COMBINATORICS

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF COUNTING,

PERMUTATION, & COMBINATION
RB ASTILLERO
Assist. Prof I

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LESSON OBJECTIVES:
 State the fundamental principle of counting.
 Give the formula of permutations of n things

taken r at a time.
 Solve permutation problems.
 Give the formula of combinations of n things

taken r at a time.
 Solve combination problems.

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FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF
COUNTING
If one event can occur in m ways and a second
event can occur in n ways, then both events
can occur in m· n ways, provided the outcome
of the first event does not influence the
outcome of the second event.
Note: The fundamental principle of counting
can be extended to any number of events.
When the outcome of one event does not
influence the outcome of the other, such
events are said to be independent events.

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EXAMPLE 1:
A restaurant offers a choice of 2 salads, 6 main
dishes, 4 side dishes, and 3 desserts. How
many different 4-course meals can be selected?
Note: Four independent events are involved:
selecting a salad, selecting a main dish,
selecting a side dish, and selecting a dessert.
The first event can occur in 2 ways, the second
in 6 ways, the third in 4 ways, and the fourth in
3 ways. Thus, there are
 2· 6· 4· 3 = 144 possible meals.

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EXAMPLE 2:
David has 6 books that he wishes to arrange on his
desk. How many different arrangements are possible?
Note: Six events are involved: selecting a book for the
first spot, selecting a book for the second spot, and so
on. The outcome of the first event does not influence
the outcome of the other events since one book has
already been chosen.
 David has 6 choices for the first spot, 5 choices for

the second spot, 4 choices for the third spot, and so

on. Thus, there are
 6· 5· 4· 3· 2· 1 = 720 different arrangements for

the books.

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EXAMPLE 3:
How many different 7-digit telephone numbers are
possible if the first digit cannot be zero and no digit
may repeat?
Note: Our number system consists of 10 digits, which
are {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9}. Since the first
digit cannot be a zero, then there are 9 choices for
the first digit, 9 choices for the second digit since a
zero can be used and no digits may repeat, 8 choices
for the third digit, 7 choices for the fourth digit, and
so on. Thus, there are
 9· 9· 8· 7· 6· 5· 4 =544,320 possible telephone

numbers.

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THE TREE DIAGRAM
When the number of events is few, we can
easily determine the possible outcomes by
listing all them in a tree diagram.
ILLUSTRATION:
Consider the 3 letter words that can be made
from the letters WORD if no letter is repeated.
These can be listed by means of a tree
diagram.

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There are:
4 ways of choosing the 1st letter
3 ways of choosing the 2nd letter
2 ways of choosing the 3rd letter
 number of words = 4 x 3 x 2 = 24

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EXERCISES:
1. How many different arrangements, each consisting of four different
letters, can be formed from the letters of the word PERSONAL if
each arrangement is to begin and end with a vowel?
Ans. 180
N = 3•6•5•2 = 180

2. In how many different orders can 4 men and 4 women be seated in

a row so that no two persons of the same sex will be together?
Ans. 1152
N = 2(4•4•3•3•2•2•1•1) = 1152

3.In how many different orders can 7 books be arranged on a shelf if

a certain 3-volume work is not to be separated?
Ans. 720
N= 5(3•2•1)(4•3•2•1) = 720

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4. A shelf contains 5 books in red binding, 4 books in blue,
and 3 in green. In how many different orders can they be
arranged if all books of the same color must be kept together?
Ans. 103, 680
5. How many different 5-place even numbers can be formed
with the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 if repetitions are allowed?
Ans. 3888
6. How many different numbers greater than 400 can be
formed with the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 if repetitions are not
allowed?
Ans. 264
7. How many different numbers less than 400 can be formed
with the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 if repetitions are not allowed?
Ans. 61
8. A bus has seven vacant seats. If 3 additional passengers
enter the bus, in how many different ways can they be seated?
Ans. 210
9. How many different 3-place numbers can be formed by
using 2 odd digits and 1 even digit if zero is excluded but
repetitions of digits is allowed?
Ans. 300

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10. How many different 3-place numbers can be formed by
using 2 odd digits and 1 even digit, it being permissible to
use the digit zero and repetition of digits is allowed?
Ans. 350

11. If a multiple-choice test consists of 5 questions each

with 4 possible answers of which only 1 is correct, in how
many ways can a student encircle one answer to each
question and get all the answers wrong?
Ans. 243

12. How many 3-digit numbers greater than 330 can be

formed from the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 if each digit can be
used once?
Ans. 48

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PERMUTATIONS
Definition:
  

If P(n, r) denotes the number of permutations

of n elements taken r at a time with r ≤ n, then

Other symbol for permutations of n

things taken r at a time is nPr.

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EXAMPLE 1:
 Suppose that 7 people enter a swim meet.
Assuming that there are no ties, in how many
ways could the gold, silver, and bronze
medals be awarded?
 Note: Since awards are to be made, order is

important. Thus, this would be treated as a

permutation.

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Therefore, there are 210 ways that the medals could be awarded.

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EXAMPLE 2:
In how many ways can 6 students be seated in
a row of 6 desks?
Note: This is a permutation because order is
important. That is, a student may wish to sit in
a particular seat or behind/in front of a
particular student.

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 There are 720 ways the students could be seated.

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THEOREMS ON PERMUTATION
  
Theorem 2.1. The number of permutations of n
elements taken n (or all) at a time is nPn = n!.
Theorem 2.2. The number of permutations of n
distinct objects arranged in a circle is (n-1)!.
Theorem 2.3. The number of permutations of n
distinct objects arranged in a ring is (n-1)!/2.
Theorem 2.4. The number of permutations of n
things of which n1 are of a kind, n2 of a second
kind,…, nk a kth kind is

Where n1 + n2 +…+ nk = n

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EXERCISES:
1. In how many different ways can 5 students make a selection
of 1 book each from a shelf containing 15 books?
Ans. 360, 360
N = 15P5 = 360, 360
2. In how many different ways can the letters of the word “E Q
U A T I O N” be arranged without changing the place of the
consonants?
Ans. 720
N = (5!)(3!) = 720
3. In how many different orders can 5 persons be seated
about a round table?
Ans. 24
N=(5 – 1)! = 4! = 24

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4. In how many different orders can 5 keys be arranged on
a ring?
Ans. 12
5. How many distinct permutations can be formed from
the letters of the word BANANA?
Ans. 60
6. How many different signals, each consisting of 6 flags
hung in a vertical line, can be formed from 4 identical red
flags and 2 identical blue flags?
Ans. 15
7. In how many ways can 3 Americans, 4 Frenchmen, 4
Danes and 2 Italians be seated in a row so that those of
the same nationality sit together?
Ans. 165, 888
8. Solve the preceding problem if they sit at a round table.
Ans. 41, 472
9. Find n if (a) P(n, 2) = 72 and (b) P(n, 4) = 42P(n, 2).
Ans. (a) 9, (b) 9

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COMBINATION

Definition:
  

If C(n, r) represents the number of

combinations of n elements taken r at a time
with r ≤ n, then
=
Other symbols used for combinations of n
things taken r at a time are and nCr.

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EXAMPLE 1:
How many different committees of 3 people
can be chosen to work on a special project
from a group of 7 people?

Note: Since the order in which the members of

the committee are chosen does not affect the
result, this is a combination.

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 There are 35 ways to select the project group.

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EXAMPLE 2:
In how many different ways can a group of 3
people out of a group of 7 people be chosen to
work on a project if it has already been decided
that a certain person must work on the project?

Note: This is still a combination but the

problem has been reduced to selecting 2 more
people from the remaining 6 people.

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 There are 15 ways to select the project group.

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THEOREMS ON COMBINATION
Theorem
   2.5. The combinations of n things
taken r at a time is equal to the combinations
of n things taken (n-r) at a time. Thus,
nCr = nCn-r

Theorem 2.6. The number of ways of

partitioning a set of n objects into r cells with
n1 elements in the first cell, n2 elements in the
second , and so on, is
=
where n1 + n2 + +nr = n

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EXERCISES:
1. How many possible combinations can be drawn from a
6/55 lotto draw?
Ans. 28, 989, 675
N = 55C6 = 28, 989, 675
2. How many committees of 5 can be formed from 8
sophomores and 4 freshmen if each committee is to consist of
three sophomores and two freshmen?
Ans. 336
N = 8C3•4C2 = 336
3. In how many ways can a committee consisting of 3 men and
2 women be chosen from 7 men and 5 women?
Ans. 350
 N = C • C = 350
7 3 5 2

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4. A delegation of 4 students is selected each year from a college
to attend the National Student Association annual meeting. (a) In
how many ways can the delegation be chosen if there are 12
eligible students? (b) In how many ways if two of the eligible
students will not attend the meeting together? (c) In how many
ways if two of the eligible students are married and will only attend
the meeting together?
Ans. (a) 495
(b) 450
(c) 255
5. A student is to answer 8 out of 10 questions on an exam. (a)
How many choices has he? (b) How many if he must answer the
first 3 questions? (c) How many if he must answer at least 4 of
the first 5 questions?
Ans. (a) 45
(b) 21
(c) 35
6. In how many ways can a teacher choose one or more students
from six eligible students?
Ans. 63
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7. In how many ways can 7 toys be divided among 3 children
if the youngest gets 3 toys and each of the others gets 2?
Ans. 210
8. There are 12 students in a class. In how many ways can
the 12 students take 3 different tests if 4 students are to
take each test?
Ans. 34, 650
9. In how many different ways can 6 objects be separated
into two equal groups?
Ans. 10
10. From 8 different pairs of gloves, in how many ways can a
right-hand and a left-hand glove be selected without taking
a pair?
Ans. 56
11. In how many ways can a selection of 3 letters be made
from the letters a, b, c, d, e, f, g, if repetitions are allowed?
Ans. 84

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END OF THE LESSON…

DO THE ASSIGNMENT.

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