Unit-1

Principal; Of Counting: Concept Of

Factorial
 Concept Of Factorial
• Define the factorial of a number as the product of
consecutive descending natural numbers and represent it by
!.
• For example, the factorial of 4 or 4! = 4×3×2×1. Similarly the
factorial of 7 or 7! = 7×6×5×4×3×2×1. Similarly, we can find
the factorials of all the positive integers.
• In the factorial notation, we define the factorial of 0 to be =
1. So 0! = 1.
•  By convention, 0! = 1. Also 1! = 1. Then 2! = 2 ! 1 = 2 and 3!
= 3 ! 2 ! 1 = 6. Likewise, 4! = 4 ! 3 ! 2 ! 1 = 24 and 5! = 5 ! 4 !
3 ! 2 ! 1 = 120.
 Purpose of Factorial
• use factorials when we look at permutations
and combinations.
• Permutations tell us how many different ways
we can arrange things if their order matters.
• Combinations tells us how many ways we can
choose k item from n items if their order does
not matter.
 Example
• You have ten balls. Each ball has a number
marked on it. You also have ten slots that you
have to fill with the balls. How many different
ways can you fill these slots in?
Principal Of Counting
 examples1
•  You take a survey with five “yes” or “no”
answers. How many different ways could you
complete the survey?
• A. There are 5 stages: Question 1, question 2,
question 3, question 4, and question 5.
There are 2 choices for each question (Yes or No).
So the total number of possible ways to answer
is:
2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 32.
 examples2
•   A company puts a code on each different product
they sell. The code is made up of 3 numbers and 2
letters. How many different codes are possible?
A. There are 5 stages (number 1, number 2,
number 3, letter 1 and letter 2).
There are 10 possible numbers: 0 – 9.
There are 26 possible letters: A – Z.
So we have:
10 * 10 * 10 * 26 * 26 = 676000 possible codes.
 examples3
• A fast-food restaurant has a meal special: $5 for a drink,
sandwich, side item and dessert. The choices are:
• Sandwich: Grilled chicken, All Beef Patty, Veg burger
and Fish Filet.
• Side: Regular fries, Cheese Fries, Potato Wedges.
• Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookie or Apple Pie.
• Drink: Fanta, Dr. Pepper, Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite.
• Q. How many meal combos are possible?
A. There are 4 stages:
 Cont..
• Choose a sandwich.
• Choose a side.
• Choose a dessert.
• Choose a drink.
• There are 4 different types of sandwich, 3 different
types of side, 2 different types of desserts and five
different types of drink.
• The number of meal combos possible is 4 * 3 * 2 *
5 = 120.
Addition Principle
Examples
 Permutation or Combination
• A permutation or combination is a set of ordered things. The “things”
can be anything at all: a list of planets, a set of numbers, or a grocery
list. The list can be in a set order (like 1st, 2nd, 3rd…) or a list that
doesn’t have to be in order (like the ingredients in a mixed salad).
• Combination: If you don’t care what order you have things, it’s a
combination. Think of combining ingredients, or musical chords: Flour,
salt and water in a bowl is the same as salt, water and flour. Lottery
 tickets, where you pick a few numbers, are a combination. That’s
because the order doesn’t matter (but the numbers you select do).
• Permutation: If you do care about order, it’s a permutation. Picking
winners for a first, second and third place raffle is a permutation,
because the order matters.?
Formulas
Examples