Nur Syahirah Binti Zawawi F1S

Permutation
How many 3 letter words can we make with the letters in the word LOVE?

Solution:
There are 4 letters in the word love and making 3 letter words is similar to arranging these 3
letters and order is important since LOV and VOL are different words because of the order of
the same letters L, O and V. Hence it is a permutation problem.

=n P r

= 4P3
4!
=
(4−3)!
=24
Combination
We need to form a 5 a side team in a class of 12 students. How many different teams can be
formed?

Solution:
There is nothing that indicates that the order in which the team members are selected is
important and therefore it is a combination problem.
=n C r
= 12C5
12!
=
(12−5)!(5 !)
=792