Basic Principles of Counting Sample Points

1. Addition Rule:
 Let E1 & E2 are M.E events then:

 Let E1 & E2 are not M.E events then n( E )  n(E1 )  n(E 2 )  n( E1  E2 )

Q: In how many ways can a number be chosen from 1 to 22 inclusive, such that
i. It is a multiple of 3 or 8?
ii. It is a multiple of 2 or 3?
2. Multiplicative rule: This principle states that if operation A can be performed in
m ways and the operations B in n ways, then the two operations can be performed
together in m.n ways. OR E1 & E2 are independent events; n( E )  n(E1 )  n(E 2 )
Q1. A man has three suits and five ties. How many ways can he wear a suit and a
tie?
Q2. A room has three doors marked A, B, C. in how many ways can a person enter
by one door and leave by different door?
Q3. A movie theater sells 3 sizes of popcorn (small, medium, and large) with 3
choices of toppings (no butter, butter, extra butter). How many ways can a bag of
popcorn are purchased?
Q4. Burger queen offers 5 types of burgers, 4 types of beverages, 3 types of desserts.
If a meal consists of 1 burger, one beverage and one desert, how many possible meals
can b chosen?
Q5. An event manager has ten patterns of chairs and eight patterns of tables. In how
many ways can he make a pair of table and chair?
Q6. The life insurance policies of an insurance company are classified by:
i. Age of the insured:
 Under 25 years;
 Between 25 years and 50 years;
 Over 50 years
ii. Gender:
 Male
 Female
iii. Marital status:
 Single
 Married
What is the total number of classifications?
Q7. The only clean clothes you have got are 2 tea-shirts and 4 jeans. How many
different ways can you chose a pair of tea-shirt and jeans?
3. Rule of Permutation: A permutation is any ordered subset from a set of n
distinct objects.
4. Rule of Combination: A combination is any set of r objects, selected without
regard to their order from a set of n distinct objects.
Example1. A club consists of four members. How many sample points are in the
sample space when three officers: president, secretary and treasurer are to b chosen?
Example2. A three-person committee is to be formed from a list of four persons.
How many sample points are associated with the experiment?
Factorial: the numbers 1,2, 3…. are called natural numbers. Occasionally we have
to multiply first few natural numbers. for example, 1.2.3.4.5 is the product of first
five numbers. This product is denoted as 5!
5! = 1.2.3.4.5
10! = 10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1
0! = 1 and 1! = 1
n! = n(n-1) (n-2) …….3.2.1
n! = n(n-1) (n-2)!
Permutation: (repetition is allowed), nr
n!
Permutation: (No repetition), n pr 
 n  r !
Q1. In how many ways can six different books be arranged on a shelf? 6P6
Q2. In a lock there are 10 numbers from (0,1,……,9) if we choose 3 of them. How
many ways to choose (repletion is allowed).

Q3. How many ways five-digit zip codes can be made from the ten digits 0 to 9
inclusive? (i) with repetition (ii) no repetition

Q4. There are 12 horses in a horse show competition. The top three horses receive
money. How many possible money winning orders are there for a competition with
12 horses?

Q5. How many different ways number plate for cars can be made if each number
plate contains four of the digits 0 to 9 followed by a letter A to Z, assuming that
a) No repetition of digits is allowed?
b) Repetition of digits is allowed?
Q6. In how many different ways can the letters of the word 'OPTICAL' be arranged
so that the vowels always come together?

Q7. In how many different ways can the letters of the word 'MATHEMATICS' be
arranged such that the vowels must always come together?

Q8. How many 3-letter words with or without meaning, can be formed out of the
letters of the word, 'LOGARITHMS', if repetition of letters is not allowed?

Q9. How many 6-digit telephone numbers can be formed if each number starts with
35 and no digit appears more than once?

Q10. How many ways can gold, silver and bronze medals be awarded for a race run
by 8 people?

Q11. Certain automobile license plates consist of a sequence of three letters followed
by three digits. (i) If no repetition of letters is permitted, how many possible license
plates are there? (ii) If no letters and no digits are repeated, how many license plates
are possible?

Q12. Using the digits 1,3,5,7, and 9, with no repetition of the digits, how many
a) one-digit numbers can be made? b) two-digit numbers can be made? c) three
digit numbers can be made?
Q13. There are five members of the math club. In how many ways can the positions
of officers, a president and a treasurer be chosen?

n!
Permutation of like objects: n pr 
r ! n  r  !

Q1. In how many different ways can two identical white refrigerators and two
identical black refrigerators be arranged in a row across a show room?
Q2. How many possible arrangements can be performed from the word
STATISTICS?
Q3. In how many different ways can the letters of the word 'CORPORATION' be
arranged so that the vowels always come together?

 r  n 1 
Combination: with repetition:  
 r 

n
Combination without repetition:  
r 

Q1. Find the number of ways in which 3 components can be selected from a batch
of 20 different components?

Q2. Out of five mathematicians 7 engineers, a committee consisting of 2

mathematicians and 3 engineers is to be formed. In how many ways can this be done
if
a) Any mathematicians and any engineer can be included?
b) One particular engineer must be in the committee?
c) Two particular mathematicians cannot be in the committee?
Q3. 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?

Q4. Out of 7 consonants and 4 vowels, how many words of 3 consonants and 2
vowels can be formed?

Q5. 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?

Q6. 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 in the committee. In how many ways can
it be done?

Q7. There are 8 men and 10 women and you need to form a committee of 5 men and
6 women. In how many ways can the committee be formed?

Q8. A bag contains 2 white balls, 3 black balls and 4 red balls. In how many ways
can 3 balls be drawn from the bag, if at least one black ball is to be included in the
draw?

Q9. A question paper has two parts P and Q, each containing 10 questions. If a
student needs to choose 8 from part P and 4 from part Q, in how many ways can he
do that?

Q10. There are five members of the math club. In how many ways can the two-
person social committee be chosen?
Q11. Given a class of 12 girls and 10 boys: In how many ways can a committee of
five consisting of
 a) 3 girls and 2 boys b) no boys c) only one girl

Q12. A school dance committee of 4 people is selected at random from a group of 6

ninth graders, 11 eighth graders, and 10 seventh graders. How many ways can be if:
a) the committee has all seventh graders? b) committee has no seventh graders?

Q13. In how many ways can a group of 5 men and 2 women be made out of a total
of 7 men and 3 women?