Discrete Mathematics BA202

6.0 COUNTING PRINCIPLES

6.1 UNDERSTAND COUNTING PRINCIPLES

6.1.1 Basic Counting Principles

 Product Rule
Also called the multiplication rule
If there are m ways to do task 1, and n ways to do task 2
 Then there are m  n ways to do both tasks in sequence
Applies when a “procedure” is made up of separate tasks
We must make one choice AND a second choice

Example 1 :

There are 18 math majors and 25 science majors. How many ways are there to pick

one math major AND one science majors?

Solution:

 There are 18 ways to select math major and 25 ways to select science major.
 Total is 18  25  450

Example 2:
Consider a wedding picture of 6 people. There are 10 people, including the bride and groom.
How many possible options is available to choose if the bride must be in the picture?

Solution: Product Rule

– Place the bride AND then place the rest of the people.
– First place the bride
• The bride can be in one of 6 positions.
– Next, place the other five people via the product rule
• There are 9 people to choose for the second person, 8 for the third, etc.
• Total  9  8  7  6  5  15120

Hence, Product Rule yields 6  15120  90720 options.

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

 Sum Rule
Also called the addition rule
If there are m ways to do task 1, and n ways to do task 2
If these tasks can be done at the same time, then…

 Then there are m+n ways to do one of the two tasks

We must make one choice OR a second choice

Example 1 :

There are 18 math majors and 25 science majors. How many ways are there to pick

one math major OR one science majors?

Solution:

 There are 18 ways to select math major and 25 ways to select science major.
 Total is 18  25  43

Example 2:

In how many ways can we select one book from different subjects among five distinct computer science
books, three distinct mathematics books, and two distinct arts books?

Solutions:

By using Sum Rule,

There are 5 + 3 + 2 = 10 ways to selecting one book from different subject among the computer science,
mathematics and arts books.

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

6.2 Understand Permutation & Combination

6.2.1 Permutation

 A permutation is the number of ways that that objects can be arranged, in which the order of the
objects matters
 There are basically two types of permutation:
 Repetition is Allowed: such as the lock. It could be "333".
 No Repetition: for example the first three people in a running race. You can't be
first and second.

1) Permutation Without Repetition

 A permutation of a set of n distinct objects taken r at a time without repetition is an

arrangement of r objects in a specific order.

 We can calculate P(n, r) with the product rule:

P(n, r) = n(n – 1)(n – 2) …(n – r + 1).

(n choices for the first element, (n – 1) for the second one, (n – 2) for the third one…).

 The number of r-permutations of a set with n distinct elements is denoted by P(n, r).

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

Example 1:

a) Permutations of all elements; P(n,n) = n!

Example: What are the total number of arrangements for the following six balls if all
balls must be used?

b) Permutations involving some elements from the population;

Example: What are the total number of arrangements for the following six balls if only
three balls must be used?

Example 2 :

In how many ways can you arrange the 3 objects in the set {A, B,C} without repetition?

Solution :

To arrange all 3 object in the set {A, B,C},

3!  3 2 1

 6

List all of them : ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, CBA

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

Example 3

How many ways are there to select a first prize winner, a second winner, and a third prize winner from
100 different people who have entered a contest?

Solution :

 Because it does matter which person wins which prizes, use permutations.
 The number of ways to pick the 3 prize winner from 100 people

P 100 , 3   100  99  98
 970200

Example 4

A class consists of 10 students. Find the number of ways 3 student can be arranged without replacement

Solution:

P 10 , 3   10  9  8
P  720
10
3
 720 @

How many permutations of the letter ABCDEFGH contain the string ABC ( ABC occur as a block)?

Solution :

 Because the letter ABC must occur as a block, we can find the number of permutations of six
object :

 Block ABC
 Individual letter (D,E,F,G,H)

 ABC D E F G H

6! = 720
 Hence, there are 720 permutations of the letter ABCDEFGH in which ABC occurs as a block.

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

c) Permutations involving some identical elements;

Example: What are the total number of arrangements for the following: 3 blue balls, 2 red balls, and

1 green ball?

 Total numbers of permutations are divided by the permutations of the repeated

elements.

Example :

1. Find the number of distinct permutations that can be formed from all the letters of each word
below:
a) UNUSUAL

Solution:

7!

3!
5040

6
 840

b) SOSIOLOGICAL

12 !

3!2 !2 !2 !
479 , 001 , 600

48
 9 , 979 , 200

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

 Permutation With Repetition

 When you have n things to choose from ... you have n choices each time!
 When choosing r of them, the permutations are:

n × n × ... (r times) = nr

 General Formula;

r
n

where n is the number of things to choose from, and you choose r of them
(Repetition allowed, order matters)

Example 1:

For the lock, there are 10 numbers to choose from (0,1,..9) and you choose 3 of them:

Solution :

10 × 10 × ... (3 times) = 103 = 1,000

Example 2:

A password consists of two letters of the alphabet followed by three digits chosen from 0 to 9.
Repetitions are allowed. How many different possible passwords are there?

Solution:

The number of ways of choosing the letters = 26 × 26 = 676

The number of ways of choosing the digits = 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000

So the number of possible passwords = 676 × 1,000 = 676,000

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

6.2.2 Combinations

 A combination is the number of ways that objects can be arranged, in which order of the objects
does not matter.
 There are also two types of combinations (remember the order does not matter now):
 Repetition is Allowed: such as coins in your pocket (5,5,5,10,10)
 No Repetition: such as lottery numbers (2,14,15,27,30,33)

1) Combination Without Repetition

 A combination of a set of n distinct objects taken r at a time without repetition is an r-

element subset of the n objects.
 The number of combinations of n distinct objects taken r at a time without repetition is
given by

Example 1 :

How many committee of three can be formed from seven people?

Solution :

Each committee is a combination of seven people taken three at a time.

Thus, the number of committee can be formed is;
n!
C 
n

r!n  r  !
r

7!
C 
7

3!  7  3  !
3

7  6 5 4 3 21

3 2 1 4  3 2 1
 35

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

Example 2 :

In how many ways can we select a committee of two women and three men from a group of five distinct
women and six distinct men?

Solution :

 The committee can be constructed in two ways;

i. Select the women
ii. Select the men

 To select the women;

Combination of two women can be selected from five women is

5!
C 
5

2 ! 5  2  !
2

5 4 3 21

2 1 3 2 1
120

12
 10

 To select the men;

Combination of three men can be selected from six men is

6!
C 
6

3!  6  3  !
3

6 5 4 3 21

3  2 1 3  2 1
720

36
 20

Hence, by the multiplication Rule, the total number of committee that can be formed is

10  20  200

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

2) Combination With Repetition

 General Formula :

C n  r  1 , r   C n  r  1 , n  1
n  r  1 !

r!n  1 !

Example 1:

Suppose that a cookie shop has four different kinds of cookies. How many different ways can six
cookies be chosen? Assume that only the type of cookie, and not the individual cookies or the order in
which they are chosen, matters.

Solution :

o The number of ways to choose six cookies is the number of 6 – combinations of a set
with four elements.

C 4  6  1 , 6   C 4  6  1 , 4  1

C 9 , 6   C 9 ,3 

98 7

1 2  3
 84

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

IMPORTANT !!!

 If the order does matter it is a Permutation

 If the order doesn't matter, it is a Combination.

Combinations & Permutations

With & Without Repetition

Type Repetition Allowed? Formula

n!
Permutations No Pn , r 
(n  r )!

Combinations No n!
C n , r  
r !  n  r !

r
n
Permutations Yes

C n  r  1 , r   C n  r  1 , n  1
Combinations Yes
n  r  1 !

r!n  1 !

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

TUTORIAL EXERCISE (CLO1,PLO1)

SUBTOPIC 5.1

1. A math class consist of 5 Malay students, 4 Chinese students and 3 Indian students. Find the
number of ways that the class can select :

i. Three class representatives consisting of 1 Malay, 1 Chinese and 1 Indian. (1M)

ii. One president and one vice president. (1M)
2. The digits 0,1, 2,3 and 4 are to be used in a four – digits ID cards. Calculate the number of different
cards are possible if;
i. Repetitions are allowed (2M)
ii. Repetitions are not allowed (2M)

SUBTOPIC 5.2

1. State whether each of the following is a permutations or combinations; (3M)

i. 5 pictures placed in a row
ii. A team of 9 players chosen from a group of 20
iii.The arrangement of the letter in the word OCTOBER.

2. How many different arrangements are there of the letters numbers? (2M)
3. Find the number of distinct permutations that can be formed from all the letters of each
word below. (6M)
i) DIGIT
ii) ELIMINATE
iii) DIVIDED

4. A class consist of 12 students with 7 women and 5 men. Find the number of ways to: (6M)
i) Select 3 committee members from the students.
ii) Select 5 committee members with 3 women and 2.
iii) Select a president, vice president and a treasurer from 5 committee member chosen.

5. How many different 3-digits identification tags can be made if the digits can be used more than
once? If the first digits must be a 5 and repetitions are not permitted? (2M)

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 Discrete Mathematics BA202

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