Permutations & Combinations

Advanced Algebra B
What’s the Difference?
 In English we use the word “combination” loosely,
without thinking if the order of things is important. In
other words:
 “My fruit salad is a combination of apples, grapes and
bananas” We don't care what order the fruits are in,
they could also be “bananas, grapes and apples” or
“grapes, apples and bananas”, its the same fruit salad.
 “The combination to the safe was 472.” Now we do
care about the order. “724” would not work, nor would
“247”. It has to be exactly 4-7-2.
 What’s the Difference?
 In Mathematics we use more precise language:
 If the order doesn't matter, it is a Combination.
 If the order does matter it is a Permutation.

So, we should really call

this a “Permutation Lock”?!?
In other words: A Permutation is an ordered Combination.
(To help you to remember, think “Permutation  Position”)
Permutations with
Repetition
 If you have n things to choose from, and you
choose r of them, then the permutations are:
n  n  n... (r times) = nr
 there are n possibilities for the first choice, THEN there
are n possibilities for the second choice, and so on.
 In the lock above, there are 10 numbers to
choose from (0,1,..9) and you choose 3 of them:
 10  10  10 = 103 = 1,000 permutations
 So, the formula is simply: # perm = nr
 where n is the number of things to choose from, and
you choose r of them (repetition allowed, order
matters)
 Permutations without
Repetition
 What order could 16 pool balls be put in?
 After choosing the first ball, you can't choose it again.
So, your first choice would have 16 possibilities, and
your next choice would have 15 possibilities, then 14…
 The total permutations would be:
#perm = 16 × 15 × 14 × 13 ...
= 20,922,789,888,000
 But maybe you don't want to choose them all, just 3 of
them, so how many choices do you have?
# perm = 16 × 15 × 14 = 3,360
 In other words, there are 3,360 different ways that 3
pool balls could be selected out of 16 balls.
The FACTORIAL Function: !
 The factorial function (symbol: !) just means
to multiply a series of descending natural
numbers. Examples:
4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24
7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040
1! = 1
n! = n(n - 1)(n - 2)…1
 Note: it is generally agreed that 0! = 1
The Permutation Function
 So, if you wanted to select all of the billiard
balls the permutations would be:
16! = 20,922,789,888,000
 If you wanted to select just 3, then you
have to stop the multiplying after 14. There
is a neat trick to do this, you divide 16! by
13! (Why?)
16 15 14 13...
 16 15 14
13 12 11...
The Permutation Function
 Look carefully and you will realize that 16!/13! Is
equal to 16!/(16-3)!
 There is a neat formula to accomplish this:
n!
P
n r 
(n  r)!
where n is the number of things to choose from,
and you choose r of them (no repetition, order
matters)
Combinations

 Thereare also two types of

combinations (remember the order
does not matter)
 Repetition is Allowed:
• such as coins in your pocket (5,5,5,10,10)
 No Repetition:
• such as lottery numbers (2,14,15,27,30,33)
Combinations without
Repetition
 This is how lotteries work. The
numbers are drawn one at a time,
and if you have the lucky numbers
(no matter what order) you win!
 The easiest way to explain it is to
assume that the order does matter
(think of permutations),then alter it
so the order does not matter.
Combinations without
Repetition
 Going back to our pool ball example, let us
say that you just want to know which 3 pool
balls were chosen, not the order.
 We already know that 3 out of 16 gave us
3360 permutations. But many of those will
be the same to us now, because we don't
care what order.
 Let us say balls 1, 2, and 3 were chosen.
How many possibilities are there?
Combinations without
Repetition
Order does matter Order doesn't matter
123 123
132
231
213
312
321
 So, the permutations will have six times
more possibilities.
The Combination Formula
 There’s an easy way to work out how
many ways "1 2 3" could be placed in
order. The answer is:
3! = 3 x 2 x 1 = 6
 All we need to do is adjust our
permutations formula to reduce it by how
many ways the objects could be in order
(because we aren't interested in the order any more):

n! 1 n!
n Cr   
(n  r)! r! (n  r)!r!
 Example
 How many different committees of 4 people can
be formed from a club with 10 members?
10!
10 C 4   210 committees
(10  4)!4!

 How many ways can a 5 card hand be dealt

from a deck of 52 cards?

 Interesting Symmetry
 So remember, do the permutation, then
reduce by a further factor of "r!”
 It is interesting to also note how this
formula is nice and symmetrical: In other
words choosing 3 balls out of 16, or
choosing 13 balls out of 16 have the same
number of combinations. (Why?)
n! n! n!
n Cr     n Cnr
(n  r)!r! (n  (n  r))!(n  r)! (r)!(n  r)!
Examples with Cards
 How many different 5 card hands are
there?
52!
52 C5 
(52  5)!5!
52!

47!5!
 2,598,960
Examples with Cards
 How many 5 card hands contain
exactly two aces?
 Take the aces first…You need to pick 2 of
4 so you have: 4C2
 Now, for the remaining 3 cards, you have
48 to pick from (the whole deck minus the
aces): 48C3
 The final answer is: 4C2 x 48C3 = 103,776
Examples with Cards
 How many 5 card hands contain at
least one card of a red suit and at least
one card of a black suit.
 This takes some logic…You basically need the
number of hands that are not ALL RED or ALL
BLACK, right?
 That equals…
total # hands - (# red hands + # black hands)
Examples with Cards
 How many hands contain at least
one card of a red suit and at least
one card of a black suit.
52 C5  2( 26 C5 )
52!  26! 
  2 
47!5!  21!5! 
 2,467,400
Examples with Cards
 How many ways are there to get 2
red aces and 2 black jacks in a 5
card hand?
 2 C2  2 C2  48 C1 
 2!  2!  48! 
   
 0!2!  0!2!  47!1! 
 1 1 48  48