Basic Combinatorics (J)

RQ Tong
28/29 March 2021

1 Introduction
Combinatorics is all about counting, in particular techniques to count cleverly. In school,
you may have seen questions that ask about how many ways a family can be seated for a
photograph, or the probability of drawing two marbles of the same colour from a bag with
however many marbles of each colour. Today, we will be exploring the most fundamental
tools in combinatorics; with each formula, try to prove why it is true.

2 Decisions: arranging, selecting, multi-stage

• Permutations are arrangements, where the way you choose to order a number of
objects is the main point of interest. In such a context, we consider the objects
distinct: three red balls numbered R1, R2 and R3 as opposed to three identical red
balls. The formula for putting r objects out of n objects in an arrangement is
n n!
Pr = .
(n − r)!
• Combinations are selections, where the order in which you make a selection from
the objects does not matter. Consider pulling names out of a hat to put people into
groups: the order in which the names are drawn out does not matter, what matters
is who ends up being selected. The formula for selecting a group of r objects from
a pool of n objects is  
n n n!
Cr = =
r (n − r)!r!
• Product principle: situations where you need to make several independent choices,
like which shirt and which hat you will wear when you have five shirts and four hats.
Fashion sense aside, you can combine any shirt and hat into a look. The product
principle essentially states that the total number of combinations is the product of
the individual possibilities. There are 5 × 4 = 20 possible shirt plus hat pairs.

3 Pigeonhole principle
If you need to put 10 pigeons into 9 pigeonholes, there is at least one pigeonhole with
more than 1 pigeon. This may seem like common sense, but can be generalised into the
following statement: Given n discrete objects (objects that cannot be cut) to place into
r bags, the pigeonhole principle states that at least one bag contains at least b n−1
r
c+1
objects. Let’s prove this by contradiction.

1
4 Supermarket principle
Going back to permutations and combinations, the supermarket principle is about the
number of ways you can pick a total of n things from r categories at the supermarket:
 
n+r−1 (n + r − 1)!
= .
r−1 n!(r − 1)!

5 Binomial coefficients
Coefficients are the numbers preceding algebraic terms, indicating the multiple of that
term we have. Binomial refers to having two variables, like x and y. The binomial theorem
states that in the expansion of (x + y)n , terms are of the form
 
n r n−r
xy ,
r

where r ranges from 1 to n.

6 Problems
1. Bob wants to create a five-question exam using questions from number theory, geom-
etry, algebra and combinatorics, using one category twice and each other category
once. In how many ways can this be done, if the questions are in order of difficulty
(order is important)?

2. In how many ways are you permute all thirty-two pieces of a standard chess set in
a circle?

3. In a competition, each of the 14 competitors can gain between 0 and 7 points

inclusive. Only whole number marks are given. How many ways can the students
be marked?

4. How many ways can we split 10 different flavoured Easter eggs between two people
if each person gets at least one Easter egg?

5. In my sock drawer I have 9 different pairs of socks. It is too dark for me to see the
difference between the socks. How many socks should I randomly pick out to make
sure I will have a matching pair of socks?

6. If I am choosing 8 jellybeans from a jar of many jellybeans of four different colours,

how many different selections are there?

7. Find the number of solutions to a + b + c + d = 10 where a, b, c, d are non-negative

integers. What if a, b, c, d are positive integers?

2
7 Identities
1. Prove that    
n n
= .
r n−r

2. Prove that    
n+1 n
(k + 1) = (n + 1) .
k+1 k

3. (Vandermonde’s Identity) Prove that

r     
X m n m+n
= .
k=0
k r − k r

4. (Hockey-Stick Identity) Prove that for n, r ∈ N, n > r,

n    
X i n+1
= .
i=r
r r+1

Have a think about where its name came from.

5. Prove that
k  2  
X k 2k
= .
i=0
i k

8 Conclusion
All of these problems are taken from handouts, prep problems and exams at past camps. If
you want hints and/or solutions to any of these problems, email me at rtong782@gmail.com.
If you want more problems, I can send you the ones from past handouts that I chose not
to steal for mine.