replacement, to form subsets. This selection
of subsets is called a permutation when the order of selection is a factor,
a combination when order is not a factor.

MATERIAL/S

MS Word or yellow paper and ball pen

Google Classroom
PROCEDURES

Read and analyze the following discussions:

In English we use the word "combination" loosely, without thinking if the order of
things is important. In other words:

"My fruit salad is a combination of apples, grapes and bananas" We don't care
what order the fruits are in, they could also be "bananas, grapes and apples" or
"grapes, apples and bananas", it’s the same fruit salad.

"The combination to the safe is 472". Now we do care about the order. "724" won't
work, nor will "247". It has to be exactly 4-7-2.

So, in Mathematics we use more precise language:

 When the order doesn't matter, it is a Combination.
 When the order does matter it is a Permutation.

In other words:
A Permutation is an ordered Combination.

Examples:

1. Joan has five panels at home that she wants to paint. She has five
different colored paints and intends to paint each panel a different color.
How many different ways can she paint the five panels?
Answer: PERMUTATION

2. There are seven astronauts who are trying out to be part of three-person
in-space flight team. How many different flight teams can be formed?
Answer: COMBINATION

3. The winning six numbers out of 49 numbers in a lottery draw. How many
different ways can the player win?
Answer: COMBINATION

4. Let’s say we have 5 people: Alice, Bob, Charlie, David, and Eve. How
many ways can we award a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize among eight
contestants? (Gold / Silver / Bronze)

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 Answer: PERMUTATION

5. Let’s say I’m a cheapskate and can’t afford separate Gold, Silver and
Bronze medals. In fact, I can only afford empty tin cans. How many
ways can I give 3 tin cans to 8 people?
Answer: COMBINATION

ACTIVITY 3:

Write your answer in a yellow paper or type in MS Word.

(Note: copy the question for reference.)

Determine if the following problems can be solved using permutation or

combination.

1. Picking a President, VP and Secretary from a group of 10 people.

Answer: ___________________

2. Choosing 3 desserts from a menu of 10.

Answer: ___________________

3. Let us say there are five flavors of ice cream: banana, chocolate, lemon,
strawberry and vanilla. We can have three scoops. How many
variations will there be?
Answer: ___________________

4. How many unique ways are there to arrange the letters in the word
COMBINATORICS?
Answer: ___________________

5. A company has 11 software engineers and 7 civil engineers. In how

many ways can they be seated in a row?
Answer: ___________________

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