Combinatorial Concepts

Consider a pair of six-sided dice. There are six possible outcomes

from throwing the first die {1,2,3,4,5,6} and six possible outcomes
from throwing the second die {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Altogether, there are
6*6=36 possible outcomes from throwing the two dice.
In general, if there are n events and the event i can happen in
Ni possible ways, then the number of ways in which the
sequence of n events may occur is N1N2...Nn.

Pick 5 cards from a deck of 52 - with

replacement

52*52*52*52*52=525 380,204,032 different

possible outcomes

Pick 5 cards from a deck of 52 - without

replacement
52*51*50*49*48 = 311,875,200 different
possible outcomes

Counting
Multiplication rule of counting:

If
there are m ways a first event can occur and n ways
a second event can occur, the total number of ways
the two events can occur is given by

m x n.

Factorial rule of counting:

The number
of ways n objects can be arranged in order.

n! = n x (n 1) x (n 2) x ... x 1
Note that 1! = 0! = 1 by definition.

Factorial
How many ways can you order the 3 letters A, B, and C?
There are 3 choices for the first letter, 2 for the second, and 1 for
the last, so there are 3*2*1 = 6 possible ways to order the three
letters A, B, and C.
How many ways are there to order the 6 letters A, B, C, D, E,
and F? (6*5*4*3*2*1 = 720)
Factorial: For any positive integer n, we define n factorial as:
n(n-1)(n-2)...(1). We denote n factorial as n!.
The number n! is the number of ways in which n objects can
be ordered. By definition 1! = 1 and 0! = 1.

Permutation & Combination

:Difference
Permutation is arrangement of things
/items
whereas
Combination is for the selection of
things/items
These two can be used for
Choice of alternatives
Creation of groups ( committees etc) :with
or without restrictions
Preferences

 Permutations:
The number of
different ways n
objects can be
arranged taken r at a
time. Order is
important.

Combinations:
The number of ways n
objects can be
arranged taken r at a
time. Order is not
important.

P(n,r)=n !/ ( nr)!

C(n,r)

n
r

n!
r!(n r)!

Permutations (Order is
important)
What if we chose only 3 out of the 6 letters A, B, C, D, E, and F?
There are 6 ways to choose the first letter, 5 ways to choose the
second letter, and 4 ways to choose the third letter (leaving 3
letters unchosen). That makes 6*5*4=120 possible orderings or
permutations.
Permutations are the possible ordered selections of r objects out
of a total of n objects. The number of permutations of n objects
taken r at a time is denoted by nPr, where

n!
P

n r ( n r )!

For example:
6!
6! 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1
P

6 * 5 * 4 120
(6 3)! 3!
3 * 2 *1
3

Examples
Permutations of 3 letters a,b,c , taken
2 at a time are:
ab , ba, ac, ca, bc, cb, Total 6 ways
or P( 3,2)
This is expressed as nPr or P (n,r)
Permutations of 3 letters a,b,c , taken
3 at a time are:
abc, acb, bca,bac, cab,cba 3P3 or
P(3,3)

Permutations ..
To find the number of permutations ,there are two
rules:
(a)MULTIPLICATION : If an event can occur in n different
ways and for each of which a second event can occur
in m different ways ,then the two can occur in mn
ways.
(b)ADDITION : When the events are mutually exclusive (
cannot occur together) the number of permutations is
given by m+n ways
Example : (a) There are 5 entrances to a Hall and 2 extra
doors to leave. Total number of ways a person can enter and
leave are 5x7=35 ways
(b) If there are 5 entry/exit points for men and 3 exit/entry
points for women, in how many ways they can enter and
leave ? 25 +9=34 ways

Combinations (Order is not

Important)
Suppose that when we pick 3 letters out of the 6 letters A, B, C, D, E, and F
we chose BCD, or BDC, or CBD, or CDB, or DBC, or DCB. (These are the
6 (3!) permutations or orderings of the 3 letters B, C, and D.) But these are
orderings of the same combination of 3 letters. How many combinations of 6
different letters, taking 3 at a time, are there?
Combinations are the possible selections of r items from a group of n items n
regardless of the order of selection. The number of combinations is denoted r
and is read as n choose r. An alternative notation is nCr. We define the number
of combinations of r out of n elements as:
n!
n

n r
r
r!(n r)!
For example:
6!
6!
6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 6 * 5 * 4 120
n

20
6 3
r
3!(6 3)! 3!3! (3 * 2 * 1)( 3 * 2 * 1) 3 * 2 * 1
6

Example
Combination of 3 letters a,b,c , taken
2 at a time are:
ab , ac, and bc, Total 3 ways or
C( 3,2)
This is expressed as nCr or C (n,r)
Combination of 3 letters a,b,c , taken
3 at a time are: (only 1 )
abc
3C3 or C(3,3)

Comparison example
If you have to select 3 letters of of A,B,C,D,E & F,
then:
Combinations (order is not important) is 6 C 3 (=20)
ABC,ABD,ABE,ABF, ACD,ACE,ACF,ADE,ADF & AEF
BCD,BCE,BCF,BDE,BDF,BEF
CDE,CDF,CEF
and
DEF

Permutation for the same will be 6P3

(=120)
ABC has 6 permutations like :
ABC,ACB,BAC,BCA,CAB,CBA

Exercises
(1) Find out :

P3,

P 4 , 8 !,

8C 3

(2) How many different digits can be formed

with digits 2,3,4,5,6,7,without any repetition ?
(3) In how many ways word PETROL be
arranged? How many do not begin with P ?
How many begin with P but do not end with
L ?
(4) In how many ways can the letters of
ECONOMICS be written ?
(5) In how many ways can the letters of
STATISTICIAN be written ?

Answers
(1) 504, 1680, 40320, 56,
(2) There are 6 digits :

2,3,4,5,6,7

n=6, and we have to choose 4 digits ( r=4) at a time to

form different numbers .
This will be 6P4 = 6! /2! = 360
(3) There are different letters. So letters can be
arranged in 6! Ways = 720 , ( these arrangements
may not carry any meaning).
Those which begin with P are 5! (=120), thus words
which do not begin with P are 720-120=600
(4)Since C & O occur twice each , the no. of ways is
9! / ( 2! 2!)=
(5)Since S & A occur twice and T & I occur thrice , the
answer is 12! / ( 2! 2! 3! 3! )

Exercise
(6) There are 6 books on Economics,3 on
Mathematics and 2 on Accountancy. In how many
ways can these be placed in a shelf if the books
on the same subject are to be together ?
(7) How many numbers of 4 different digits each
greater than 5000 can be formed from the digits
2,4,5,7,8,0 ?
(8) 4 men and 3 women are to be seated for a
dinner such that no two men can sit together or
two w omen can sit together

Solution
(6) Take 6 books on Economics as X, 3 books on
Maths as y, and others as z.

Now x, y ,and z can be arranged in 3! Ways

Books within x ,can be arranged in 6! Ways
Similarly Within y in 3! Ways and within Z in 2! Ways
Total no. of ways = 3! 6! 3! 2!= 51840 ways

(7) There are four digits . Since each one has to

be greater than 5000, that means first digit has
to be 5 or 7 or 8. ( thus 3 ways).
Now remaining 3 digits could be picked up from

remaining 5 digits in 5 3 ways ( = 5! / 3! = 20)

Total ways are 3 x 20= 60 ways

Solution
(8) let the seats be numbered as
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
If 3 women are on 1,3,and 5 then men
have to be on seats 2,4,6, and 7. ( This
violets condition,ruled out)
So women seated as 2,4,and 5 and men
on 1,3,5, and 7
3 women on 3 seats in 3! Ways(=6)
4 men on 4 seats in 4! (=24 ways)
Total no. of ways= 6 x 24=144