Basic Counting

Principle
BY: RARA SANDHY WINANDA
A. The Addition Principle / Sum Rule

• In the process of solving a

counting problem, there
are two very simple but
basic principles that we
always apply.
• They are called the
Addition Principle and the
Multiplication Principle
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
Example 1

• A group of students consists of 4 boys and 3 girls.

How many ways are there to select 2 students of
the same sex from the group?

• Solution
we naturally divide our consideration into two
distinct cases: both of the two students are boys,
or, both are girls.
Assume the 3 girls are g1, g2 and g3. Then there
are 3 ways to form such a pair; namely, {g1, g2},
{g1, g3}, {g2, g3} .
Likewise, we have 4 boys, called (b1,b2,b3,b4),
Then there are 6 ways to form such a pair; namely,
{b1, b2}, {b1, b3}, {b1, b4}, {b2, b3}, {b2, b4}, {b3,
b4}.
Thus, the desired number of ways is (6 + 3), which is
9
The Addition Principle

• Suppose that there are 𝑛1 ways for the event 𝐸1 to occur

and 𝑛2 ways for the event 𝐸2 to occur. If all these ways are
distinct, then the number of ways for 𝐸1 or 𝐸2 to occur is 𝑛1
+ 𝑛2 .

• Using the language of sets,

𝐼𝑓 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = ∅, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 |𝐴 ∪ 𝐵|
= |𝐴| + |𝐵|.
Example 2

• From town X to town Y,

one can travel by air,
land or sea. There are 3
different ways by air, 4
different ways by land
and 2 different ways by • Solution
sea as shown in Figure 1.1 |A1| = 3, |A2| = 4 and |A3| = 2 .
aHow many ways are
there from X to Y ? |A1| + |A1| + |A1| =3+4+2=9 .
Example 3

• Find the number of squares contained in the 4 × • Solution

4 array (where each cell is a square) of Figure
1.2. The squares in the array can be divided into the
following 4 sets: A1: the set of 1 × 1 squares,
• A2: the set of 2 × 2 squares,
• A3: the set of 3 × 3 squares,
• A4: the set of 4 × 4 squares.

• There are 16 “1 × 1 squares”. Thus |A1| = 16.

There are nine “2 × 2 squares”. Thus |A2| = 9.
Likewise, |A3| = 4 and |A4| = 1.
• Clearly, the sets A1, A2, A3, A4 are pairwise
disjoint and A1∪A2∪ A3 ∪A4 is the set of the
squares contained in the array of Figure 1.2.
Thus, by (AP), the desired number of squares is
given by 16 + 9 + 4 + 1 = 30
B. The Multiplication Principle /
Product Rule
• Mr. Tan is now in town X and ready to leave for town Z by
car. But before he can reach town Z, he has to pass
through town Y . There are 4 roads (labeled 1, 2, 3, 4)
linking X and Y , and 3 roads (labelled as a, b, c) linking Y
and Z as shown in Figure 2.1. How many ways are there for
him to drive from X to Z?
The Multiplication Principle

• Suppose that an event E can be split into two events E1

and E2 in ordered stages. If there are n1 ways for E1 to
occur and n2 ways for E2 to occur, then the number of
ways for the event E to occur is 𝑛1 ⨯ 𝑛2 .
Example 1.

• How many ways are there

to select 2 students of
different sex from a group
of 4 boys and 3 girls?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Multiplication Principle

Suppose that an event 𝐸 can be split into 𝑘 events 𝐸1 , 𝐸2 ,...,

𝐸𝑘 in ordered stages.
If there are 𝑛1 ways for 𝐸1 to occur; 𝑛2 ways for 𝐸2 to
occur,..., and 𝑛𝑘 ways for 𝐸𝑘 to occur,
then the number of ways for the event 𝐸 to occur is given
by
𝑛1 ⨯ 𝑛2 ⨯ … ⨯ 𝑛𝑘 .
Example 2

• 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 2 − 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠:

00, 01, 10, 11.
• 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 3 − 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠:
000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111.

𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 6 − 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚?

• 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
• 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 number of sequences is 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2=26 .
Example 3

• Suppose a bookcase shelf

has 5 History texts, 3
Sociology texts, 6
Anthropology texts, and 4
Psychology texts.
• Find the number 𝑛 of ways
a student can choose:
(a) one of the texts;
(b) one of each type of
text.
Solution

• (a) Here the Sum Rule applies;

hence, 𝑛 = 5 + 3 + 6 + 4 = 18.

(b) Here the Product Rule applies;

hence, 𝑛 = 5 · 3 · 6 · 4 = 360
Example 4

• A history class contains 8

male students and 6 female
students. Find the number n
of ways that the class can
elect:
(a) 1 class representative;
(b) 2 class representatives, 1
male and 1 female;
(c) 1 president and 1 vice
president. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
Solution

• (a) Here the Sum Rule is used; hence, n = 8 + 6 = 14.

• (b) Here the Product Rule is used; hence, n = 8 · 6 = 48.
• (c) There are 14 ways to elect the president, and then 13
ways to elect the vice president. Thus n = 14 · 13 = 182.
Example 5

• There are four bus lines

between A and B, and
three bus lines between B
and C. Find the number m
of ways that a man can
travel by bus:
(a) from A to C by way of B;
(b) roundtrip from A to C by
way of B;
(c) roundtrip from A to C by
way of B but without using a
bus line more than once. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Solution

• (a) There are 4 ways to go from A to B and 3 ways from B to C;

hence 𝑛 = 4 · 3 = 12.
• (b) There are 12 ways to go from A to C by way of B, and 12
ways to return. Thus 𝑛 = 12 · 12 = 144.
• (c) The man will travel from A to B to C to B to A. Enter these
letters with connecting arrows as follows: A → B → C → B → A
The man can travel four ways from A to B and three ways from
B to C, but he can only travel two ways from C to B and three
ways from B to A since he does not want to use a bus line more
than once.
• Thus, by the Product Rule, n = 4 · 3 · 2 · 3 = 72
Thank you