10 Mathematics

Quarter 3 - Module 3
Illustrating the Combination of
Objects
Mathematics – Grade 10
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 3 – Module 3: Illustrating the Combination of Objects
First Edition, 2021

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Published by the Department of Education- Region III

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writer/Illustrator/Layout Artist/Editors
Arlene L. Sarmiento
Janine P. Caleon
Emmanuel S. Cruz
Roberto L. Aquino
Christian Bartolome
Content Evaluator: Gilda T. Garcia
Language Evaluator: Benjamin C. Lizarondo
Layout Evaluator: Anthony P. Mendoza
Management Team: Gregorio C. Quinto Jr.
Rainelda M. Blanco
Agnes R. Bernardo
Francisco B. Macale
Glenda S. Constantino
Joannarie C. Garcia

Printed in the Philippines by

Department of Education--- Schools Division of Bulacan

Office Address: Curriculum Implementation Division

Learning Resource Management and Development System (LRMDS)
Capitol Compound, Guinhawa St., City of Malolos, Bulacan
E-mail address: lrmdsbulacan@deped.gov.ph
 10

Mathematics
Quarter 3 - Module 3
Illustrating the Combination of
Objects
Introductory Message

This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, dear learners,

can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions,
directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to understand
each lesson.

Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step
as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.

Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM.
This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need
to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding
of the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer the post-test to
self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each activity and test. We
trust that you will be honest in using these.

In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teachers are also
provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they
can best help you on your home-based learning.

Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part of
this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercise and tests.
Read the instructions carefully before performing each task.

If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the tasks
in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.

Thank you.
 What I Need to Know

This module provides varied activities that will help you to learn
about illustrating the combination of objects.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

• define combinations;

 translate situations into C (n, r) form;

• compute the combination of objects; and

• give examples of combinations in real life situations.

What I Know

Directions: Find out how much you already know about the topic in this module. Choose the

letter of the best answer. Take note of the items that you were not able to answer

correctly and find the right answer as you go through the lessons in this module.

1. It is a selection of items from a collection, such that the order of the selection does not

matter.

A. combination C. permutation

B. differentiation D. sequence

2. Which of the following situations or activities involves combination?

A. assigning telephone number to subscribers

B. winning in a contest

C. opening a combination lock

D. forming a committee from the member of a club

3. Choosing a subset is an example of .

A. combination C. integration

B. differentiation D. permutation

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4. Mr. Sarmiento has twenty-five (25) students and he must choose a committee of five (5).

This situation is an example of .

A. sequence C. integration

B. permutation D. combination

5. What is the value of 5! 3!?

A. 720 C. 120

B. 360 D. 15

6. C (n, n) = .

A. n C. 1

B. r D. cannot be determined

7. In C (7, 3) = 35, which of the following corresponds to the number of objects?

A. 35 C. 3

B. 7 D. cannot be determined

8. Which is the factorial notation of C (8, 5)?

A. C.

B. D.

For numbers 9 and10: In C (10, 7) = 120

9. Which of the following corresponds to the number of objects taken at a time?

A. 120 C. 7

B. 10 D. cannot be determined

10. Which of the following corresponds to the number of possible selections?

A. 120 C. 7

B. 10 D. cannot be determined

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11. Which of the following situations does NOT illustrate combination?

A. Four people posing for pictures.

B. Assembling a jigsaw puzzle.

C. Choosing three of your classmates to attend your party.

D. Picking 6 balls from a basket of 12 balls.

12. The product of a positive integer n and all the positive integers less than it is _.

A. powers of n C. n-factors

B. multiples of n D. n factorial

13. C (n, r) = ,which of the following are possible values of n and r?

A. n= 7, r= 2 C. n= 5, r= 2

B. n= 7, r= 7 D. n= 5, r= 7

14. C (8, 3) = .

A. 65 C. 15

B. 56 D. 10

15. C (10, 9) = _.

A. 20 C. 5

B. 10 D. 1

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 What’s In
To prepare you for our topic, we need to assess your knowledge of the Fundamental

Counting Principle and Permutations. Try to answer the activity below. Remember that this

activity is not graded yet. Enjoy!

Consider the following schematic diagram:

1. How many routes are there

(a) From A to T via L?

(b) From A to L and return, without using the same road twice?

(c) From L to O via T?

2. How many possible permutations are there in the letters in the name ARLENE?

3. In how many ways can Audrey arrange 5 different seedlings in a row?

4. Find the number of different arrangements of the set of the five letters c, o, v, i, d

taken two at a time.

5. In how many ways can 7 persons be seated around a circular table?

Were you able to find what was required in each problem? Were you able to recall and
apply the different mathematics concepts or principles in solving each problem? If you
answered 1. a. 10, b. 20, c.2; 2. 360; 3. 120; 4. 20; 5. 720, then you are correct. It shows
that you understand the fundamental counting principle and permutation. And these
learnings will help you in understanding the next topic which is combination.

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 What’s New

You already know the fundamental counting principle and permutations of things. Now,

we will look at combination of objects or things by doing the next activity.

Perform the following activity using any 4 different fruits (banana, guava, atis, and

mango). Follow all instructions and write all your answers on a clean sheet of paper. Then,

complete the table and answer the questions that follow.

A. Get 2 fruits (ex. banana and guava).

1. a. Select a piece of fruit, one (1) at a time. Do all possible selections.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection you made.

Example:

banana
2 ways
guava

c. Count the number of different selections you have made. (2 possible selections)

2. a. Select two (2) pieces of fruits, two (2) at a time.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made.

B. Get 3 fruits.

1. a. Select a piece of fruit, one (1) at a time. Do all possible selections.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made when using 1 object at

a time from the 3 given fruits.

2. a. Select two (2) pieces of fruits, two (2) at a time.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made, using 2 objects at a

time from the 3 given fruits.

3. a. Select three (3) pieces of fruits, three (3) at a time.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

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 c. Count the number of different selections you have made using all the 3 fruits at

a time.

C. Get 4 fruits.

1. a. Select a piece of fruit, one (1) at a time. Do all possible selections.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made when using 1 object at

a time from the 4 given fruits.

2. a. Select two (2) pieces of fruits, two (2) at a time.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made, using 2 objects at a

time from the 4 given fruits.

3. a. Select three (3) pieces of fruits, three (3) at a time.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made, using 3 objects at a

time from the 4 given fruits.

4. a. Select four (4) pieces of fruits, four (4) at a time.

b. Illustrate or describe each selection.

c. Count the number of different selections you have made using all the 4 fruits at a

time.

Results:
Number of Objects (n) Number of Objects Taken at a Number of possible selections
time (r)
2 1 2
2 2
3 1
3 2
3 3
4 1
4 2
4 3
4 4

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Questions:
1. Does the order of selecting the objects matter?
2. What do you call each unique selection?
3. Can you find any pattern in the results?
4. Can you think of other ways of finding these answers?

How did you find the preceding activity? Are you ready to learn about combinations?
Read and understand first some important notes on combinations.

What is it?
Combinations

When you choose three students from the Mathematics class in a particular order, you

are creating a permutation. However, you can also choose students without considering the

order. A selection of items chosen from a group in which order is not important is called a

combination.

A combination is a selection of items from a collection, such that the order of

selection does not matter.

Examples:

1. Suppose you were assigned by your teacher to be the leader of your group for your

project. You were given the freedom to choose 4 of your classmates to be your group

mates. If you choose Charlotte, Myca, Khlouie, and Philip, does it make difference if

you choose Philip, Myca, Charlotte and Khlouie? Of course not, because the list

refers to the same people. On the other hand, if you choose Charlotte, Myca, Khlouie

and Maan, now this is another combination, and it is different from the first

combination cited.

2. Given three doughnuts, say chocolate, strawberry, and milky. There are three

combinations of two that can be chosen from the set: a chocolate and a strawberry; a

milky and a chocolate; and a strawberry and a milky. Thus, there are 3 combinations.

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 3. Suppose, you are asked to form different triangles out of 4 points plotted, say

A, B, C, and D, of which no three are collinear.

We can see that ∆ ABC is the same as ∆ BCA and ∆ CBA. In the same manner, ∆

BCD is the same as ∆CDB and ∆ DBC…The different triangles that can be formed are ∆

ABC,∆ BCD, ∆ ABD and ∆ CDA. Thus there are 4 combinations.

4. If you play cards, you know that in most situations the order in which you hold cards is

not important.

5. Choosing 3 desserts from a menu of 10, order of choosing the dessert is not

important.

Remember: If there is a set S with n elements, and r is a nonnegative integer less than

or equal to n, then each subset of S containing r distinct elements is called

a combination of S.

The number of combinations of n objects taken r at a time is donated by

In this learning material, we will use the first notation C (n, r).

The symbol C (10, 6) represents the number of ways a subset of 6 objects can be

selected from a set of 10 objects.

Let’s derive the formula for combination through a given situation below.

Situation: If a volleyball coach has 10 players and must place 6 on court, she must

first choose the 6 players and then arrange them.

Solution:

n (ways) = n (selections) x n(arrangements)

n (ways) = C (10, 6) x 6! (Equation 1)

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 But we all know from permutations that

n (ways) = __ x __ x __ x __ x __ x __

n (ways) = 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5

n ( ways) = (Equation 2)

i.e. C (10, 6) x 6! = which  equation 1 = equation 2

∴ C (10, 6) =

Note:

This makes sense to the coach, since choosing the 6 to go to the court is theoretically the

same as choosing the 4 to stay off, which would have evaluated from

∴ C (10, 6) =

In summary, if a subset of r objects is chosen a set of n objects, without regard

to order, then

𝑛!
C (n, r) =
(𝑛−𝑟)!𝑟!
. where, C (n, r) = number of combinations or selections

n = total number of elements in the set

r = number of elements you choose from this set.

Using the formula for combination, we can compute the number of combinations

that are possible in a given situation. We have to understand the importance of what we

are doing.

Let me familiarize you in using the formula for combinations. Take note of how n

(number of objects) and r (number of objects taken at a time) are substituted in the

formula to get the possible selections of objects.

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Example 1. In a 10-item Mathematics problem-solving test, how many ways can you

select 5 problems to solve?

Translation: C (10, 5), where n = 10, r = 5

Substituting to the formula:

C (n, r) =

C (10, 5) = Factorial Form

2 2 2 3
=

= (8) (7) (3) after common factors are cancelled.

C (10, 5) = 252 ways

Example 2. In how many ways can a committee consisting of 4 members be formed from 8

people?

Translation: C (8, 4), where n = 8, r = 4

Substituting to the formula:

C (n, r) =

C (10, 5) = Factorial Form

2 2
=

= (7) (2) (5) after common factors are cancelled.

C (8, 4) = 70 ways
In using calculator,
• To determine factorial values, press the number, press SHIFT or 2ndF then
n! or X! buttons.
For example, to determine 5!, the following in the specified order: 5, SHIFT,
n! or X! =. 120 will appear on the screen.
• To determine the values of Combination, look for n Cr button.
For example, C (8, 4), press 8, nCr , 4 = 70 will appear on the screen.

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 What’s More

Independent Activity 1:
Directions: Using the given combinations, Complete the table below by identifying the

number of objects and the number of objects taken at a time.

Combination Number of Objects Number of Objects taken

at a Time
1. C (n, 1)
2. C (5, 2)
3. C (10, 4)
4. C (12, 11)
5. C (9, 6)
6. C (7, 5)
7. C (8, 2)
8. C (12, 6)
9. C (15, 8)
10. C (7, 3)

Independent Assessment 1:

Directions: Write an expression that will give the number of combinations for the

specified values of n and r.

Combination Number of Objects Number of Objects taken

at a Time
1. 8 5
2. 11 3
3. 9 0
4. n 4
5. 6 r
6. 10 5
7. 3 3
8. 15 10
9. x 6
10. x x-3

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Independent Activity 2:
Directions: Write the given combination in factorials. Choose the correct answer from

the box below.

7! 4! 6!
4!3! 2!2! 4!2!
4! 6! 7!
1!3! 3!3! 2!5!

1. C ( 4,3) =
2. C (7,3) =
3. C (7,5) =
4. C (4,2) =
5. C (6,2) =

Independent Assessment 2:

Directions: Evaluate the given combination below.

1. C (9,3)

2. C ( 10,7)

3. C(5,0) x C (6,3)

4. C(8,6) x C(4,3)

5. C(7,6) x C(6,4) x C(3,2)

Independent Activity 3:

Directions: Determine the situation that involves a combination. Put check (/) if the
situation involves combination.

1. Opening a combination lock

2. Placing 10 books in a shelf
3. Finding the diagonals of a polygon
4. Putting six toppings on a pizza
5. Choosing five basketball players from a group of nine.
6. Winning in a contest
7. Drawing a set of 6 numbers in a lottery containing numbers 1 to 45
8. Entering the PIN (Personal Identification Number) of your ATM Card.
9. Picking a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners from 10 contestants.
10. Answering 2 essay questions out of 8 essay questions

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Independent Assessment 3:

Directions: Solve the following problem involving combination.

1. Khlouie has 8 colored pencils that are all unique. She wants to pick three

colored pencils from her collection and give them to her younger sister. How

many different combinations of colored pencils can Sarah make from 8

pencils?

2. How many groups can be made from the word "house" if each group

consists of 3 alphabets?

3. Aimeehas 6 chocolates. All of the chocolates are of different flavors. She

wants to give two of her chocolates to her friend. How many different

combinations of chocolates can Aimee make from six chocolates?

4. 10 parents exchange greetings at a PTA meeting. How many greetings are

exchanged if everyone greets each other once?

5. How many combinations can be the seven colors of the rainbow be arranged

into groups of three colors each?

What I Have Learned

Let’s find out how much you have learned by filling in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. A is a selection of items from a collection, such that the order of

selection does not matter.

2. The number of combinations of n objects taken r at a time is denoted by

3. In C (7, r), what are the possible values of r?

4. In C (n, 7), what are the possible values of n?

5. What is C (7, 5)?

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 What I Can Do

Directions: After going through different activities that deepen your understanding of

combination, you are now ready to apply your learnings to real-life situation.

There are 6 points in a plane, with no 3 points collinear.

a) How many different triangles can be drawn?

b) How many quadrilaterals?

c) How many different pentagons?

d) How many different hexagons?

Assessment
Directions: Read and answer each item carefully. Write the letter of the correct answer on

a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which of the following situations or activities illustrate combination?

A. Choosing 5 questions to answer out of 10 questions in a test.

B. Selecting 7 people to form a Student Affairs Committee.

C. Fixing the schedule of a group of students who must take exactly 8 subjects.

D. Forming a committee from the members of Math Club.

2. What do you call a selection of objects from a collection where the order of selection is

not taken into consideration?

A. sequence C. integration

B. permutation D. combination

3. Selecting 3 dancers from 10 dancers who auditioned is an example of ________.

A. combination C. integration

B. differentiation D. permutation

4. In how many ways can a committee of 3 students be chosen from 15 students?

A. 455 C. 150

B. 300 D. 45
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5. What is the value of 4! 3!?
A. 144 C. 12

B. 100 D. 7

6. C (n, 0) = _______.

A. n C. 1

B. r D. cannot be determined

7. In C (6, 4) = 15, which of the following denotes the number of objects?

A. 15 C. 4

B. 6 D. cannot be determined

8. Which is the factorial notation of C (9, 7)?

A. C.

B. D.

For #s 9-10: In C (9, 5) = 126

9. Which of the following denotes the number of objects taken at a time?

A. 126 C. 5

B. 9 D. cannot be determined

10. Which of the following denotes the number of possible selections?

A. 126 C. 5

B. 9 D. cannot be determined

11. Which of the following situations does NOT illustrate combination?

A. Answering 2 questions out of 8 essay questions

B. Picking a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner from 10 contestants

C. Choosing Top 10 finalist among the participants of Miss World

D. Playing cards

12. n (n - 1) (n - 2)...(3)(2)(1) can be simplified as

A. n raised to n C. n!

B. P (n, r) D. C (n, r)
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13. C (n, r) = 35, which of the following are possible values of n and r?
A. n= 7, r= 5 C. n= 5, r= 2
B. n= 7, r= 3 D. n= 5, r= 7
14. C (7, 3) = ________.
A. 65 C. 35
B. 56 D. 10
15. C (9, 6) = ________.
A. 120 C. 84
B. 100 D. 54

Additional Activities

Directions: Change the given expressions into C(n.r) form.

(10 )( 9 )( 8)
1. C( , )
(3)( 2 )( 1)
(12) ( 11)
2. C( , )
(2) (1)
(8) (7) (6) (5)
3. C( , )
(4) (3) (2) (1)

4. 9 C( , )
(11) (10) (9)
5. C( , )
(3) ( 2 ) ( 1)

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Answer Key

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 References

Callanta, Melvin M., et al, “Mathematics Learner’s Modules for Grade 10 “, First
Edition. Maxima J. Acelajado. Pasig City: Department of Education. 2015

Oronce, Orlando, Mendoza, Marilyn O. Advanced Algebra and

Trigonometry. Philippines, Rex Book Store Inc. 2015

https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-Decals-Concession-Convenience-
Stickers/dp/B07Q4XQ72C

https://webpages.uncc.edu/ghetyei/courses/old/S19.3166/pcv.pdf

https://www.superprof.co.uk/resources/academic/maths/probability/combinatorics/comb
ination-word-problems.html#chapter_solution-of-exercise-8

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 For inquiries or feedback, please write:

Department of Education, Schools Division of Bulacan

Curriculum Implementation Division
Learning Resource Management and Development System (LRMDS)
Capitol Compound, Guinhawa St., City of Malolos, Bulacan Email
Address: lrmdsbulacan@deped.gov.ph
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