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PermutationsandcombinationsTopicsinprecalculus

Topicsin
PRECALCULUS
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PERMUTATIONSANDCOMBINATIONS
TheFundamentalPrincipleofCounting
Factorialrepresentationofpermutations
Permutationproblems
Section2

Combinations
Factorialrepresentationofcombinations
Combinationproblems
Thesumofallcombinations
Permutations

BYTHEPERMUTATIONSofthelettersabcwemeanalloftheir
possiblearrangements:
abc
acb
bac
bca
cab
cba
Thereare6permutationsofthreedifferentthings.Asthenumber
ofthings(letters)increases,theirpermutationsgrowastronomically.
Forexample,iftwelvedifferentthingsarepermuted,thenthenumber
oftheirpermutationsis479,001,600.
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PermutationsandcombinationsTopicsinprecalculus

Now,thisenormousnumberwasnotfoundbycountingthem.It
isderivedtheoreticallyfromtheFundamentalPrincipleofCounting:
Ifsomethingcanbechosen,orcanhappen,orbe
done,inmdifferentways,and,afterthathas
happened,somethingelsecanbechoseninn
differentways,thenthenumberofwaysofchoosing
bothofthemismn.

Forexample,imagineputtingthelettersa,b,c,dintoahat,and
thendrawingtwooftheminsuccession.Wecandrawthefirstin4
differentways:eitheraorborcord.Afterthathashappened,there
are3waystochoosethesecond.Thatis,toeachofthose4ways
therecorrespond3.Therefore,thereare43or12possiblewaysto
choosetwolettersfromfour.
ab ba ca da
ac bc cb db

ad bd cd dc
abmeansthatawaschosenfirstandbsecondbameansthatb
waschosenfirstandasecondandsoon.
Letusnowconsiderthetotalnumberofpermutationsofallfour
letters.Thereare4waystochoosethefirst.3waysremaintochoose
thesecond,2waystochoosethethird,and1waytochoosethelast.
Thereforethenumberofpermutationsof4differentthingsis
4321=24
Thusthenumberofpermutationsof4differentthingstaken4ata
timeis4!.(SeeTopic19.)
(Tosay"taken4atatime"isaconvention.Wemean,"4!isthe
numberofpermutationsof4differentthingstakenfromatotalof4
differentthings.")
Ingeneral,

Thenumberofpermutationsofndifferentthingstaken
natatime
isn!.

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Example1.Fivedifferentbooksareonashelf.Inhowmany
differentwayscouldyouarrangethem?
Answer.5!=12345=120
Example2.Thereare6!permutationsofthe6lettersoftheword
square.
a)Inhowmanyofthemisrthesecondletter?_r____
b)Inhowmanyofthemareqandenexttoeachother?
Solution.
a)Letrbethesecondletter.Thenthereare5waystofillthefirst
spot.Afterthathashappened,thereare4waystofillthethird,3to
fillthefourth,andsoon.Thereare5!suchpermutations.
b)Letqandebenexttoeachotherasqe.Thenwewillbe
permutingthe5unitsqe,s,ua,r..Theyhave5!permutations.Butq
andecouldbetogetheraseq.Therefore,thetotalnumberofways
theycanbenexttoeachotheris25!=240.
Permutationsoflessthanall

Wehaveseenthatthenumberofwaysofchoosing2lettersfrom4is
43=12.Wecallthis
"Thenumberofpermutationsof4differentthingstaken2atatime."
Wewillsymbolizethisas4P2:
4P =43
2

Thelowerindex2indicatesthenumberoffactors.Theupper
index4indicatesthefirstfactor.
Forexample,8P3means"thenumberofpermutationsof8
differentthingstaken3atatime."And
8P = 876
3

= 566

= 506+66

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= 336

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For,thereare8waystochoosethefirst,7waystochoosethe
second,and6waystochoosethethird.
Ingeneral,
nP =n(n1)(n2)tokfactors
k

Factorialrepresentation

WesawintheTopiconfactorials,
8!
= 876
5!
5!isafactorof8!,andthereforethe5!'scancel.
Now,876is8P3.Wesee,then,that8P3canbeexpressedin
termsoffactorialsas
8P = 8!
3

(83)!

8!
5!

Ingeneral,thenumberofarrangementspermutationsofn
thingstakenkatatime,canberepresentedasfollows:
n!
............
nP = (n
k
(1)
k)!
TheupperfactorialistheupperindexofP,whilethelower
factorialisthedifferenceoftheindices.
Example3.Express10P4intermsoffactorials.
Solution. 10P4 =

10!
6!

Theupperfactorialistheupperindex,andthelowerfactorialis
thedifferenceoftheindices.Whenthe6!'scancel,thenumerator
becomes10987.
Thisisthenumberofpermutationsof10differentthingstaken4
atatime.
Example4.CalculatenPn.
Solution.nPn =

n!
n! n!
= = =n!
(nn)! 0! 1

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nP isthenumberofpermutationsofndifferentthingstakennat
n

atimeitisthetotalnumberofpermutationsofnthings:n!.The
definition0!=1makesline(1)abovevalidforallvaluesofk:k=
0,1,2,...,n.
Problem1.Writedownallthepermutationsofxyz.
Toseetheanswer,passyourmouseoverthecoloredarea.
Tocovertheansweragain,click"Refresh"("Reload").
xyz,xzy,yxz,yzx,zxy,zyx.
Problem2.Howmanypermutationsarethereoftheletterspqrs?
4!=1234=24
Problem3.a)Howmanydifferentarrangementsarethereofthe
lettersofthewordnumbers?
7!=5,040
b)Howmanyofthosearrangementshavebasthefirstletter?
Setbasthefirstletter,andpermutetheremaining6.
Therefore,thereare6!sucharrangements.
c)Howmanyhavebasthelastletterorinanyspecifiedposition?
Thesame.6!.
d)Howmanywillhaven,u,andmtogether?
Beginbypermutingthe5thingsnum,b,e,r,s.Theywill
have5!permutations.Butineachoneofthem,thereare3!
rearrangementsofnum.Consequently,thetotalnumberof
arrangementsinwhichn,u,andmaretogether,is3!5!=
6120=720.
Problem4.a)Howmanydifferentarrangements(permutations)are
thereofthedigits01234?
5!=120
b)Howmany5digitnumberscanyoumakeofthosedigits,inwhich
the
b)firstdigitisnot0,andnodigitisrepeated?
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Since0cannotbefirst,removeit.Thentherewillbe4ways
tochoosethefirstdigit.Nowreplace0.Itwillnowbeoneof4
remainingdigits.Therefore,therewillbe4waystofillthe
secondspot,3waystofillthethird,andsoon.Thetotalnumber
of5digitnumbers,then,is44!=424=96.
c)Howmany5digitoddnumberscanyoumakewith0,1,2,3,4,
and
c)nodigitisrepeated?
Again,0cannotbefirst,soremoveit.Sincethenumber
mustbeodd,itmustendineither1or3.Place1,then,inthe
lastposition.____1.Therefore,forthefirstposition,we
maychooseeither2,3,or4,sothatthereare3waystochoose
thefirstdigit.Nowreplace0.Hence,therewillbe3waysto
choosethesecondposition,2waystochoosethethird,and1
waytochoosethefourth.Therefore,thetotalnumberofodd
numbersthatendin1,is3321=18.Thesameanalysis
holdsifweplace3inthelastposition,sothatthetotalnumber
ofoddnumbersis218=36.
Problem5.
a)Ifthefivelettersa,b,c,d,eareputintoahat,inhowmany
different
a)wayscouldyoudrawoneout?5
b)Whenoneofthemhasbeendrawn,inhowmanywayscouldyou
a)drawasecond?4
c)Therefore,inhowmanywayscouldyoudrawtwoletters?54=
20
Thisnumberisdenotedby5P2.
d)Whatisthemeaningofthesymbol5P3?
Thenumberofpermutationsof5differentthingstaken3at
atime.
e)Evaluate5P3.543=60
Problem6.Evaluate
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a)6P3=120b)10P2=90c)7P5=2520
Problem7.Expresswithfactorials.
a)nPk n!
(nk)!

b)12P7 12!
5!

c)8P2 8!
6!

d)mP0 m!
m!

SeePermutationswithSomeIdenticalElements

Section2:Combinations

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