FUNDAMENTAL

COUNTING
PRINCIPLE,
PERMUTATIONS,
AND COMBINATIONS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, students are
expected to:
1. apply fundamental counting principle;
2. illustrate permutation of objects;
3. derive formula for finding the number
of permutations of n objects taken r at a
time; and
4. solve problems involving permutations.
Fundamental Counting Principle
❖ Fundamental Counting Principle can
be used to determine the number of
possible outcomes when there are two or
more characteristics.
❖ Fundamental Counting Principle states that
if an event has m possible outcomes and
another independent event has n possible
outcomes, then there are m x n possible
outcomes for the two events together.
A lunch special includes one main item, one
side, and one drink.

How many different meals can you choose if

you pick one main item, one side, and one
drink?
4 x 3 x 3 =36
The Fundamental Counting
Principle
If you have 2 events: 1 event can occur m ways
and another event can occur n ways, then the
number of ways that both can occur is m x n.

Example:
Event 1 = 4 types of meats
Event 2 = 3 types of bread
How many different types of sandwiches
can you make?
4*3 = 12
What about three (3) or more
events?
❖ 3 events can occur m, n, & p ways, then the number
of ways all three can occur is m x n x p.

Example:
A sandwich can be made with 3 different types of
bread, 5 different meats, and 2 types of cheese.
How many types of sandwiches can be made if
each sandwich consists of one bread, one meat,
and one cheese.
How many different sandwiches can you make?

3 x 5 x 2 = 30 sandwiches
 Fundamental Counting Principle
A sandwich can be made with 3 different types
of bread, 5 different meats, and 2 types of
cheese. How many types of sandwiches can be
made if each sandwich consists of one bread,
one meat, and one cheese.

Bread 1 2 3

Meat 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Cheese 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

There are 30 possible types of sandwiches

(cumbersome)
What about three (3) or more
events?
❖ At a certain restaurant in General Santos
City, you have the choice of 8 different
entrees, 2 different salads, 12 different
drinks, & 6 different deserts.
❖How many different dinners (one choice
of each) can you choose?

8 x 2 x 12 x 6
1152 different dinners
Fundamental Counting
Principle with repetition
❖ Ohio Licenses plates have 3 numbers
followed by 3 letters.
1. How many different licenses plates are
possible if digits and letters can be
repeated?
Solution:
There are 10 choices for digits and 26
choices for letters.
10*10*10*26*26*26

17,576,000 different plates

How many plates are possible if
digits and numbers cannot be
repeated?

❖There are still 10 choices for the 1st

digit but only 9 choices for the 2nd, and
8 for the 3rd.
❖For the letters, there are 26 for the
first, but only 25 for the 2nd and 24 for
the 3rd.
10*9*8*26*25*24

11,232,000 plates
Phone numbers
How many different 7 digit phone
numbers are possible if the 1st digit
cannot be a 0 or 1?

8*10*10*10*10*10*10

8,000,000 different numbers

Taking a Statistics Test
A multiple choice test in
Statistics has 10 questions with 4
possible answers each. How
many ways can you complete the
test?

4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4 = 410

1,048,576 ways
Example
For a college interview, Robert has to
choose what to wear from the
following: 4 slacks, 3 shirts, 2 shoes
and 5 ties. How many possible outfits
does he have to choose from?

4x3x2x5

120 outfits
PERMUTATIONS

Order DOES matter!

PERMUTATIONS
❖ A Permutation is an arrangement
or listing of items in a particular
order/placement.

Notice, ORDER MATTERS!

❖ To find the number of Permutations
of n items, we can use the
Fundamental Counting Principle or
factorial notation.
 Permutations

The number of different

permutations of n distinct
objects is n! (n factorial)

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 n factorial (n!)
❖The factorial (denoted or
represented as n!) for a positive
number or integer (which is
denoted by n) is the product
of all the positive numbers
preceding or equivalent to n
(the positive integer)

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 n factorial (n!)

n! = n∙(n – 1)∙(n – 2)∙(n – 3)∙ ∙ ∙3∙2∙1

Examples: What is the value of the

following?
4! = 4∙3∙2∙1 = 24
6! = 6∙5∙4∙3∙2∙1 = 720
0! = 1
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Permutations

A permutation is an arrangement in which

order matters.
A B C differs from B C A
How many Permutations?

Consider three objects {A,B,C}

There are 3 choices for the first slot.

There are 2 choices for the second slot.
There are 1 choice for the last slot.
 PERMUTATIONS
The number of ways to arrange the
letters ABC: ____ ____ ____

Number of choices for first blank? 3 ____ ____

Number of choices for second blank? 3 2 ____
Number of choices for third blank? 3 2 1
3x2x1=6 3! = 3 x 2 x 1 = 6
What are those arrangements?

ABC ACB BAC BCA CAB CBA

How many Permutations?

Consider four objects {A,B,C,D}

There are 4 choices for the first slot.

There are 3 choices for the second slot.
There are 2 choices for the third slot.
There is 1 choice for the last slot.
4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24 Permutations
4! = 24
ABCD ABDC ACBD
ACDB ADBC ADCB
BACD BADC BCAD
BCDA BDAC BDCA
CABD CADB CBAD
CBDA CDAB CDBA
DABC DACB DBAC
DBCA DCAB DCBA
Permutations of n objects
chosen r at a time
To find the number of Permutations of n items
chosen r at a time, you can use the formula
n!
n pr = ( n − r )! where 0  r  n .

5! 5!
5 p3 = = = 5 * 4 * 3 = 60
(5 − 3)! 2!
Example
A combination lock will open when the
right choice of three numbers (from 0 to
30) is selected. How many different lock
combinations are possible assuming no
number is repeated?
 Example
A combination lock will open when the
right choice of three numbers (from 0 to
30) is selected. How many different lock
combinations are possible assuming no
number is repeated?
n!
p =
n r ( n − r )! where 0  r  n .

30! 30!
30 p3 = = = 30 * 29 * 28 = 24360
( 30 − 3)! 27!
Example
From a club of 24 members, a President,
Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and
Historian are to be elected. In how many
ways can the offices be filled?
n!
n pr = ( n − r )! where 0  r  n .

24! 24!
24 p5 = = =
( 24 − 5)! 19!
24 * 23 * 22 * 21 * 20 = 5,100,480
 DISTINGUISHABLE
PERMUTATIONS
The number of distinguishable permutations
of n objects where n1 are of one type, n2
are of another type, and so on
n!
n1 ! n2 ! n3 !   nk !
where n1 + n2 + n3 +∙∙∙+ nk = n

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Permutations with Repetition
The number of DISTINGUISHABLE permutations of
n objects where one object is repeated p times,
another is repeated q times, another is repeated r
times and so on and so forth. The formula is

n!
p!q!r!
 Example: Distinguishable
Permutations
A building contractor is planning to develop a subdivision
that consists of 6 one-story houses, 4 two-story houses,
and 2 split-level houses. In how many distinguishable
ways can the houses be arranged?

Solution:
There are 12 houses in the subdivision
n = 12, n1 = 6, n2 = 4, n3 = 2
12!
6! 4! 2!
= 13,860 distinguishable ways
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
A dog has 8 puppies, 3 male
and 5 female. How many birth
orders are possible?
n!
p!q!r!
8!/(3!*5!)
56 ways
Find the number of distinguishable
permutations of the letters in the
word…
OHIO: 4 letters with O repeated 2 times
4! = 24 = 12 n!
2! 2
p!q!r!
MISSISSIPPI: 11 letters with I repeated 4
times, S repeated 4 times, P repeated 2
times
11! = 39,916,800 = 34,650
4!*4!*2! 24*24*2
Find the number of distinguishable
permutations of the letters in the
following words.
1. SUMMER 360 ways
2. WATERFALL 90,720 ways
3. STATISTICS
4. PROBABILITY
5. PHILIPPINES
6. CALCULATOR
CIRCULAR PERMUTATIONS

❖ Circular permutation is the total

number of ways in which n distinct
objects can be arranged around a fix
circle.
❖ No beginning or end..... : (n-1)!
CIRCULAR PERMUTATIONS
During an activity at school, 10 children are
asked to sit in a circle. In how many way can
they be arranged?

❖There are ten children so the number of

arrangements can be described by (10 - 1)! or 9!
9! = 9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1 or 362,880 ways
COMBINATIONS
A combination is an arrangement or listing of
items in which order does not matter.

ORDER DOES NOT MATTER!

Since the order does not matter in

combinations, there are fewer
combinations than permutations. The
combinations are a "subset" of the
permutations.
COMBINATIONS
To find the number of combinations of n
items chosen r at a time, you can use the
formula

n!
C = where 0  r  n .
n r r! ( n − r )!
COMBINATIONS
To find the number of Combinations of n items
chosen r at a time, you can use the formula

n!
C = where 0  r  n .
n r r! ( n − r )!

5! 5!
5 C3 = = =
3! (5 − 3)! 3!2!
5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 5 * 4 20
= = = 10
3 * 2 *1* 2 *1 2 *1 2
COMBINATIONS

Example
To play a particular card game,
each player is dealt five cards from
a standard deck of 52 cards. How
many different hands are possible?
COMBINATIONS
To play a particular card game, each player
is dealt five cards from a standard deck of
52 cards. How many different hands are
possible?
52! 52!
52 C5 = = =
5! (52 − 5)! 5!47!
52 * 51 * 50 * 49 * 48
= 2,598,960
5* 4* 3* 2*1
Example

A student must answer 3 out of 5

essay questions on a test. In how
many different ways can the
student select the questions?
Example

A student must answer 3 out of 5

essay questions on a test. In how
many different ways can the
student select the questions?
5! 5! 5 * 4
5 C3 = = = = 10
3! (5 − 3)! 3!2! 2 * 1
 Example
A basketball team consists of two centers, five
forwards, and four guards. In how many ways
can the coach select a starting line up of one
center, two forwards, and two guards?
Center: Forwards: Guards:
2! 5! 5 * 4 4! 4 * 3
2 C1 = =25 2
C = = = 10 4 C2 = = =6
1!1! 2!3! 2 * 1 2!2! 2 * 1

2 C1 * 5 C 2 * 4 C 2

Thus, the number of ways to select the

starting line up is 2*10*6 = 120.
In your own words, discuss the following.
1. What is Permutation?
2. What is Combination?
3. Formula for permutation of n items
taken r at a time?
4. Formula for combination of n items
taken r at a time?
5. Formula for distinguishable
permutation?
6. Formula for circular permutation?