Counting

1. Counting Lists of Numbers (From a to b)

The number of items in the list a, a + 1, … , b − 1, b, where a ≤ b are integers, is

𝐛 − 𝐚 + 𝟏.

Ex) How many numbers are in the list

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16?

Ex) How many numbers are in the list

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26?

Ex) How many multiples of 3 are between 62 and 215?

Ex) How many 4-digit numbers are perfect cubes?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

2. Counting with Addition and Subtraction (Venn Diagram)

Fill in the numbers which correspond exactly to a single region of the diagram.

Ex) At Brown High School, there are 12 players on the basketball team. All of the players are
taking at least one foreign language class. The school offers only Spanish and French as its
foreign language classes. 8 of the players are taking Spanish and 5 of the players are taking
both languages. How many players are taking French?

Ex) Every student in my school is in either Chemistry class or Biology class, or both. Let x be
the number of students in Chemistry class, y be the number of students in Biology class, and
z be the number of students that are in both classes. Find an expression in terms of x, y, and z
for how many students there are in my school.

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

2-1. Principles of Inclusion-Exclusion (PIE)

Ex) At Sunnydale High School there are 55 students in either algebra, biology, or chemistry
class. There are 28 students in algebra class, 30 students in biology class, and 24 students in
chemistry class. There are 8 students in both algebra and biology, 16 students in both biology
and chemistry, and 5 students in both algebra and chemistry. How many students are in all
three classes?

Ex) Find the number of positive integers less than or equal to 1000 that are divisible by 7, 10,
or 15.

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

3. Counting Multiple Events (Series of Independent Events)

When counting multiple events, we multiply: the number of ways that A and B can
occur is (𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐀 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫) × (𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐁 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫).

Ex) You have three shirts and four pairs of pants. How many outfits consisting of one shirt
and one pair of pants can you make?

Ex) In how many ways can we form an international commission if we must choose one
European country from among 6 European countries, one Asian country from among 4, one
North American country from among 3, and one African country from among 7?

Ex) In how many ways can we form a license plate if there are 7 characters, none of which is
the letter O, the first of which is a numerical digit(0-9), the second of which is a letter, and
the remaining five of which can be either a digit or a letter(but not the letter O)?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

4. Permutation (n!, nPr)

The number of ways to order n different objects is n!.

The number of permutations of size r from a group of n objects is nPr.

Ex) A club has n members, where n is a positive integer. In how many ways can we choose r
different officers of the club (where r is also a positive integer, and r < 𝑛), such that no
member can hold more than one office?

We have n choices to fill the first office.

We have n − 1 choices to fill the second office.
We have n − 2 choices to fill the third office.
And so on.
When we get to the r th office, we’ve already chosen r − 1 members for the
previous r − 1 offices, so we have n − (r − 1) = n − r + 1 choices for the r th
office.

n!
nPr = n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × ⋯ × (n − r + 1) =
(n − r)!

Ex) In how many ways can Marry arrange four different books on a shelf?

Ex) Your math club has 10 members. In how many ways can it select a president, a vice-
president, and a treasurer if no member can hold more than one office?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

5. Casework

When faced with a series of independent choices, one after the other, we multiply the
number of options at each step. When faced with exclusive options (meaning we
can’t choose more than one), we add the number of options.

Ex) On the island of Mumble, the Mumblian alphabet has only 5 letters, and every word in
the Mumblian language has no more than 3 letters in it. How many words are possible?

6. Complementary Counting

Sometimes it’s easier to count what we don’t want rather than what we do want.

Ex) The smith family has 4 sons and 3 daughters. In how many ways can they be seated in a
row of 7 chairs such that at least 2 boys are next to each other?

Ex) In how many ways can 6 people be seated in a row of chairs if two of the people, Kevin
and Peter, refuse to sit next to each other?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

7. Permutations with Repeated Elements

Ex) How many distinct arrangements are there of BANANA?

Ex) How many ways to display 3 red shirts, 4 blue shirts, and 1 white shirt in a row?

8. Counting Pairs of Items

Ex) A round-robin tennis tournament consists of each player playing every other player
exactly once. How many matches will be held during an n-person round-robin tennis
tournament, where n > 2?

Ex) In a class of 20 students, each student was asked to shake hands with each other. How
many handshakes were exchanged?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

9.Counting with Symmetries

Ex) In how many different ways can 6 people be seated at a round table? Two seating
arrangements are considered the same if, for each person, the person to his or her left is the
same in both arrangements.
i) All six arrangements of the people A through F correspond to the same
arrangement.

ii) We first place person A. Once we have placed person A, we have fixed the
rotation.

Ex) In how many distinct ways can 4 keys be placed on a keychain? Two arrangements are
not considered different if the keys are in the same order (or can be made to be in the same
order without taking the keys off the chain.)

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

10. Combination (Very, Very Important!)

Make sure to understand the difference between permutation (order of election

matters) and combination (order doesn’t matter).
𝐧
The number of choosing n objects from a total of n objects is nCr or ( ).
𝐫

Ex) In how many ways can a President and a Vice-President be chosen from a group of 4
people?

Ex) In how many ways can a 2-person committee be chosen from a group of 4 people?

10-1. Combinatorial Identities

n n
 ( )=( )
r n−r

n n−1 n−1
 ( )=( )+( )
r r−1 r

n n n n
 ( ) + ( ) + ( ) + ⋯ + ( ) = 2n
0 1 2 n

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

10-2. Paths on a Grid

Ex) Each block on the grid shown is 1 unit by 1 unit. Suppose we wish to walk from A to B
via 7 unit path, but we have to stay on the grid – no cutting across blocks.
(a) How many steps to the right do we have to take?
(b) How many steps up do we have to take?
(c) How many different paths can we take?
B

Ex) Consider the grid shown below.

(a) How many 9-step paths are there from E to G?
(b) How many of those paths pass through F?
E

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

10-3. More Committee-Type Problems

Ex) Coach Ham is preparing the 5-person starting lineup for his basketball team. There are 12
players on the team. Two of them, Brian and James, are league All-Stars, so they’ll definitely
be in the starting lineup. How many different starting lineups are possible?

Ex) There are 5 men and 6 women in the Town Library Club. They wish to form a 5-person
steering committee with 2 men and 3 women. In how many ways can they form the
committee?

Ex) Coach Sausage is also preparing the 5-person starting lineup out of 12 players on the
team. Two of them, Michael and Tom, refuse to play together. How many starting lineups can
Coach Sausage make if the starting lineup can’t contain both Michael and Tom?

Ex) In how many ways can a dog breeder separate his 10 puppies into a group of 4 and a
group of 6 if he has to keep Lion and Tiger, two of the puppies, in separate groups?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

10-4. Distinguishability

Distinguishable means that we can tell the items apart, and indistinguishable mean
we can’t. For example, there are 3! = 6 ways to order 3 distinguishable items, but
only 1 way to order 3 indistinguishable items.

Ex) How many ways are there to put 4 distinguishable balls into 2 distinguishable boxes?

Ex) How many ways are there to put 4 distinguishable balls into 2 indistinguishable boxes?

Ex) How many ways are there to put 4 indistinguishable balls into 2 distinguishable boxes?

Ex) How many ways are there to put 4 indistinguishable balls into 2 indistinguishable boxes?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

10-5. Stars and Bars Method (n indistinguishable balls and k distinguishable boxes)

Theorem 1
The number of ways to write n as an ordered sum of k positive integers is

Each of k distinguishable boxes must have at least one of n indistinguishable balls.

Ex) In how many ways can I distribute seven donuts to Amy and Brian if each must get at
least one donut?

Ex) How many ordered triples of positive integers satisfy a + b + c = 11?

* * * * * * * * * * *

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Theorem 2
The number of ways to write n as an ordered sum of k non-negative integers is

It is allowed to have any of k distinguishable boxes to be empty.

Ex) How many ways are there to put 4 indistinguishable balls into 2 distinguishable boxes?

Ex) How many ordered triples of non-negative integers satisfy a + b + c = 11?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 1

There are 360 people in my school. 15 take calculus, physics, and chemistry, and 15 don’t
take any of them. 180 take calculus. Twice as many students take chemistry as take physics.
75 take both calculus and chemistry, and 75 take both physics and chemistry. Only 30 take
both physics and calculus. How many students take physics?

Example 2

In how many ways can you spell the word NOON in the grid below? You can start on any
letter, then on each step you can move one letter in any direction (up, down, left, right, or
diagonal). You cannot visit the same letter twice.

NNNN
NOON
NOON
NNNN

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 3

Let S be a cube. Compute the number of planes which pass through at least three vertices of S.

Example 4

I have a bag with marbles numbered from 1 to 6. Mathew has a bag with marbles numbered
from 1 to 12. Mathew chooses one marble from his bag and I choose two from mine. In how
many ways can we choose the marbles (where the order of my choices does matter) such that
the sum of the numbers on my marbles equals the number on his?

Example 5

How many zeroes do we write when we write all the integers from 1 to 256 in base 2?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 6

In a sports league, there are 20 total teams, divided into 4 divisions of 5 teams each. Over the
course of a season, each team plays each of the other teams in its own division 3 times, and
each of the other teams in the other divisions twice. How many games does the league have
in a complete season?

Example 7

How many diagonals of a regular octagon are not parallel to one of the sides?

Example 8

I have 7 different keys: 2 for my house, 2 for my car, and 3 for my office. I want to place
these keys on a keyring such that the house keys are next to each other and the car keys are
next to each other. In how many ways can I place the keys on the keyring? (Rotations and
flips of the keyring don’t change the arrangement)

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 9

The sundae bar at Sarah’s favorite restaurant has 5 toppings: hot fudge, sprinkles, walnuts,
cherries, and whipped cream. In how many different ways can Sarah top her sundae if she is
restricted to at most 2 toppings?

Example 10

In poker, a 5-card hand is called a three of a kind if there are three cards of one rank and two
other cards which are not the same rank as each other or as the other three cards. How many
5-card hands are three of a kind?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 11

In the diagram shown below, note that the grid path from F to G is missing, so paths from D
to E cannot pass between F and G. How many paths are there from D to E?
E

F G

Example 12

Nine lines are drawn in a plane. What is the largest possible number of points in the plane at
which at least two of the nine lines intersect?

Example 13

I have n friends. Every night of the 365-day year I invite three of them to dinner. What is the
smallest n could be such that it is still possible for me to make these invitations without ever
inviting the same group of three friends? (I can invite the same friend, or even the same pair
of friends, but never the same whole group of three.)

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 14

Mack the bug starts at the point (0, 0, 0) at noon and each minute moves one unit in either
the positive x-direction, the positive y-direction, or the positive z-direction. Thus, after 1
minute he could be at (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1); after 2 minutes, he could be at
(2, 0, 0), (0, 2, 0), (0, 0, 2), (1, 1, 0), (1, 0, 1), (0,1, 1). How many different paths could he
take to (3, 5, 2)?

Example 15

Nine parallel lines in a plane intersect a set of n parallel lines that go in another direction. The
lines form a total of 360 parallelograms, many of which overlap each other. Find n.

Example 16

Janie is a house painter. She has been given a contract to paint any k of the houses that she
wants on a street that contains n houses. Janie has j different colors of point, in unlimited
supply. She can use only one color on any given house, but for each house, she gets to pick
which color to use. In terms of j, k, and n, in how many different ways can Janie fulfill her
contract?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 17

Twenty married couples are at a party. Every man shakes hands with everyone except himself
and his spouse. Half of the women refuse to shake hands with any other women. The other 10
women all shake hands with each other (but not with themselves). How many handshakes are
there at the party?

Example 18

In the grid shown below, how many paths are there from A to B using only steps up or to the
right? Note that a path cannot traverse over a missing edge.
B

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Example 19

A lattice point is a point with integer coordinates. In how many ways can we pick 3 lattice
points such that both coordinates of each point are positive integers less than 5, and the three
points form a triangle?

Example 20

An 8 × 8 checkerboard has alternating black and white squares, as shown below. How many
distinct rectangles, with sides on the grid lines of the checkerboard and containing at least 4
black squares, can be drawn on the checkerboard?

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Past Exam 1

At a party, each man danced with exactly three women and each woman danced with exactly
two men. Twelve men attended the party. How many women attended the party?
(A) 8 (B) 12 (C) 16 (D) 18 (E) 24

Past Exam 2

Past Exam 3

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Past Exam 4

Past Exam 5

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Past Exam 6

Past Exam 7

Pat is to select six cookies from a tray containing only chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut
butter cookies. There are at least six of each of these three kinds of cookies on the tray. How
many different assortments of six cookies can be selected?
(A) 22 (B) 25 (C) 27 (D) 28 (E) 729

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Past Exam 8

Past Exam 9

A 7-digit telephone number d1 d2 d3 d4 d5 d6 d7 is called memorable if the prefix sequence

d1 d2 d3 is exactly the same as either of the sequences d4 d5 d6 or d5 d6 d7 (possibly both).
Assume that each di can be any of the ten decimal digits 0, 1, 2 … , 9. What is the number
of distinct memorable telephone numbers?
(A) 19,810 (B) 19,910 (C) 19,990 (D) 20,000 (E) 20,100

AMC Class Notes by Jinho Ham

Past Exam 10

Nine chairs in a row are to be occupied by six students and Professors Alpha, Beta, and
Gamma. The three professors arrive before the six students and decide to choose their chairs
so that each professor will be between two students. In how many ways can professors Alpha,
Beta, and Gamma choose their chairs?
(A) 12 (B) 36 (C) 60 (D) 84 (E) 630

Past Exam 11

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Past Exam 12

Past Exam 13

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Past AIME 3

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