PERMUTATION & COMBINATION

S.S.HARICHANDAN
 PERMUTATION:
Introduction:
The number of arrangements
of different things by taking
some or all of them together
at a time is known as
Permutation.
It is denoted as n P r =
Here arrangements of ‘n’
different things by taking ‘r’ at
a time.
The questions on permutation
are coming on the following
factors, such as:
• Digit arrangement
• Letter arrangement
• Seating arrangement
• Circular arrangement
• Beads arrangement
• Rank of the word in
dictionary
DIGIT ARRANGEMENT:
The method to find the number of
arrangements of digits is as follows:
• Take the number of places according to
condition.
• Take the digits at extreme left or right
according to the condition.
• Then if repetition is allowed take those
digits at the other places and if
repetition is not allowed arrange the
places by taking 1 less in all the
subsequent places.
• Then multiply all the number of ways at
the different places as the total number
of arrangements.
EXAMPLE:
How many four digit numbers can
be formed by using the digits 0, 1,
2, 3, 4 & 5
(i)With repetition
(ii)Without repetition
(iii)Nos of even numbers
(iv)Nos of odd numbers
(v)Nos divisible by 4
(vi)Nos divisible by 5
(vii)Nos divisible by 3
(ii)Without repetition
Explanation:
Thousand’s place can be arranged by all
the digits except 0 in 5 ways.
As repetition is not allowed hundred’s
place can be arranged by the rest 5 digits
in 5 ways.
Ten’s place can be arranged by the rest 4
digits in 4 ways.
Unit place can be arranged by the rest 3
digits in 3 ways.
So total number of ways of arrangements
= 5x5x4x3 = 300
(iii)Number of even numbers
If nothing is mentioned whether
repetition is allowed or not it is
based on repetition is allowed.
So let us find the number of
arrangements
(iv)Number of odd numbers
Explanation:
We know that if the digit at the unit
place is an odd digit, the number is
an odd number.
If nothing is mentioned about
repetition is allowed or not, then it
is based on repetition is allowed.
So let us find the number of ways
of arrangements :
Numbers divisible by 4
Explanation:
We know that if the last two digits
of a number are divisible by 4, the
number is divisible by 4.
If it is not mentioned about
repetition is allowed or not, it is
based on repetition is allowed.
LETTER ARRANGEMENT:
The method to arrange the letters in a
word the method is as follows:
Step:1:Count the number of letters in the
given words.
Step:2:By considering all letters as
different letters, n number of letters in n
places can be arranged in n! ways.
Step:3:If there is the repetition of the
letters, divide n! by the product of the
factorial value of the number of times
about repetition of the letters.
(iii)If all the vowels and all the consonants
come together
If all the vowels come together take one place
for them and for all the consonants come
together take another place for them.
So in two places they can be arranged in 2!
ways.
4 vowels among themselves can be arranged in
4!ways.
And 6 consonants among themselves can be
arranged in 6!ways.
So the number of ways of arrangements
=

= 6!
SEATING ARRANGEMENT:
The method to find the number of
arrangement of seating is as follows:
• Take the number of places according to
the condition. So in ‘n’ number of
places ‘n’ persons can be arranged in n!
ways.
• And if some particular ‘n’ persons seat
together take one place for them and
for the rest (m-n) persons take that
number of places.
• Then the number of arrangements
• =(m -n+1)!(m-n)!
(i)If they seat at alternate position
As the number of boys is more
than the number of girls, take 5
places for 5 boys in which they can
be arranged in 5! ways.
Among 5 boys there are 4 places
where 4 girls can be arranged in 4!
ways.
So total number of ways of
arrangements = 5!x4!
EXAMPLE:
In how many ways can 5 boys and
4 girls be seated in a row?
And also find out the number of
arrangements
(i)If they seat at alternate position
(ii)If all the boys seat together
(iii)If all the girls do not seat
together
(iv)If all the boys and all the girls
seat together
(v)If no two girls seat together
CIRCULAR ARRANGEMENT:
The number of ways of circular
arrangement is as follows:
In case of a circle there is not
starting or ending point like a row.
So if we start from one point we
have to keep it fix due to which
there is no arrangement. So the
arrangement occurs in the rest
points.
Therefore the number of
arrangements in a circle having n
points = (n-1)!
If a particular number of persons seat
together:
If a particular n1 number of persons seat
together take one place for them and for
the rest persons take that number of
places for them.
Suppose total number of persons n and n1
persons seat together take one place for
n1 persons and for the rest persons take
(n – n1) places. So total number of places
i.e. 1+ (n-n1)
Then make the arrangements as [1+ (n-
n1)]! ways and for n1 persons n1! Ways.
So total number of arrangements = [1+ (n-
n1)] !n1!
EXAMPLE:
In how many ways can the Prime
Ministers of 7 different countries be
seated around a circular table?

And also find out the number of

arrangements
(i)If the Prime Minister of China,
Pakistan and Afghanistan seat
together.
(ii)If the Prime Minister of India and
Pakistan do not seat together
(i)If the Prime Minister of China, Pakistan
and Afghanistan seat together.
(ii)If the Prime Minister of India and Pakistan do
not seat together
BEADS ARRANGEMENTS:
The method to find the number of
arrangements of beads in a necklace is as
follows:
The shape of a necklace is circular so the
number of arrangements of n number of
beads is (n-1)!.
Again as there is one open end and
another closed end, the beads can be
arranged from both ends up to half of the
necklace.

So the number of arrangements of n

number of beads in a necklace =1/2 (n-1)!
EXAMPLE:
In how many ways 12 beads
can be arranged in a
necklace?
RANK OF THE WORD IN
DICTIONARY:
The method is as follows:
The words in a dictionary arranged in
alphabetical order so arrange the letters in
alphabetically.
• Keep fix the letters alphabetically at the
first place and arrange the rest.
• Go up to that letter from which the
original word starts with and mark after
arranging the first letter which letter/
letters are coming in the next places by
default and then arrange the rest .
EXAMPLE:
If the letters of the word CHASM
are rearranged to form 5 letter
words such that none of the word
repeat and the results arranged in
ascending order as in a dictionary
what is the rank of the word
CHASM?
(a) 24
(b) 31
(c) 32
(d) 30
 SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Question:1
How many words can be formed by
using 3 letters from the word
“DELHI” ?
(a)24
(b)60
(c)120
(d)240
Question:2
How many words can be
formed by using the letters
from the word “DRIVER” such
that all the vowels are always
together?
(a)24
(b)60
(c)120
(d)720
Question:3
How many words can be
formed by using the letters
from the word “DRIVER” such
that all the vowels are never
together?
(a)120
(b)240
(c)360
(d)720
Question:4
How many words with or
without meaning, can be
formed by using all the letters
of the word, ‘ORANGE’, using
each letter exactly once?
(a) 700
(b) 720
(c) 750
(d) 800
Question:5
There are 26 stations between
Chennai and Bangalore. How
many second class tickets
have to be printed, so that a
passenger can travel from one
station to any other station?
(a) 600 (b) 625
(c) 650 (d) 676
Question:6
In how many ways can the
letters of the word,
‘TECHNOLOGY’ be arranged?
(a)1804400
(b) 1814400
(c) 1714400
(d) 1704400
Question:7
In how many ways can the
letters of the word,
‘LANGUAGE’ be arranged in
such a way that the vowels
always come together?
(a) 360
(b) 640
(c) 720
(d) 1440
Question:8
In how many ways can the letters
of the word, ‘KEYBOARD’ be
arranged in such a way that the
vowels always come together?
(a) 4250
(b) 4520
(c) 4320
(d) 4230
Question:9
How many ways can the letters of
the word, ‘MACHINE’ are arranged
so that the consonants may occupy
only the odd positions?
(a) 210
(b)576
(c)144
(d) 456
Question:10
In how many ways can 5
boys and 3 girls sit around
a table in such a way that
no two girls sit together?
(a) 1000
(b) 1400
(c) 1440
(d) 1800
Question:11
How many different words can be
formed from the word DAUGHTER
so that ending and beginning
letters are consonants?
(a) 7200
(b) 14400
(c) 360
(d) 1440
Question:12
In how many ways can 22 books on
English and 20 books on Hindi be
placed in a row on a shelf so that
two books on Hindi may not be
together?
(a) 4586
(b) 5896
(c) 2415
(d) 1771
Question:13
How many ways can one
arrange the word EDUCATION
such that a relative position of
vowels and consonants
remain same?
(a)2400
(b)2880
(c)3200
(d)3600
Question:14
There are five same model cars
parked in the same direction in
parking. If 3 cars are red, 1 is black
and 1 is green, in how many ways
they can be arranged in the
parking?
(a)10
(b)20
(c)24
(d)120
Question:15
How many number of four
digit numbers that can be
formed by using the digits
1,2,5,6 ?
(a)24
(b)144
(c)256
(d)None of these
Question:16
How many four digit
numbers can be formed
such that it contains
exactly 3 different digits?
(a)3600
(b)3880
(c)3888
(d)3960
Question:17
There are 7 men and 5 women
sitting in a circle, find the all
possible way so that 2 women
won’t sit together
(a)7!*7P5
(b)6!*7P5
(c)7!*7P2
(d)6!*7P4
Question:18
How many three digit numbers
can be formed using 2,3,4 and
5 with none of the digits being
repeated?
(a)12
(b)24
(c)64
(d)120
Question:19
If a car number of 4 digit is
formed in which first two
digits are letters and last two
digits are numbers. How many
arrangements are possible if
repetition is not allowed?
(a)58
(b)5850
(c)58500
(d)None of these
Question:20
What will be the rank of word
OPTION in the dictionary of
words formed by letters of the
word OPTION?
(a)200
(b)202
(c)212
(d)224
(e)None of these
Question:21
If all the letters of the word 'PRIME'
are arranged in all possible ways
and written out in alphabetical
(dictionary) order, then find the
rank of the given word.
(a)88
(b)90
(c)92
(d)94
Question:22
If all the letters of the word
'SECRET' are arranged in all
possible ways and written out in
alphabetical (dictionary) order, then
find the rank of the given word.
(a)245
(b)250
(c)254
(d)255
(e)None of these
Question:23
How many numbers greater
than 5000 can be formed by
using the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
where no digit can be
repeated.
(a)72
(b)120
(c)192
(d)240
Question:24
How many 3-digit numbers
can be formed from the digits
2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9, which are
divisible by 5 and none of the
digits is repeated?
(a)5
(b)10
(c)15
(d)20
Question:25
In how many different ways can the
letters of the word 'DETAIL' be
arranged in such a way that the
vowels occupy only the odd
positions?
(a)32
(b)48
(c)36
(d)60
(e)120
Question:26
How many 4-letters words with or
without meaning, can be formed
out of the letters of the word,
'LOGARITHMS', if repetition of
letters is not allowed?
(a)40
(b)400
(c)5040
(d)2520
Question:27
In how many different ways can the
letters of the word 'OPTICAL' be
arranged so that the vowels always
come together?
A.120
B.720
C.4320
D.2160
E.None of these
Question:28
If 3 books of mathematics and 5
books of physics are placed on a
shelf so that the books on the same
subject always remain together
then what is the possible number
of arrangements ?
(a) 1440
(b) 1956
(c) 720
(d) None of these
Question:29
There are 10 yes or no
questions. How many ways
can these be answered?
(a) 1084
(b) 2048
(c) 1024
(d) 100
Question:30
Each question has four choices out
of which only one is correct. A
candidate has to answer four
questions. The number of ways he
fails to give all answers correctly, is
(a) 15
(b) 81
(c) 255
(d) 256
Question:31
How many three letter distinct
initials can be formed using the
alphabets of English language
such that the last of the three
letters is always a consonant?
(a) (262)*(21)
(b) 26*25*21
(c) 25*24*21
(d) None of these
Question:32
In how many ways can the letters
of the word EDUCATION be
rearranged so that the relative
position of the vowels and
consonants remain the same as in
the word EDUCATION?
(a) 9!/4
(b) 9!/(4!*5!)
(c) 4!*5!
(d) None of these
Question:33
How many ways can 6 letters
be posted in 4 post boxes, if
each of the post boxes can
take more than 6 letters?
(a) 46
(b) 64
(c) 6P4
(d) 6C4
Question:34
A team of 8 students goes on
an excursion, in two cars, of
which one can seat 5 and the
other only 4. In how many
ways can they travel?
(a) 9
(b) 26
(c) 126
(d) 3920
Question:35
36 identical chairs must be arranged in
rows with the same number of chairs in
each row. Each row must contain at least
three chairs and there must be at least
three rows. A row is parallel to the front of
the room. How many different
arrangements are possible?
(a)2
(b)4
(c)5
(d)6
Question:36
How many 3-letter words with or
without meaning, can be formed
out of the letters of the word,
'LAUNCHER', if repetition of letters
is not allowed?
(a) 336
(b) 420
(c) 672
(d) None of these
Question:37
How many 3 digit numbers
can be formed from the digits
2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 which are
divisible by 5 and none of the
digits is repeated?
(a) 20
(b) 16
(c) 8
(d) 24
Question:38
How many 6 digit telephone
numbers can be formed if
each number starts with 49
and no digit appears more
than once?
(a)720
(b) 360
(c) 1420
(d) 1680
Question:39
In how many different ways
can the letters of the word
'MATHEMATICS' be arranged
such that the vowels must
always come together?
(a) 9800
(b) 100020
(c) 120960
(d) 140020
COMBINATION:
The number of selections of
different things by selecting
some or all of them at a time
is known as combination.
It is denoted as nCr
Where nCr = n!/r!(n-r)!
Here n is the total number of
items
And r is the number of items
taken at a time
Question:1
In how many ways, can we select a
team of 3 students from a given
choice of 12 students?
(a)110
(b)220
(c)1320
(d)None of these
Question:2
In how many ways can a group of 5
members be formed by selecting 3
boys out of 6 and 2 girls out of 5?
(a)100
(b)150
(c)200
(d)250
Question:3
There are 6 credit cards and 4
debit cards. In how many
ways 5 credit cards and 3
debit cards can be selected?
(a)12
(b)18
(c)24
(d)30
(e)36
Question:4
A bag contains 3 yellow balls, 4
white balls and 5 red balls. In how
many ways can two balls be drawn
from the bag?
(a) 2C2
(b)12C2
(c)8C2
(d)5C2
Question:5
From a group of 5men and 4
women, 3 persons are to be
selected to form a committee so
that at least 2 men are there are on
the committee. In how many ways
can it be done?
(a) 20
(b) 50
(c) 65
(d) 86
Question:6
In how many ways can a committee
consisting of 4 men and 5 women
be formed from a group of 7 men
and 9 women?
(a) 7C4 * 9C5
(b) 4C7 * 5C9
(c) 7C5 * 9C4
(d) 9C4 * 7C5
Question:7
A box contains 3 white balls, 4
black balls and 5 yellow balls. In
how many ways can 4 balls be
drawn from the box, if at least one
yellow ball is to be included in the
draw?
(a) 652
(b) 547
(c)460
(d) 356
Question:8
How many diagonals are there
in an octagon?
(a)12
(b)15
(c)18
(d)20
(e)28
Question:9
From a group of 7 men and 6
women, five persons are to be
selected to form a committee so
that at least 3 men are there on the
committee. In how many ways can
it be done?
(a) 564
(b).645
(c)735
(d)756
Question:10
In a group of 6 boys and 4 girls,
four children are to be selected. In
how many different ways can they
be selected such that at least one
boy should be there?
(a)159
(b)194
(c)205
(d)209
Question:11
A box contains 2 white balls, 3
black balls and 4 red balls. In how
many ways can 3 balls be drawn
from the box, if at least one black
ball is to be included in the draw?
(a)32
(b)48
(c)64
(d)96
Question:12
The number of triangles that can be
formed by choosing the vertices
from a set of 12 points, seven of
which lie on the same straight line
is
(a) 105
(b) 115
(c) 175
(d) 185
Question:13
A college has 12 basketball players.
A 6-member team with a captain
will be selected out of these 12
players. How many different
selections can be made?
(a)5544
(b)792
(c)12C6 * 7!
(d)12C6 * 7
Question:14
There are 5 Rock songs, 6 Carnatic
songs and 3 Indi pop songs. How
many different albums can be
formed using the above repertoire
if the albums should contain at
least 1 Rock song and 1 Carnatic
song?
(a) 15624
(b) 16384
(c) 6144
(d) 240
Question:15
There are 5 consonants and 4
vowels. How many words of 3
consonants and 2 vowels can be
formed?
(a) 7200
(b) 120
(c) 60
(d) 36000
Question:16
A team of four children are to be
selected out of a group of 5 boys
and 4 girls. In how many different
ways can they be selected such
that at least one boy should be
there?
(a) 120
(b) 125
(c) 126
(d) 130