FUNDAMENTAL

COUNTING PRINCIPLE

BY:IJNEK N.ADEMU
WELLWHAT IS
FUNDAMENTAL COUNTING
PRINCIPLE? (FCP)
Well.

The Fundamental Counting

Principle states that if one event
has m possible outcomes and a
second independent event has n
possible outcomes, then there are m
x n total possible outcomes for the
two events together.
DEFINITION
The fundamental counting principle is a mathematical rule that allows you to find the
number of ways that a combination of events can occur. For example, if the first event can
occur 3 ways, the second event can occur 4 ways, and the third event can occur 5 ways, then
you can find out the number of unique combinations by multiplying: 3 * 4 * 5 = 60 unique
combinations.
Imagine that you have a necktie sewing business. You can make unique ties by changing any
of the following factors: color (5 options) and shape (3 options). How many unique ties can
you make? One way to think about it is by making a diagram. There are 5 colors. Each of the
5 colors can be made into 3 shapes - blue with 3 shape choices, red with 3 shape choices,
etc.
By multiplying, you get the total number of paths that you can take through the diagram. You
can make 15 different kinds of ties (5 * 3).
Now suppose that you also add 3 pattern choices to your tie options: striped, solid, or polka-
dot. How many ties can you make now? Simply imagine one of the possibilities you had
originally - maybe a green tie that is short and fat. That green short tie can now be made
three ways: striped, solid, or polka-dot. The same is true of the other 14 original ties. So, now
you have 15 * 3 = 45 different types of ties.
This multiplication method works any time you have several factors (color, shape, and
design) and each of those factors can be combined with each other in any way possible. You
can use the fundamental counting rule (multiplication) any time you have a set of categories
and one out of several choices in each category will be selected. You might think of it as
having several empty 'slots' to fill. Each 'slot' gets only one item
HISTORY:
Theearliest books on Combinatorics came from India. Bhagabati Surta was written around 300 BC
and mentioned the choose function.Pingala had the next idea about Combinatorics dealing with
prosody and music notes. He wrote his problem of prosody in the Chanda Sutra in the second
century BC.

The mathematician Mahavira generalized the ideas in the Bhagabati in 850 AD. Bhaskara and
Hemacandra expanded on Pingala's ideas in 1100 AD. Though India was the first to publish books
on Combinatorics, other countries were making similar observations and discoveries. Problem 79
in the Rhind papyrus is the earliest known connection to Combinatorics.
Next is by the I Ching, a book about how many possible hexagrams exist. China solved the magic
square, a combinatorial design problem, around 100 AD. Plutarch, from Greece, wrote that the
Xenocrates discovered in the Greek language, the number of syllables possible, though this is
most likely not true.
In the middle East, binomial coefficients were learned from Indian work, and found the connection
to polynomial expansion. The philosopher and astronomer Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra founded the
symmetry of binomial coefficients. The arithmetical triangle was in treatises from as far back as
the 10th century presented by mathematicians, and was later known as Pascal's Triangle.
Combinatorics was brought to the west by Leonardo Fibonacci and Jordanus de Nemore. Liber
Abaci, written by Fibonacci introduced Arabian and Indian ideas to Europe. Jordanus was the first to
arrange the
binomial coefficients in a triangle, now known as Pascal's Triangle.
THE FUNDAMENTAL COUNTING
RULE AND EXPONENTS

Ifyou have repeats, the same

number of choices in several slots,
then it's a little more concise to use
exponents. The license plate
multiplication can be rewritten as:
EXAMPLE:

Suppose the slots represent courses

in a meal you're going to order. If
there are 6 courses, you might have
3 appetizer choices, 2 soup choices,
and 4 salad choices, along with 5
main course choices, 10 beverage
choices, and 3 dessert choices. To
find out how many unique 6-course
meals you can make, fill in the
blanks with the number of choices
ANSWER:

3* 2 * 4 * 5 * 10 * 3 =
3,600 possible unique
meals
EXAMPLE #2
Another situation might be the
creation of license plates. Again, you
have 6 slots to fill. This time, the first
two slots must be letters (26
choices) and the remaining 4 slots
must be numbers (10 choices each).
If you fill in the 6 'slots' with the
number of choices and multiply, you
get the number of license plates you
can make:
ANSWER #2:

26* 26 * 10 * 10 * 10 *
10 = 6,760,000 license
plates