PERMUTATIONS &

COMBINATIONS
DILKI IYONA RATHNAYAKE
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• You will be able to understand the concept of permutations and combinations.

• As well as you will be able to calculate the permutations and combinations on regarding
the problems.
• And also you can develop your thinking knowledge of how we apply the permutations
and combinations to the given problems.
FACTORIALS

• Factorials are mathematical operations that involve multiplying a sequence of consecutive

positive integers. The factorial of a non-negative integer n, denoted by n!, is the product
of all positive integers from 1 to n.
Mathematically, the factorial of a number n is defined as:
• n! = n × (n - 1) × (n - 2) × ... × 3 × 2 × 1
For example, the factorial of 5 (written as 5!) is calculated as:
• 5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120
FACTORIALS
• Factorials have various applications in mathematics, statistics, and computer science.
• They are used to solve combinatorial problems, calculate permutations and combinations,
and determine the number of ways objects can be arranged.
• Factorials also appear in mathematical series, probability calculations, and in algorithms
for solving equations.
EXERCISES

Simplify these statements

5!×8!×6!
1. 10!×9!
𝑛!
2. 5!× 𝑛−2 !

(n + 2)!
3.
n!
(2n + 2)!
4.
2n!
(n − 1)!
5.
(n + 1)!
PERMUTATIONS VS. COMBINATIONS

• Both are ways to count the possibilities

• The difference between them is whether order matters or not
• Consider a poker hand:
• A♦, 5♥, 7♣, 10♠, K♠
• Is that the same hand as:
• K♠, 10♠, 7♣, 5♥, A♦
• Does the order the cards are handed out matter?
• If yes, then we are dealing with permutations
• If no, then we are dealing with combinations
PERMUTATIONS

• A permutation is an ordered arrangement of the elements of some

set S
• Let S = {a, b, c}
• c, b, a is a permutation of S
• b, c, a is a different permutation of S
• An r-permutation is an ordered arrangement of r elements of the
set
• A♦, 5♥, 7♣, 10♠, K♠ is a 5-permutation of the set of cards
• The notation for the number of r-permutations:P(n,r)
• The poker hand is one of P(52,5) permutations
 PERMUTATIONS

• Number of poker hands (5 cards):

52! 52! 47! ×48×49×50×51×52 P(n, r )  n(n 1)(n  2)...(n  r  1)
• P(52,5) = = = = 311,875,200
52−5 ! 47! 47!
n
• Number of (initial) blackjack hands (2 cards): 
n!
(n  r )!
 i
i  n  r 1
52! 52! 50! ×51×52
• P(52,2) = = = = 2,652
52−2 ! 50! 50!

• r-permutation notation: P(n,r)

• The poker hand is one of P(52,5) permutations
R-PERMUTATIONS EXAMPLE

How many ways are there for 5 people in this class to give presentations if
there are 27 students in the class?
27! 27! 22! ×23×24×25×26×27
• P(27,5) = = = = 9,687,600
27−5 ! 22! 22!
EXERCISES

1. How many ways can you arrange the letters of the word "BOOK"?
2. In how many ways can you arrange the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to form a five-digit number?
(Repetitions allowed)
3. A committee of 4 people is to be formed from a group of 7 individuals. How many different
committees can be formed?
4. In how many ways can you arrange the letters of the word "BALLOON"?
5. Mary has 6 different books on a shelf. In how many ways can she arrange them so that the two
particular books are next to each other?
6. How many three-letter words can you form using the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F if repetitions are
not allowed?
EXERCISES

7. A pizza restaurant offers 5 different toppings. If you can choose up to 3 toppings on

your pizza, how many different pizzas can be made?
8. How many different ways can 5 people be seated around a circular table?
9. In how many ways can you arrange the letters of the word "MATH" such that the
vowels (A) always come together?
10. There are 10 students in a class, and they will be ranked from 1st to 10th. In how many
ways can this be done?
PERMUTATION FORMULA PROOF

• There are n ways to choose the first element

• n-1 ways to choose the second
• n-2 ways to choose the third
• …
• n-r+1 ways to choose the rth element

• By the product rule, that gives us:

P(n,r) = n(n-1)(n-2)…(n-r+1)
PERMUTATIONS VS. R-PERMUTATIONS

• r-permutations: Choosing an ordered 5 card hand is P(52,5)

• When people say “permutations”, they almost always mean r-permutations
• But the name can refer to both

• Permutations: Choosing an order for all 52 cards is P(52,52) = 52!

• Thus, P(n,n) = n!
SAMPLE QUESTION

• How many permutations of {a, b, c, d, e, f, g} end with a?

• Note that the set has 7 elements

• The last character must be a

• The rest can be in any order
• Thus, we want a 6-permutation on the set {b, c, d, e, f, g}
• P(6,6) = 6! = 720

• Why is it not P(7,6)?

 COMBINATIONS

• What if order doesn’t matter?

• In poker, the following two hands are equivalent:
• A♦, 5♥, 7♣, 10♠, K♠
• K♠, 10♠, 7♣, 5♥, A♦

n!
C (n, r ) 
• The number of r-combinations of a set with n r!(n  r )!
elements, where n is non-negative and 0≤r≤n is:
COMBINATIONS EXAMPLE

• How many different poker hands are there (5 cards)?

52! 52! 52 * 51* 50 * 49 * 48 * 47!

C (52,5)     2,598,960
5!(52  5)! 5!47! 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 *1* 47!
• How many different (initial) blackjack hands are there?

52! 52! 52 * 51
C (52,2)     1,326
2!(52  2)! 2!50! 2 *1
EXAMPLES

1. Out of a group of 5 people, a pair needs to be formed. The number of possible

combinations can be calculated as follows.

5! 3!4  5
C (5,2)    10
2!3! 3!2!
2. The number of 4-letter Combinations which can be made from the letters of the word
DRIVEN is
6! 4!5  6
C (6,4)    15
2!4! 2!4!
EXERCISES

1. Find the number of ways to choose 3 different fruits from a basket containing 5
different types of fruits (apple, banana, orange, grape, and mango).
2. In how many ways can a team of 4 students be selected from a class of 20 students for
a quiz competition?
3. A pizza place offers 8 different toppings. How many different combinations of 4
toppings can be chosen for a customized pizza?
4. A lock consists of a 4-digit code. How many different combinations are possible if each
digit can be any number from 0 to 9?
EXERCISES

5. A committee of 3 people needs to be formed from a group of 10 men and 8 women. In

how many ways can the committee be formed if it should have at least one man and one
woman?
6. In how many ways can a committee of 5 members be chosen from a group of 10 men and 6
women?
7. A bag contains 10 red balls, 8 blue balls, and 6 green balls. In how many ways can you
choose 4 balls from the bag if each ball should be of a different color?
8. A team of 3 engineers needs to be formed from a pool of 5 software engineers and 4
hardware engineers. How many different combinations of teams are possible?
COMBINATION FORMULA PROOF

• Let C(52,5) be the number of ways to generate unordered poker hands

• The number of ordered poker hands is P(52,5) = 311,875,200
• The number of ways to order a single poker hand is P(5,5) = 5! = 120
• The total number of unordered poker hands is the total number of
ordered hands divided by the number of ways to order each hand
• Thus, C(52,5) = P(52,5)/P(5,5)
COMBINATION FORMULA PROOF

• Let C(n,r) be the number of ways to generate unordered

combinations
• The number of ordered combinations (i.e. r-permutations) is P(n,r)
• The number of ways to order a single one of those r-permutations
P(r,r)
• The total number of unordered combinations is the total number of
ordered combinations (i.e. r-permutations) divided by the number of
ways to order each combination
• Thus, C(n,r) = P(n,r)/P(r,r)
EXAMPLE(MIXED)

• A committee of 3 people needs to be chosen from a group of 7 men and 5 women. In

how many ways can the committee be formed if there should be at least one man and
one woman in the committee?
To find the total number of possible combinations, we need to consider different cases:
i) One man and two women: C(7, 1) * C(5, 2) = 7 * 10 = 70 ways.
ii) Two men and one woman: C(7, 2) * C(5, 1) = 21 * 5 = 105 ways.
iii) Three men: C(7, 3) = 35 ways.
Total ways = 70 + 105 + 35 = 210 ways.
 EXERCISES(MIXED)

1. In how many ways can a group of 4 people be selected from a class of 30 students to form a study
group if two particular students, Alex and Ben, refuse to be in the same group?
2. A password of length 6 needs to be created using the letters A, B, C, D (repetition allowed) and
two digits (0-9, without repetition). How many different passwords are possible?
3. A group of 5 people needs to be formed from a pool of 7 men and 6 women. In how many ways
can the group be formed if there should be at least 2 men and 2 women in the group?
4. In how many ways can the letters of the word "MUSIC" be arranged such that the vowels always
come together?
 EXERCISES

5. A team of 5 basketball players needs to be chosen from a group of 10 players, including 3 centers,
4 forwards, and 3 guards. In how many ways can the team be formed if it should have 2 centers, 2
forwards, and 1 guard?
6. A group of 6 people, including 2 married couples, is to be seated in a row. In how many ways can
they be seated if the two married couples should not be sitting together?
7. A lock has a 4-digit code. Each digit can be any number from 0 to 9 (repetition allowed). How
many different codes are possible if the first digit cannot be 0?
END