Permutation and Combination

Permutation : Permutation means arrangement of things. The word arrangement is used, if the
order of things is considered.
Combination: Combination means selection of things. The word selection is used, when the
order of things has no importance.
Example: Suppose we have to form a number of consisting of three digits using the
digits 1,2,3,4, To form this number the digits have to be arranged. Different numbers will get
formed depending upon the order in which we arrange the digits. This is an example
of Permutation.
Now suppose that we have to make a team of 11 players out of 20 players, This is an example
of combination, because the order of players in the team will not result in a change in the team.
No matter in which order we list out the players the team will remain the same! For a different
team to be formed at least one player will have to be changed.
Now let us look at two fundamental principles of counting:
Addition rule : If an experiment can be performed in n ways, & another experiment can be
performed in m ways then either of the two experiments can be performed in (m+n) ways. This
rule can be extended to any finite number of experiments.
Example: Suppose there are 3 doors in a room, 2 on one side and 1 on other side. A man
want to go out from the room. Obviously he has 3 options for it. He can come out by door A or
door B or door C.

Multiplication Rule : If a work can be done in m ways, another work can be done in n ways,
then both of the operations can be performed in m x n ways. It can be extended to any finite
number of operations.
Example.: Suppose a man wants to cross-out a room, which has 2 doors on one side and 1
door on other site. He has 2 x 1 = 2 ways for it.

Factorial n : The product of first n natural numbers is denoted by n!.
n! = n(n-1) (n-2) ..3.2.1.
Ex. 5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 =120
Note 0! = 1
Proof n! =n, (n-1)!
Or (n-1)! = [n x (n-1)!]/n = n! /n
Putting n = 1, we have
O! = 1!/1
or 0 = 1
Permutation
Number of permutations of n different things taken r at a time is given by:-
n
Pr = n!/(n-r)!
Proof: Say we have n different things a1, a2, an.
Clearly the first place can be filled up in n ways. Number of things left after filling-up the
first place = n-1
So the second-place can be filled-up in (n-1) ways. Now number of things left after
filling-up the first and second places = n - 2
Now the third place can be filled-up in (n-2) ways.
Thus number of ways of filling-up first-place = n
Number of ways of filling-up second-place = n-1
Number of ways of filling-up third-place = n-2
Number of ways of filling-up r-th place = n (r-1) = n-r+1
By multiplication rule of counting, total no. of ways of filling up, first, second -- rth-
place together :-
n (n-1) (n-2) ------------ (n-r+1)
Hence:
n
Pr = n (n-1)(n-2) --------------(n-r+1)
= [n(n-1)(n-2)----------(n-r+1)] [(n-r)(n-r-1)-----3.2.1.] / [(n-r)(n-r-1)] ----3.2.1
n
Pr = n!/(n-r)!
Number of permutations of n different things taken all at a time is given by:-
n
Pn = n!
Proof :
Now we have n objects, and n-places.
Number of ways of filling-up first-place = n
Number of ways of filling-up second-place = n-1
Number of ways of filling-up third-place = n-2
Number of ways of filling-up r-th place, i.e. last place =1
Number of ways of filling-up first, second, --- n th place
= n (n-1) (n-2) ------ 2.1.
n
Pn = n!
Concept.
We have
n
Pr = n!/n-r
Putting r = n, we have :-
n
Pr = n! / (n-r)
But
n
Pn = n!
Clearly it is possible, only when n! = 1
Hence it is proof that 0! = 1
Note : Factorial of negative-number is not defined. The expression 3! has no
meaning.
Examples
Q. How many different signals can be made by 5 flags from 8-flags of different colours?
Ans. Number of ways taking 5 flags out of 8-flage =
8
P5
= 8!/(8-5)!
= 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 = 6720
Q. How many words can be made by using the letters of the word SIMPLETON taken
all at a time?
Ans. There are 9 different letters of the word SIMPLETON
Number of Permutations taking all the letters at a time =
9
P9
= 9! = 362880.
Number of permutations of n-thing, taken all at a time, in which P are of one type, g of
them are of second-type, r of them are of third-type, and rest are all different is
given by :-
n!/p! x q! x r!
Example: In how many ways can the letters of the word Pre-University be arranged?
13!/2! X 2! X 2!
Number of permutations of n-things, taken r at a time when each thing can be repeated
r-times is given by = n
r
.
Proof.
Number of ways of filling-up first place = n
Since repetition is allowed, so
Number of ways of filling-up second-place = n
Number of ways of filling-up third-place
Number of ways of filling-up r-th place = n
Hence total number of ways in which first, second ----r th, places can be filled-up
= n x n x n ------------- r factors.
= n
r

Example: A child has 3 pocket and 4 coins. In how many ways can he put the coins
in his pocket.
Ans. First coin can be put in 3 ways, similarly second, third and forth coins also can be
put in 3 ways.
So total number of ways = 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 3
4
= 81
Circular Permutations
There are two cases of circular-permutations:-
(a) If clockwise and anti clock-wise orders are different, then total number of
circular-permutations is given by (n-1)!
(b) If clock-wise and anti-clock-wise orders are taken as not different, then total
number of circular-permutations is given by (n-1)!/2!
Proof(a):

(a) Lets consider that 4 persons A,B,C, and D are sitting around a round table
Shifting A, B, C, D, one position in anticlock-wise direction, we get the following
agreements:-



Thus, we use that if 4 persons are sitting at a round table, then they can be shifted four
times, but these four arrangements will be the same, because the sequence of A, B, C,
D, is same. But if A, B, C, D, are sitting in a row, and they are shifted, then the four
linear-arrangement will be different.

Hence if we have 4 things, then for each circular-arrangement number of linear-
arrangements =4
Similarly, if we have n things, then for each circular agreement, number of linear
arrangement = n.
Let the total circular arrangement = p
Total number of lineararrangements = n.p
Total number of lineararrangements
= n. (number of circular-arrangements)
Or Number of circular-arrangements = 1 (number of linear arrangements)
n = 1( n!)/n
circular permutation = (n-1)!
Proof (b) When clock-wise and anti-clock wise arrangements are not different, then
observation can be made from both sides, and this will be the same. Here two
permutations will be counted as one. So total permutations will be half, hence
in this case.
Circularpermutations = (n-1)!/2
Note: Number of circular-permutations of n different things taken r at a time:-
(a) If clock-wise and anti-clockwise orders are taken as different, then total number
of circular-permutations =
n
Pr /r
(b) If clock-wise and anti-clockwise orders are taken as not different, then total
number of circular permutation =
n
Pr/2r
Example: How many necklace of 12 beads each can be made from 18 beads of
different colours?
Ans. Here clock-wise and anti-clockwise arrangement s are same.
Hence total number of circularpermutations:
18
P12/2x12
= 18!/(6 x 24)
Restricted Permutations
(a) Number of permutations of n things, taken r at a time, when a particular thing is
to be always included in each arrangement
= r
n-1
Pr-1
(b) Number of permutations of n things, taken r at a time, when a particular thing is
fixed: =
n-1
Pr-1
(c) Number of permutations of n things, taken r at a time, when a particular thing is
never taken: =
n-1
Pr.
(d) Number of permutations of n things, taken r at a time, when m specified things
always come together = m! x ( n-m+1) !
(e) Number of permutations of n things, taken all at a time, when m specified things
always come together = n ! - [ m! x (n-m+1)! ]
Example: How many words can be formed with the letters of the word OMEGA when:
(i) O and A occupying end places.
(ii) E being always in the middle
(iii) Vowels occupying odd-places
(iv) Vowels being never together.
Ans.
(i) When O and A occupying end-places
=> M.E.G. (OA)
Here (OA) are fixed, hence M, E, G can be arranged in 3! ways
But (O,A) can be arranged themselves is 2! ways.
=> Total number of words = 3! x 2! = 12 ways.
(ii) When E is fixed in the middle
=> O.M.(E), G.A.
Hence four-letter O.M.G.A. can be arranged in 4! i.e 24 ways.
(iii) Three vowels (O,E,A,) can be arranged in the odd-places (1
st
, 3
rd
and 5
th
) =
3! ways.
And two consonants (M,G,) can be arranged in the even-place (2
nd
, 4
th
) =
2 ! ways
=> Total number of ways= 3! x 2! = 12 ways.
(iv) Total number of words = 5! = 120!
If all the vowels come together, then we have: (O.E.A.), M,G
These can be arranged in 3! ways.
But (O,E.A.) can be arranged themselves in 3! ways.
=> Number of ways, when vowels come-together = 3! x 3!
= 36 ways
=> Number of ways, when vowels being never-together
= 120-36 = 84 ways.
Number of Combination of n different things, taken r at a time is given by:-
n
Cr= n! / r ! x (n-r)!
Proof: Each combination consists of r different things, which can be arranged among
themselves in r! ways.
=> For one combination of r different things, number of arrangements = r!
For
n
Cr combination number of arrangements: r
n
Cr
=> Total number of permutations = r!
n
Cr ---------------(1)
But number of permutation of n different things, taken r at a time
=
n
Pr -------(2)
From (1) and (2) :
n
Pr = r! .
n
Cr
or n!/(n-r)! = r! .
n
Cr
or
n
Cr = n!/r!x(n-r)!
Note:
n
Cr =
n
Cn-r
or
n
Cr = n!/r!x(n-r)! and
n
Cn-r = n!/(n-r)!x(n-(n-r))!
= n!/(n-r)!xr!
Restricted Combinations
(a) Number of combinations of n different things taken r at a time, when p
particular things are always included =
n-p
Cr-p.
(b) Number of combination of n different things, taken r at a time, when p
particular things are always to be excluded =
n-p
Cr
Example: In how many ways can a cricket-eleven be chosen out of 15 players? if
(i) A particular player is always chosen,
(ii) A particular is never chosen.
Ans:
(i) A particular player is always chosen, it means that 10 players are selected out of
the remaining 14 players.
=. Required number of ways =
14
C10 =
14
C4
= 14!/4!x19! = 1365
(ii) A particular players is never chosen, it means that 11 players are selected out of 14
players.
=> Required number of ways =
14
C11
= 14!/11!x3! = 364
(iii) Number of ways of selecting zero or more things from n different things is given
by:- 2
n
-1
Proof: Number of ways of selecting one thing, out of n-things =
n
C1
Number of selecting two things, out of n-things =
n
C2
Number of ways of selecting three things, out of n-things =
n
C3
Number of ways of selecting n things out of n things =
n
Cn
=>Total number of ways of selecting one or more things out of n different things
=
n
C1 +
n
C2 +
n
C3 + ------------- +
n
Cn
= (
n
C0 +
n
C1 + -----------------
n
Cn) -
n
C0
= 2
n
1 [
n
C0=1]
Example: John has 8 friends. In how many ways can he invite one or more of them to
dinner?
Ans. John can select one or more than one of his 8 friends.
=> Required number of ways = 2
8
1= 255.
(iv) Number of ways of selecting zero or more things from n identical things is given by
:- n+1
Example: In how many ways, can zero or more letters be selected form the letters
AAAAA?
Ans. Number of ways of :
Selecting zero 'A's = 1
Selecting one 'A's = 1
Selecting two 'A's = 1
Selecting three 'A's = 1
Selecting four 'A's = 1
Selecting five 'A's = 1
=> Required number of ways = 6 [5+1]
(V) Number of ways of selecting one or more things from p identical things of one
type q identical things of another type, r identical things of the third type and n
different things is given by :-
(p+1) (q+1) (r+1)2
n
1
Example: Find the number of different choices that can be made from 3 apples, 4
bananas and 5 mangoes, if at least one fruit is to be chosen.
Ans:
Number of ways of selecting apples = (3+1) = 4 ways.
Number of ways of selecting bananas = (4+1) = 5 ways.
Number of ways of selecting mangoes = (5+1) = 6 ways.
Total number of ways of selecting fruits = 4 x 5 x 6
But this includes, when no fruits i.e. zero fruits is selected
=> Number of ways of selecting at least one fruit = (4x5x6) -1 = 119
Note :- There was no fruit of a different type, hence here n=o
=> 2
n
= 2
0
=1
(VI) Number of ways of selecting r things from n identical things is 1.
Example: In how many ways 5 balls can be selected from 12 identical red balls?
Ans. The balls are identical, total number of ways of selecting 5 balls = 1.
Example: How many numbers of four digits can be formed with digits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?
Ans. Here n = 5 [Number of digits]
And r = 4 [ Number of places to be filled-up]
Required number is
5
P4 = 5!/1! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1




Problems about Counting
Level 1 problems

In how many ways can you stack 7 different books, so that a specific book B is on the third
place?



Remove book B. Now you can arbitrary stack the 6 books in 6! ways.
Afterwards, put book B on the third place.

In how many ways can you take 3 marbles out of a box with 15 different marbles?


Taking a subset of three elements out a set of 15 elements can be done in
C(15,3) ways

In a firm are 20 workmen and 10 employees. In how many ways can you construct a
delegation with 3 workmen and 2 employees?



First we choose the 3 workmen. This can be done in C(20,3) ways.
Then we choose the 2 employees. This can be done in C(10,2) ways.
The delegation can be assembled in C(20,3).C(10,2) ways

In how many ways can you take 5 cards, with at least 2 aces, out of a game of 52 cards?



First consider 5 cards, with exactly 2 aces.
For the two aces we have C(4,2) ways and for the three other cards we have
C(48,3) ways. The 5 cards can be chosen in C(4,2).C(48,3) ways.
Analogous, 5 cards, with exactly 3 aces can be chosen in C(4,3).C(48,2) ways. 5
cards, with exactly 4 aces can be chosen in 48 ways. Total = C(4,2).C(48,3) +
C(4,3).C(48,2) + 48

In how many ways can you split a group of 13 persons in 3 persons and 10 persons?



It is sufficient to choose 3 persons to split the group. This can in C(13,3) ways.

How many diagonals are there in a convex n-polygon?



In each vertex there start (n-3) diagonals and since there are n vertices, there
start n.(n-3) diagonals. But now we have counted twice each diagonal.
Hence , there are n(n-3)/2 diagonals in a convex n-polygon.

How many numbers consisting of 3 digits, can you make with the digits 0,1,2,3,4 ?



There are 4 ways to choose the first digit of the number.
There are 5 ways to choose the second digit of the number.
There are 5 ways to choose the third digit of the number.
Total = 4.5.5

How many subsets are there in a set S of 10 elements?



We can construct a subset of S by deciding for each element of S, whether or
not it belongs to the subset. So, for each element of S, there are 2 possibilities.
Total possibilities = 2
10


Calculate the term with x
2
in the expansion of (x
3
+ 1/2x)
10




In the expansion of (x
3
+ 1/2x)
10
we have :

The first term contains x
30

The second term contains x
26

The third term contains x
22

...
The eighth term contains x
2


This eighth term is C(10,7).(x
3
)
3
.(1/(2x))
7

The coefficient is C(10,7)/2
7
= 15/16

1011011101 is an example op a binary number of length 10.
How many binary numbers of length 10 end up with 111 and contain exactly two zeros.


The number is completely defined if we know the places of the 2 zeros.
The number starts with 1 and ends up with 111.
There are still six digits to be determined.
Once we identify two locations for the zeros, the number is fixed.
The number of ways to choose 2 places out of the 6, is C(6,2).
Level 2 problems

In how many ways can you stack m identical bricks into k boxes so that each box contains at
least 1 brick.


Since each box must contain at least one brick, we first put one brick in each
box. Now, we have to find the number of ways you can stack m-k identical
bricks into k boxes.
We describe one way to stack the (m-k) identical bricks into the k boxes.
Number the boxes.
Write on each brick the number of a destination box and order the (m-k) bricks,
in ascending order, in one row.
The row of numbers on the bricks constitute a combination with repetition of k
different elements (the k numbers) choose m-k (the bricks).
This can be done in

(m - 1)!
C'(k,m-k) = C(m-1,m-k) = ----------------- ways.
(m - k)!(k - 1)!

From a deck of cards we take 12 cards.
o hearts 1, 2 and 3
o clubs 1, 2, 3 and 4
o diamond 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Take 5 cards such that there is at least one card of each type. In how many ways is that
possible? The order of these five cards is irrelevant.


1. Many problems with 'at least one' can be reformulated. The reformulated
problem is, in general, easier to calculate than the original one.
2. New formulation
Calculate the number of ways to take 5 random cards from the 12 cards.
Call this number T.
Calculate the number of ways to take 5 random cards from the 12 cards
such that there are no hearts in it. Call this number A.
Calculate the number of ways to take 5 random cards from the 12 cards
such that there are no clubs in it. Call this number B.
Calculate the number of ways to take 5 random cards from the 12 cards
such that there are no diamonds in it. Call this number C.
But there is 1 way to take 5 cards from the 12 cards such that there are
no clubs and no hearts.
The requested number is T - (A+B+C-1) because these ways contain at
least one heart and one club and a diamond.
3. Back to the cards problem:
T = C(12,5) = 792
A = C(9,5) = 126
B = C(8,5)= 56
C = C(7,5)= 21
The requested number is T - (A+B+C-1) = 590

How many strictly positive integer solutions ( x, y , z) are there,
such that x + y + z = 100


This is the same problem as a previous problem :
In how many ways can you arrange 100 identical bricks into 3 boxes so that
each box contains at least one brick.
With the method of this previous problem, we get the answer C(99,97) = 4851
ways

How many terms are contained in (a + b + c)
20
.


All terms can be written as A.a
p
.b
q
.c
r
with p + q + r = 20.
The number of terms is the number of solutions of the equation p + q + r = 20
with p, q, r as positive integer unknowns.
Now regard (p,q,r) as three ordered elements. Point 20 times to one of these
elements, and order these elements in the same order as the given elements.
This corresponds with one solution of p + q + r = 20 and it is a combination
with repetition of 3 elements choose 20.
The number of terms is the number of such combinations
= C'(3,20) = C(22,20) = C(22,2) = 231

The term A.a
10
b
3
c
7
is present in the development of (a + b + c)
20

Calculate A.


The number of terms a
10
b
3
c
7
is the number of permutations with repetition
of the elements a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,b,b,b,c,c,c,c,c,c,c This number is

20!
----------- = 22 170 720
10! 3! 7!


1. if 15 cars are entered in a car show, in how many different ways can the judges award a
first and second prize?

2. Find the number of was in which 5 of 9 contestants can be ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
and 5th according to heights?

3. Find the number of permutations of zero objects selected from a set of 24 objects.

4. how many was can the letters of the following words be arranged?
a) bookkeeper b) Mississippi
c) syzygy d) gorgeous

5. In how many ways can a committee of 4 b chosen from 5 married couples if:
a) all are equally eligible?
b) the committee must consist of 3 women and 1 man?
c) a husband and wife cannot serve together?

6. how many 6-person volleyball teams can be formed from7 men and 3 women if:
a) there is no sex discrimination?
b) the team must contain at least 2 women?

7. how many 7-digit place numbers are possible if the 1st 3 digits must be 1, 4 and 3?

8. if you are randomly sampling one at a time with replacement from a bag containing 8
blue, 7 red and 5 green marbles, what is the probability of getting:
a) a blue marble in 1 draw?
b) 3 blue marbles in 3 draws?
c) a red, a green and a blue marble in the order specified?
d) at least 2 red marbles in 3 draws?

Ans.

1. 15 P 2 = 15*14 = 210
2. 9 P 5 = 9*8*7*6*5 = 15120
3. One

4a) The word has 10 letters, including 3 e's, 2 o's, 2k's, 1 b p and r.
(10 C 3) * (7 C 2) * (5 C 2) * (3C1) * (2C1) * (1C1) = 151200 <--------
Note: the order of the choices doesn't matter. Instead of writing it like I did above, you can
write it like:
(10 C 1) * (9 C 3) * (6 C 2) * (4 C 1) * (3 C 2) * (1 C 1) = 151200

Note: I showed the shortcut for doing permutations. There's also a shortcut for
combinations:
n C r = (n P r) / n!
So for instance 10 C 2 = 10*9 / 2! = 45
For doing these problems you can use Google's
calculator: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=10+choose+3

*Edit* -- I forgot, there's another way to do the problems of #4.
Problem (a) again:
10! / (3! * 2! * 2! * 1! * 1! * 1!) = 10! / (6 * 2 * 2) = 151200
So use whichever method you like for problems 4b-4d.


5a. 10 C 4 = 210 <-----
5b. (5 C 3) * (7 C 1) = 70 <-----

5c.
The first chosen person can be anyone.
For the second choice, only 8 of the 9 remaining people are eligible.
For the 3rd choice, there are 8 remaining people, two of whom are spouses of the
selected ones, so there are 8-2 = 6 eligible people.
And for the 4th choice there are 4 eligible people.
So you have:
10 * 8 * 6 * 4 = 1920
BUT that's the permutations. Order doesn't matter in this problem so we're interested in
the COMBINations. Since we know the permutations, getting the combos is easy using
the formula I gave earlier:
1920 / 4! = 80 <-------

6a) Here's another trick: n C r = n C (n-r)
So 10 C 6 = 10 C 4 which we already computed earlier: 210 <-----

6b) The question asks "at least", so we have to add the 2-woman and 3-woman combos
together to get the total.
(3C2)*(7C4) + (3C3)*(7C3) = 105 + 35 = 140

7. I don't know what you mean by "place number" and you didn't say if digits are allowed
to repeat, so I can't answer this question.

8. There are 20 marbles total.
a) 8/20 = 2/5
b) (2/5)^3 = 8/125 = 0.064
c) (7/20) * (5/20) * (8/20) = 0.035

d) This is a binomial distribution problem.
P(at least 2 red) = P(exactly 2) + P(3)
There are 3C2 = 3 ways you can get exactly 2 reds.
Each of those ways has a probability of (7/20)^2 * (13/20).
So P(exactly 2) = 3 multiplied by the above probability
P(3 reds) = (7/20)^3
So P(at least 2 red) = [3 * (7/20)^2 * (13/20)] + (7/20)^3
= 0.28175 <------


3. Probability -- Counting Techniques
Some probability problems can be attacked by specifying a sample
space in which each simple event has probability (i.e. is
"equally likely"). Thus, if a compound event consists of simple events,
then . To use this approach we need to be able to count the number
of events in and in , and this can be tricky. We review here some basic
ways to count outcomes from "experiments". These approaches should be
familiar from high school mathematics.
General Counting Rules
There are two basic rules for counting which can deal with most problems. We
phrase the rules in terms of ``jobs" which are to be done.
1. The Addition Rule:
Suppose we can do job 1 in ways and job 2 in ways. Then we can do
either job 1 or job 2, but not both, in ways.
For example, suppose a class has 30 men and 25 women. There
are ways the prof. can pick one student to answer a question.
1. The Multiplication Rule:
Suppose we can do job 1 in ways and an unrelated job 2 in ways. Then
we can do both job 1 and job 2 in ways.
For example, to ride a bike, you must have the chain on both a front sprocket
and a rear sprocket. For a 21 speed bike there are 3 ways to select the front
sprocket and 7 ways to select the rear sprocket.
This linkage of OR with addition and AND with multiplication will occur
throughout the course, so it is helpful to make this association in your mind.
The only problem with applying it is that questions do not always have an
AND or an OR in them. You often have to play around with re-wording the
question for yourself to discover implied AND's or OR's.
Example: Suppose we pick 2 numbers at random from digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 with
replacement. (Note: "with replacement" means that after the first number is
picked it is "replaced" in the set of numbers, so it could be picked again as the
second number.) Let us find the probability that one number is even. This can
be reworded as: "The first number is even AND the second is odd, OR, the
first is odd AND the second is even." We can then use the addition and
multiplication rules to calculate that there are ways for this
event to occur. Since the first number can be chosen in 5 ways AND the
second in 5 ways, contains points. The phrase "at random" in the
first sentence means the numbers are equally likely to be picked.

When objects are selected and replaced after each draw, the addition and
multiplication rules are generally sufficient to find probabilities. When objects
are drawn without being replaced, some special rules may simplify the
solution.


Problems:
1.
a.
i.A course has 4 sections with no limit on how many can enrol in
each section. 3 students each randomly pick a section. Find the
probability:
A. they all end up in the same section
B. they all end up in different sections
C. nobody picks section 1.
ii.Repeat (a) in the case when there are sections and
students .
b. Canadian postal codes consist of 3 letters alternated with 3
digits, starting with a letter (e.g. N2L 3G1). For a randomly constructed
postal code, what is the probability:
i.all 3 letters are the same?
ii.the digits are all even or all odd? Treat 0 as being neither even
nor odd.
c. Suppose a password has to contain between six and eight digits,
with each digit either a letter or a number from 1 to 9. There must be at
least one number present.
i.What is the total number of possible passwords?
ii.If you started to try passwords in random order, what is the
probability you would find the correct password for a given
situation within the first 1,000 passwords you tried?
Permutation Rules
Suppose that distinct objects are to be ``drawn" sequentially, or ordered
from left to right in a row.
(Order matters; objects are drawn without replacement)
d. The number of ways to arrange distinct objects in a row is


Explanation: We can fill the first position in ways. Since this object
can't be used again, there are only ways to fill the second
position. So we keep having 1 fewer object available after each position
is filled.
Statistics is important, and many games are interesting largely because of the
extraordinary rate of growth of the function in For example

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 1 2 6 24 120 720 5040 40320 362880 3628800
which means that for many problems involving sampling from a deck of cards
or a reasonably large population, counting the number of cases is virtually
impossible. There is an approximation to which is often used for large
called Stirling's formula which says that is asymptotic to Here,
two sequences and are called asymptotically equal if
as (intuitively, the percentage error in using Stirling's approximation
goes to zero as For example the error in Stirling's approximation is
less than 1% if
e. The number of ways to arrange objects selected from
distinct objects is using the same
reasoning as in #1, and noting that for the selection, objects
have already been used. Hence there are
ways to make the selection. We use the
symbol to represent and describe this symbol
as " taken to terms". E.g. .
While only has a physical interpretation when and are positive
integers with , it still has a mathematical meaning when is not a
positive integer, as long as is a non-negative integer. For example

We will occasionally encounter such cases in this course but generally
and will be non-negative integers with . In this case, we can re-
write in terms of factorials.
Note that

The idea in using counting methods is to break the experiment into pieces or
``jobs'' so that counting rules can be applied. There is usually more than one
way to do this.

Example: We form a 4 digit number by randomly selecting and arranging 4
digits from 1, 2, 3,...7 without replacement. Find the probability the number
formed is (a) even (b) over 3000 (c) an even number over 3000.

Solution: Let be the set of all possible 4 digit numbers using digits 1, 2, ...,
7 without repetitions.
Then has points. (We could calculate this but it will be easier to leave it
in this form for now and do some cancelling later.)
f. For a number to be even, the last digit must be even. We can fill
this last position with a 2, 4, or 6; i.e. in 3 ways. The first 3 positions
can be filled by choosing and arranging 3 of the 6 digits not used in the
final position. i.e. in ways. Then there are ways to fill the
final position AND the first 3 positions to produce an even number.

Another way to do this problem is to note that the four digit number is
even if and only if (iff) the last digit is even. The last digit is equally
likely to be any one of the numbers 1, ..., 7 so

g. To get a number over 3000, we require the first digit to be 3, 4, 5,
6, or 7; i.e. it can be chosen in 5 ways. The remaining 3 positions can
be filled in ways.
Another way to do this problem is to note that the four digit number is
over 3000 iff the first digit is one of 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. Since each of 1, ..., 7
is equally likely to be the first digit, we get (number 3000) = .
Note that in both (a) and (b) we dealt with positions which had
restrictions first, before considering positions with no restrictions. This
is generally the best approach to follow in applying counting
techniques.
h. This part has restrictions on both the first and last positions. To
illustrate the complication this introduces, suppose we decide to fill
positions in the order 1 then 4 then the middle two. We can fill position
1 in 5 ways. How many ways can we then fill position 4? The answer is
either 2 or 3 ways, depending on whether the first position was filled
with an even or odd digit. Whenever we encounter a situation such as
this, we have to break the solution into separate cases. One case is
where the first digit is even. The positions can be filled in 2 ways for the
first (i.e. with a 4 or 6), 2 ways for the last, and then ways to
arrange 2 of the remaining 5 digits in the middle positions. This first
case then occurs in ways. The second case has an odd
digit in position one. There are 3 ways to fill position one (3, 5, or 7), 3
ways to fill position four (2, 4, or 6), and ways to fill the remaining
positions. Case 2 then occurs in ways. We need case 1 OR
case 2.

Another way to do this is to realize that we need only to consider the
first and last digit, and to find (first digit is 3 and last digit is even).
There are different choices for (first digit, last digit) and it is
easy to see there are 13 choices for which first digit , last digit is
even ( minus the impossible outcomes (4, 4) and (6, 6)). Thus the
desired probability is .

Exercise: Try to solve part (c) by filling positions in the order 4, 1, middle.
You should get the same answer.

Exercise: Can you spot the flaw in the following?
There are ways to get an even number (part (a))
There are ways to get a number 3000 (part (b))
By the multiplication rule there are ways to get a number
which is even and 3000. (Read the conditions in the multiplication rule
carefully, if you believe this solution.)
Here is another useful rule.
i. The number of distinct arrangements of objects when are
alike of one type, alike of a type, ..., alike of a
type is
For example: We can arrange in ways. These are

However, as soon as we remove the subscripts on the , the second row is
the same as the first row. I.e., we have only 3 distinct arrangements since
each arrangement appears twice as the and are interchanged. In
general, there would be arrangements if all objects were distinct.
However each arrangement would appear times as the type was
interchanged with itself, times as the type was interchanged with
itself, etc. Hence only of the arrangements are distinct.

Example: 5 men and 3 women sit together in a row. Find the probability that
j. the same gender is at each end
k. the women all sit together.
What are you assuming in your solution? Is it likely to be valid in real life?

Solution: If we treat the people as being 8 objects -- 5 and 3 , our sample
space will have points.
l. To get the same gender at each end we need either
OR
The number of distinct arrangements with a man at each end
is , since we are arranging 's and 's in the middle 6
positions. The number with a woman at each end is . Thus
assuming each
arrangement is equally likely.
m. Treating as a single unit, we are arranging 6 objects -- 5
's and 1 . There are arrangements. Thus,

Our solution is based on the assumption that all points in are equally
probable. This would mean the people sit in a purely random order. In
real life this isn't likely, for example, since friends are more likely to sit
together.


Problems:
n. Digits 1, 2, 3, ..., 7 are arranged at random to form a 7 digit
number. Find the probability that
i.the even digits occur together, in any order
ii.the digits at the 2 ends are both even or both odd.
o. The letters of the word EXCELLENT are arranged in a random
order. Find the probability that
i.the same letter occurs at each end.
ii. and occur together, in any order.
iii.the letters occur in alphabetical order.
Combinations
This deals with cases where order does not matter; objects are drawn without
replacement.
The number of ways to choose objects from is denoted by (called "
choose "). For and both non-negative integers with ,

Proof: From result 2 earlier, the number of ways to choose objects from
and arrange them from left to right is . Any choice of objects can be
arranged in ways, so we must have
(Number of way to choose objects from )
This gives as the number of ways to choose objects.
Note that loses its physical meaning when is not a non-negative
integer . However it is defined mathematically, provided is a non-
negative integer, by .


Example: In the Lotto 6/49 lottery, six numbers are drawn at random, without
replacement, from the numbers 1 to 49. Find the probability that
p. the numbers drawn are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (in some order)
q. no even number is drawn.

Solution:
r. Let the sample space consist of all combinations of 6 numbers
from 1, ..., 49; there are of them. Since 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 consist of
one of these 6-tuples, , which equals about 1
in 13.9 million.
s. There are 25 odd and 24 even numbers, so there are
choices in which all the numbers are odd.
(no even number)
=
(all odd numbers)

=

t. which is approximately equal to 0.0127.

Example: Find the probability a bridge hand (13 cards picked at random from
a standard deck) has
u. 3 aces
v. at least 1 ace
w. 6 spades, 4 hearts, 2 diamonds, 1 club
x. a 6-4-2-1 split between the 4 suits
y. a 5-4-2-2 split.

Solution: Since order of selection does not matter, we take to have
points.
z. We can choose 3 aces in ways. We also have to choose
10 other cards from the 48 non-aces. This can be done in ways.
Hence
aa. Solution 1: At least 1 ace means 1 ace or 2 aces or 3 aces or 4
aces. Calculate each part as in (a) and use the addition rule to get


bb. Solution 2: If we subtract all cases with aces from the
points in we are left with all points having at least 1 ace. This gives
(The term can
be omitted since , but was included here to show that we were
choosing of the 4 aces.)

cc. Solution 3: This solution is incorrect, but illustrates a
common error. Choose 1 of the 4 aces then any 12 of the remaining
51 cards. This guarantees we have at least 1 ace, so

The flaw in this solution is that it counts some points more than once by
partially keeping track of order. For example, we could get the ace of
spades on the first choice and happen to get the ace of clubs in the last
12 draws. We also could get the ace of clubs on the first draw and then
get the ace of spades in the last 12 draws. Though in both cases we
have the same outcome, they would be counted as 2 different
outcomes.
(c)
dd. Choose the 6 spades in ways and the hearts in
ways and the diamonds in ways and the clubs in ways.

ee. The split in (c) is only 1 of several possible 6-4-2-1 splits. In fact,
filling in the numbers 6, 4, 2 and 1 in the spaces above each
suit defines a 6-4-2-1 split. There are 4! ways to do this, and
then ways to pick the cards from these suits.

ff. This is the same as (d) except the numbers 5-4-2-2 are not all
different. There are different arrangements of 5-4-2-2 in the
spaces .

Problems:
gg. A factory parking lot has 160 cars in it, of which 35 have faulty
emission controls. An air quality inspector does spot checks on 8 cars
on the lot.
i.Give an expression for the probability that at least 3 of these 8
cars will have faulty emission controls.
ii.What assumption does your answer to (a) require? How likely is
it that this assumption holds if the inspector hopes to catch as
many cars with faulty controls as possible?
hh. In a race, the 15 runners are randomly assigned the
numbers . Find the probability that
i.4 of the first 6 finishers have single digit numbers.
ii.the fifth runner to finish is the 3rd finisher with a single digit
number.
iii.number 13 is the highest number among the first 7 finishers.0.2in

Problems on Chapter 3
ii. Six digits from 2, 3, 4, ..., 8 are chosen and arranged in a row
without replacement. Find the probability that
i.the number is divisible by 2
ii.the digits 2 and 3 appear consecutively in the proper order (i.e.
23)
iii.digits 2 and 3 appear in the proper order but not consecutively.
jj. Suppose passengers get on an elevator at the basement floor.
There are floors above (numbered 1, 2, 3, ..., ) where passengers
may get off.
i.Find the probability
A. no passenger gets off at floor 1
B. passengers all get off at different floors .
ii.What assumption(s) underlies your answer to (a)? Comment
briefly on how likely it is that the assumption(s) is valid.
kk. There are 6 stops left on a subway line and 4 passengers on a
train. Assume they are each equally likely to get off at any stop. What is
the probability
i.they all get off at different stops?
ii.2 get off at one stop and 2 at another stop?
ll. Give an expression for the probability a bridge hand of 13 cards
contains 2 aces, 4 face cards (Jack, Queen or King) and 7 others. You
might investigate the various permutations and combinations relating to
card hands using the Java applet
at
mm. The letters of the word STATISTICS are arranged in a random
order. Find the probability
i.they spell statistics
ii.the same letter occurs at each end.
nn. Three digits are chosen in order from 0, 1, 2, ..., 9. Find the
probability the digits are drawn in increasing order; (i.e., the first the
second the third) if
i.draws are made without replacement
ii.draws are made with replacement.
oo. The Birthday Problem. Note_1 Suppose there are persons in
a room. Ignoring February 29 and assuming that every person is
equally likely to have been born on any of the 365 other days in a year,
find the probability that no two persons in the room have the same
birthday. Find the numerical value of this probability for .
There is a graphic Java applet for illustrating the frequency of common
birthdays at http://www-
stat.stanford.edu/%7Esusan/surprise/Birthday.html
pp. You have identical looking keys on a chain, and one opens
your office door. If you try the keys in random order then
what is the probability the th key opens the door?
what is the probability one of the first two keys opens the
door (assume )?
Determine numerical values for the answer in part (b) for
the cases .
qq. From a set of consecutively numbered tickets, three are
selected at random without replacement. Find the probability that the
numbers of the tickets form an arithmetic progression. [The order in
which the tickets are selected does not matter.]
rr. The 10,000 tickets for a lottery are numbered 0000 to 9999. A
four-digit winning number is drawn and a prize is paid on each ticket
whose four-digit number is anyarrangement of the number drawn. For
instance, if winning number 0011 is drawn, prizes are paid on tickets
numbered 0011, 0101, 0110, 1001, 1010, and 1100. A ticket costs $1
and each prize is $500.
What is the probability of winning a prize (i) with ticket
number 7337? (ii) with ticket number 7235? What advice would
you give to someone buying a ticket for this lottery?
Assuming that all tickets are sold, what is the probability
that the operator will lose money on the lottery?
ss.
There are 25 deer in a certain forested area, and 6 have
been caught temporarily and tagged. Some time later, 5 deer are
caught. Find the probability that 2 of them are tagged. (What
assumption did you make to do this?)
Suppose that the total number of deer in the area was
unknown to you. Describe how you could estimate the number of
deer based on the information that 6 deer were tagged earlier,
and later when 5 deer are caught, 2 are found to be tagged.
What estimate do you get?
tt. Lotto 6/49. In Lotto 6/49 you purchase a lottery ticket with 6
different numbers, selected from the set . In the draw, six
(different) numbers are randomly selected. Find the probability that
Your ticket has the 6 numbers which are drawn. (This
means you win the main Jackpot.)
Your ticket matches exactly 5 of the 6 numbers drawn.
Your ticket matches exactly 4 of the 6 numbers drawn.
Your ticket matches exactly 3 of the 6 numbers drawn.
uu. (Texas Hold-em) Texas Hold-em is a poker game in which
players are each dealt two cards face down (called your hole or pocket
cards), from a standard deck of 52 cards, followed by a round of
betting, and then five cards are dealt face up on the table with various
breaks to permit players to bet the farm. These are communal cards
that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form
a poker hand. Players can use any five of the face-up cards and their
two cards to form a five card poker hand. Probability calculations for
this game are not only required at the end, but also at intermediate
steps and are quite complicated so that usually simulation is used to
determine the odds that you will win given your current information, so
consider a simple example. Suppose we were dealt 2 Jacks in the first
round.
.What is the probability that the next three cards (face up) include
at least one Jack?
i.Given that there was no Jack among these next three cards,
what is the probability that there is at least one among the last
two cards dealt face-up?
ii.What is the probability that the 5 face-up cards show two Jacks,
given that I have two in my pocket cards?




https://onlinecourses.science.psu.edu/stat414/book/export/html/9



Counting Problems With Solutions
Let us start by introducing the counting principle using an example. A student has to
take one course of physics, one of science and one of mathematics. He may choose
one of 3 physics courses (P1, P2, P3), one of 2 science courses (S1, S2) and one of 2
mathematics courses (M1, M2). In how many ways can this student select the 3 courses
he has to take?

Let us use a tree diagram that shows all possible choices. The first column on the left
shows the 3 possible choices of the physics course: P1, P2 or P3. Then the second
column shows the 2 possible choices of the science course and the last column shows
the 2 possible choices for the mathematics course. The different ways in which the 3
courses may be selected are:

(P1 S1 M1), (P1 S1 M2), (P1 S2 M1), (P1 S2 M2)

(P2 S1 M1), (P2 S1 M2), (P2 S2 M1), (P2 S2 M2)

(P3 S1 M1), (P3 S1 M2), (P3 S2 M1), (P3 S2 M2)




The total number of choices may be calculated as follows:

Let n1 be the number of choices of the physics course, here n1 = 3. Let n2 be
the number of choices of the science course, here n2 = 2. Let n3 be the
number of choices of the mathematics course, here n3 = 2. It is clear from the
tree diagram above that the total number N of choices may be calculated as
follows:


N = n1*n2*n3



= 3*2*2 = 12


Usin the above problem, we can generalize and write a formula related to
counting as follows:

"If events E1, E2, E3 ... can occur in n1, n2, n3 ... different ways respectively, the
number of ways that all events can occur is equal to n1*n2*n3 ..."

Problem 1: To buy a computer system, a customer can choose one of 4
monitors, one of 2 keyboards, one of 4 computers and one of 3 printers.
Determine the number of possible systems that a customer can choose from.
Solution to Problem 1:
A customer can choose one monitor, one keyboard, one computer and
one printer. The diagram below shows each item with the number of
choices the customer has.


Using the counting principle used in the introduction above, the number
of all possible computer systems that can be bought is given by
N = 4 * 2 * 4 * 3 = 96

Problem 2: In a certain country telephone numbers have 9 digits. The first
two digits are the area code (03) and are the same within a given area. The
last 7 digits are the local number and cannot begin with 0. How many different
telephone numbers are possible within a given area code in this country?
Solution to Problem 2:
The diagram below shows the number of choices for each digit. The first
digit of the area code is 0, no choice which is in fact one choice only.
The second digit of the area code is 1, no choice or one choice only.
The first digit of the local code can be any digit except 0, so 9 choices.
The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7 th digits of the local code can be any
digit, hence 10 choices each.


Using the counting principle, the total number of possible telephone
numbers is given by
N = 1 * 1 * 9 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 = 9,000,000


Problem 3: A student can select one of 6 different mathematics books, one of
3 different chemistry books and one of 4 different science books. In how many
different ways can a student select a book of mathematics, a book of
chemistry and a book of science?
Solution to Problem 3:
The total number N of different ways that the students can select his 3
books is given by
N = 6 * 3 * 4 = 72

Problem 4: There are 3 different roads from city A to city B and 2 different
roads from city B to city C. In how many ways can someone go from city A to
city C passing by city B?
Solution to Problem 4:
The total number N of different ways that someone can go from city A to
city C, passing by city B is
N = 3 * 2 = 6

Problem 5: A man has 3 different suits, 4 different shirts and 5 different pairs
of shoes. In how many different ways can this man wear a suit, a shirt and a
pair of shoes?
Solution to Problem 5:
The total number N of different ways that this man can wear one of his
suits, one of his shirts and a pair of his shoes is
N = 3 * 4 * 5 = 60

Problem 6: In a company , ID cards have 5 digit numbers.

a) How many ID cards can be formed if repetion of the digit is allowed?

b) How many ID cards can be formed if repetion of the digit is not allowed?
Solution to Problem 6:
a) In the diagram below, any of the 5 digits of the number to be formed
can be any of the 10 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Hence the 10
choices for each digit of the number to be formed since repetition of the
digits from 0 to 9 is allowed. When repetition is allowed, the total
number N of ID cards is given by the total numbers of 5 digit numbers
that can formed and is given by:
N = 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 = 100,000



b) In the diagram below, the first digit of the number to be formed can
be any of the 10 digits, hence the 10 choices. The second digit can be
any of the 10 digits except the digit used in position 1 since no repetition
of the digits is allowed, hence the 9 choices. The third digit can be any
of the 10 digits excepts the two already used in positions 1 and 2 since
repetition is not allowed, hence the 8 choices and so on.


The number N of ID cards is given by
N = 10 * 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 = 30,240

Problem 7: In a certain country, licence plate numbers have 3 letters
folllowed by 4 digits. How many different licence plate numbers can be
formed? (letters and digits may be repeated).
Solution to Problem 7:
26 (all letters in the alphabet) choices are possible for each of the 3
letters to be used to form the licence number. 10 choices
(0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are possible for each of the 4 digits. The total
number of licence numbers is given by
N = 26 * 26 * 26 * 10 * 10 * 10 * 10 = 175,760,000

Problem 8: Using the digits 1, 2, 3 and 5, how many 4 digit numbers can be
formed if

a) The first digit must be 1 and repetition of the digits is allowed?

b) The first digit must be 1 and repetition of the digits is not allowed?

b) The number must be divisible by 2 and repetion is allowed?

b) The number must be divisible by 2 and repetion is not allowed?
Solution to Problem 8:
a) 1 choice for the first digit. 4 choices for the last 3 digits that form the 4
digit number since repetition is allowed. Hence the number N of
numbers that we may form is given by
N = 1 * 4 * 4 * 4 = 64

b) 1 choice for the first digit. 3 choices for the second digit of the number
to be formed since repetition is allowed. 2 choices for the third digit of
the number to be formed. 1 choice for the fourth digit of the number to
be formed. Hence the number N of numbers that we may form is given
by
N = 1 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 6

c) For the number to be formed to be divisible by two, the last digit must
be 2, hence one choice for this digit. 4 choices for each of the other
digits since repetition is allowed. Hence the number N of numbers that
we may form is given by
N = 4 * 4 * 4 * 1 = 64

d) For the number to be formed to be divisible by two, the last digit must
be 2, hence one choice for this digit. 3 choices for the first digit, 2
choices for the second digit and 1 choice for the third digit that form the
number. Hence the number N of numbers that we may form is given by
N = 3 * 2 * 1 * 1 = 6


Problem 9: A coin is tossed three times. What is the total number of all
possible outcomes?
Solution to Problem 9:
The first time the coin is tossed, 2 different outcomes are possible
(heads,tails). The second time the coin is tossed, another 2 different
outcomes are possible and the third time the coin is tossed,
another 2 different outcomes are possible. Hence the total number of
possible outcomes is equal to
N = 2 * 2 * 2 = 8

Problem 10: Two dice are rolled. What is the total number of all possible
outcomes?
Solution to Problem 10:
Six possible outcomes for the first die (1,2,3,4,5,6) and 6 other possible
outcomes for the second die. The total number of different outcomes is
N = 6 * 6 = 36

Problem 11: A coin is tossed and a die is rolled. What is the total number of
all possible outcomes?
Solution to Problem 11:
Two possible outcomes for the coin (heads,tails) and 6 possible
outcomes (1,2,3,4,5,6) for the die. The total number of different
outcomes is
N = 2 * 6 = 12