PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS

Fundamental Counting Principle:

If an event can happen in any one of p ways and if when this has occurred, another event can happen in any one of q ways,
then the number of ways in which both events can happen in a specified order is pq.
Example: If in climbing a certain mountain, there are 5 trails that could be followed in going to the top and 4 trails in going down, in how
many ways can the trip be done?
Solution: Since n1 = 5 and n2 = 4, there are 5(4) = 20 ways in which such trip can be done.
Permutations:
An arrangement of objects in a definite order is called a permutation of the objects. This counting technique is usually applied
to problems about digits, filling distinct positions and seating arrangements.
Example: Taken 3 at a time, the letters A, B, C has six permutations, namely
ABC
ACB
BAC
BCA
CAB
CBA.
Taken two at a time, it has also six permutations, namely
AB
AC
BA
BC
CA
CB.
The number of permutations of n things taken r at time is given by
n

Pr or P(n, r ) n(n 1)(n 2) to r factors

n!
(n r )!

Example: In how many ways can the 5 starting positions on a PBA team be filled with 12 men who can play any of the positions?
Solution: For n = 12 and r = 5, the preceding formula on permutation yields
12

P5

12!
95,040 ways
(12 5)!

The number of permutations of n distinct objects taken n at a time is n!, i.e.

n

Pn P(n, n) n! n(n 1)(n 2) 3 2 1

Example: In how many ways can four books (Math, English, History and Science) be arranged on a shelf?
Solution: Using nPn with n = 4, we have P = 4! = 24 ways.
Permutation with Alike Things:
The number of permutations of n objects taken altogether where r1 are of one kind, r2 are of the other kind and so on is given by
n

Pn

n!
r1!r2 ! rk !

Example: The number of ways of arranging the word PHILIPPINES is

11

P 11

11!
1,108,800 ways
3! 3!

Circular Permutations:
To find the number of ways of arranging n different objects in a circle, we first select a position for one of the objects. Then
the others can be placed in their positions in (n 1)! ways.The number of circular permutations of n objects taken altogether is
n 1

Pn1 (n 1)!

Example: In how many ways can 7 different trees be planted in a circle?

Solution: Since n = 7, there are (7-1)! = 6! = 720 ways of planting the 7 trees in a circle.

Combinations:
A combination is a selection of objects with no attention given to the order of arrangements. This counting technique is usually
applied to problems about groups, committees or collections where order of the elements is not important.
The number of combinations of n objects taken r at a time is given by
n

C r or C (n, r )

n!
(n r )!r!

Example: In a deck of 52 cards, in how many ways can we select 5 hearts?

Solution: The number of ways of selecting 5 hearts out of 13 heart cards is
13

C5

13!
1,287 ways
(13 5)!5!

Combination in a Series:
The total number of combinations of n things taken 1, 2, 3, . . . . . ., n at a time is
n

C1 n C 2 n C3 ...... n C n 2 n 1

Example: A boy has 5 coins each of a different denomination. How many different sums of money can he form?
Solution:
5

C1 5 C 2 5 C3 5 C 4 5 C5 2 5 1 31