Session-17

Permutations and Combinations

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Permutations:
The number of ways in which a subset of objects can be
selected from a given set of objects, where order is
important.

Example:Given the set of three letters, {A, B, C}, how many possibilities
are there for selecting any two letters where order is important?

ans: (AB, AC, BC, BA, CA, CB)

 Permutations cont..
Definition:
• A permutation of a set of distinct objects is an ordering of the objects in a row.
• A permutation of n objects taken r at a time (also called r-permutation of n objects) is an
ordered selection or arrangement of r of the objects. P(n,r) = n! / (n-r)!

Ex: set of elements a,b,c

Has 6 permutations
a,b,c
a,c,b
b,c,a
b,a,c
c,a,b
c,b,a
Ex:2- permutations of { a, b } with unlimited repetitions are :

aa ,ab, ba, bb
Ex: set of elements a,a,a,b,c.
Has 3- permutations :
aaa, aab ,aba, baa,
aac,aca, caa,abc,
acb,bac,
bca,cab,
cba.
Ex:Suppose selection are to be made from the four objects {a,b,c,d} then
the 2- permutations without repetitions ?
ab,ba
ac,ca,
ad,da
bc,cb,
bd,db,
cd,dc.
Total : 12
Ex:Suppose selection are to be made from the four objects {a,b,c,d} then
the 3- permutations without repetitions ?
abc, acb, bac, bca, cab, cba,
abd, adb, bad, bda, dab, dba,
acd, adc, cad, cda, dac, dca,
bcd, bdc, cbd, cdb, dbc, dcb
Total : 24
r-permutations without repetitions

• P(n , r)=n(n-1)(n-2).........(n-r+1)=n!/(n-r)!
Since there are n distinct objects, the first position of r-permutation can
be filled in n ways, the second position of r-permutation can be filled in n-
1ways, so on and rth position can be filled in n-r+1 ways.

• From the definition of factorials

P(n , r)= n!/(n-r)!
• When r = n
P(n , n) = n!/0! = n!

Corollary:
There are n! permutations of n distinct objects.
There are 3! Permutations of {a,b,c}
There are 4! Permutations of {a,b,c,d}
Examples:
• How many ways can the letters in the word C O
M P U T E R be arranged in a row?
COMPUTER = 8 letters
8 letters can be arranged in 8! ways
Ex: How many ways can the letters in the word C O M P U T E R
be arranged if the letters CO must remain next to each other as a unit.

Sol: COMPUTER = CO is treated as 1 unit

Then, number of characters= 7
7 letters can be arranged in 7! Ways

Note: don’t consider OC, since CO is consider as a unit.

• Evaluate p(5,2)
n! = 5!
(n-r)! (5-2)!
• How many 4-permutations are there of a set of
seven objects.
n! N=7, r=4
(n-r)! 7!
(7-4)!
• How many 5-permutations are there of a set of five
objects.
n=5, r=5
n! 5!
(n-r)! (5-5)!
• How many different ways can the letters of the word BYTES be chosen
and written in a row?

Sol: BYTES - 5 letters

5 letters can be chosen in 5! ways
• How many different ways this can be done if the first letter must be B.
Sol:
BYTES - 1st letter B is fixed, remaining 4 letters left to choose.
So, 4 letters can be chosen in 4! ways
r-permutations example
• How many ways are there for 5 people in this class to give presentations?
(Assume that there are 80 students in class)

• There are 80 students in the class

P(80,5) = 80!/(80-5)!
= 80*79*78*77*76
= 2,884,801,920

Note that the order they go in does matter in this example!

17
In how many ways can 7 women and 3 men be arranged in a row if the 3
men must always stand next to each other?

Sol: W W W W W W W MMM (7women+3men)

• 7 women can be arranged in 7! Ways.

• 3 men can be arranged in 3! Ways.
• But 3 men must always together so consider as a unit.
• Number of elements to arrange 8 in 8!ways
Finally 8! * 3!
In how many ways can the letters of the English language be arranged so
that there are exactly 5 letters between the letters a and b?
Sol: a _____b
Number of alphabets =26
• Already starting ending characters are given.
• Number of characters left are= 26-2=24.
• Number of ways to choose 5 letters is P(24,5).
• There are 2 ways to place a and b.
• and then 20! ways to arrange any 7-letter word treated as one unit along with the
remaining 19 letters
Number of ways to arrange 7 letters word is
Finally 2 * 20! * P(24,5)
• There are (n-1)! Permutations of n distinct objects
in a circle.
Example:
In how many ways can 5 children arrange
themselves in a ring.
• (n-1)! Ways.
n=5
So finally 4! ways