PERMUTATIONS

Fundamental Principle of Counting

• TREE DIAGRAM

A tree diagram is a device used to list all

possibilities of a sequence of events in a systematic
way. This is also useful in determining the
probability of events.

Example:
1. Suppose that a family has three children. Using
tree diagram, we can find all the possible outcomes
for the genders of the children.
• 2. In how many ways can a working student
go home from school via his office if there
are 3 routes from his school (S) to his office
(O) and 2 routes from his office to his home
(H)?

• 3. How many two-digit numerals can be

formed from the digits 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 if no
digit is repeated?

• 4. How many 3-digit numerals can be

formed from the digits 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 if no
repetition is allowed?
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF COUNTING
(Multiplication Rule)
In a sequence of events in which the first one
has m1 possibilities, the second has m2, the third
has m3, and so on, and the total number of
possible outcomes will be

where n is the number of events

Examples
• 1. In a restaurant, a person can
choose from the 8 viands, plain,
garlic or java rice, 5 kinds of
beverages and 6 kinds of
desserts. In how many ways
can this person choose what to
have if he is to order one from
each group?
• 2. The digits 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8 are to be used to
form a five-digit number. How many different
numbers can be formed if
a. repetition is permitted?
b. repetition is not allowed?
c. the number must be odd and repetition is
not allowed?
d. the number must be greater than
30000 and repetition is not allowed?
e. the number must be even and no
repetition
f. the number must be less than 40000
• 3. A food chain sells value meals of
hamburgers with a choice of the following
items: softdrink, french fries, or sundae. Draw a
tree diagram to find all possible selections a
customer can make.
• 4. A coin is tossed. If it comes up head, a die is
rolled. If it comes up tail, it is tossed gain. Find
all the possible outcomes.
• 5. Students are classified according to gender
(male or female), regular or irregular students,
and field of specialization (mathematics,
physics, business, or languages). How many
possible classifications are there?
• 6. A woman just bought 8 blouses, 5 skirts, 4
pairs of shoes, and 3 bags. All of these
coordinate with one another. If she is to select
one blouse, one skirt, a pair of shoes, and a
bag to wear on a certain day, how many
different selections are possible?
• 7. If a coin tossed three times, in how many
ways can they land?
• 8. A restaurant menu has 5 kinds of soups, ten
kinds of main courses, six kinds of desserts,
and eight kinds of drinks. If a customer selects
one item from each category, how many
different outcomes are possible?
 Factorials
• Let k be a positive integers. Then
the product of the first k positive
integers is called k factorial and is
denoted by the symbol k!.

 Note: 0! = 1 and 1! = 1
Examples:
Evaluate
• 1. 10!
• 2. 5!
• 3. 7!
• 4. 3!4!
• 5. 7!0!
• 6. 6!2!
• 7. 10!/4!
• 8. 7!/2!
• 9. 10!/9!
• 10. 6!/5!
PERMUTATION
• Every arrangement in order of a
set of things is called
permutation.

The set of the letters M, S, A, if we

use all of them, can be arranged in
the following orders.
MSA MAS AMS SAM ASM
SMA
CASES:
A. The total number of permutations
of r objects that can be formed
from n objects denoted by:

P
n r
Examples:
A. Evaluate the following.
• 1. 6P3
• 2. 10P6
• 3. 12P12
• 4. 3P1
• 5. 6P2
• 6. 7P3
• 7. 8P2
• 8. 7P5
• 9. 8P3
• 10. 7P7
Examples:
B. Solve for the unknown
• 1. 7Pr=840 5. nP3 = 60
• 2. 8Pr = 6720 6. nP3 = 504
• 3. 12Pr = 1320 7. nP4 = 3024
• 4. 13Pr = 156
EXERCISES
• 1. Given the 4-letter LOVE. In how many
ways can we arrange its letters, 3 at a time?
• 2. How many four-letter permutations can
be formed from the letters in the word
“heptagon”?
• 3. In a school club, there are 5 possible
choices for the president, a secretary, a
treasurer, and an auditor. Assuming that
each of them is qualified for any of these
position, in how many ways can the 4
officers be elected?
• 4. In a beauty contest, there are 6 finalist.
How many ways can 3 winners be
selected?
• 5. From a standard deck of 52 cards, how
many 3-card hands are possible?
B. The number of permutations of n
objects taken all at a time is:
nPn = n!

Examples:
1. In how many ways can 8 people arrange
themselves in a row for picture taking?
2. Find the number of permutations of the
letters of the word WRITE.
3. A teacher wants to assign 4 different
tasks to her 4 students. In how many
possible ways can she do it?
4. How many ways can 5 geometry, 4
statistics and 3 algebra books be arranged
on a shelf if they are arranged
• a. in any order
• b. According to subject
• c. In order, geometry, statistics algebra
C. The number of distinguishable
permutations of n objects where p
objects are alike, q objects are alike, r
objects are alike, and so on is:

Examples:
• 1. Find the number of permutations of the letters of
the word EVEN.
• 2. Find the number of permutations of the letters of
the word STATISTICS.
• 3. Find the number of permutations of the letters of
the word MISSISSIPPI.
• 4. A boy has 4 one-peso coins, 3 five-peso
coins and 2 ten-peso coins. How many ways
can he arrange the coins in a row?
• 5. There are 3 identical green flags, 3 identical
white flags and 2 identical red flags. Using all 8
flags, how many signals can be given?
• 6. How many 6-digit numbers can be made
using the digits from 944 394?
• 7. There are 4 yellow, 1 white and 1 black book
on a shelf. How many ways can they be
arranged if the white book and the black book
are separated?
D. If n objects are arranged in a
circle, the number of permutations is:
(n-1)!
Examples:
• 1. In how many ways can 7 people be seated
around a circular table?
• 2. Find the number of different ways that a family of
6 can be seated around a circular table with 6
chairs.
• 3. Ten boy scouts are seated around a camp fire.
How many ways can they be arranged?