10

MATHEMATICS
LEARNER’S ACTIVITY SHEET
Quarter 3 - Week 1:
Illustrates the Permutations
of Objects
Mathematics – Grade 10
Learner's Activity Sheet
Quarter 3 – Week 2: Permutations
First Edition, 2021

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 LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
FOR MATHEMATICS 10
Permutations

Name: ______________________________________________ Grade & Section: ___________________

Teacher:____________________________________________ Date: ________________________________

I. Introduction

This lesson introduces Permutations, one of the subjects of Combinatorics. Have you ever
wondered why some locks have codes in them? Do you know why a shorter code is “weak”,
while a longer code is a “strong” personal password in a computer account? Have you ever
realized that there several possible ways in doing most tasks or activities like planning a seating
arrangement or predicting the possible outcomes of a race? Did you know that awareness of these
can help you form conclusions and make wise decisions? Find out the answers to these questions
and discover the wide applications of permutations through this lesson. You will examine and
determine the number of possible ways of doing certain tasks, or selecting some objects from a
set. Read the different exercises carefully and if there are parts of which you will encounter
difficulty, tell it to your parents for their assistance and to your teacher as well if his/her guidance
is needed. Enjoy doing your tasks!

II. MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY (with code)

Illustrates permutations of an objects. (M10SP-IIIa-1)

III. Strategy:

A. Explore:

Find out how much you already know about the topics in this lesson. Choose the letter that you
think best answers the questions. Please answer all the items. Take note of the items that you were
not able to answer correctly and find the right answer as you go through this lesson.
1. What is an arrangement of objects in a definite order?
A. combination C. integration
B. differentiation D. permutation
2. Which of the following situations or activities involve permutation?
A. matching shirts and pants
B. forming different triangles out of 5 points on a plane, no three of which are collinear
C. assigning telephone numbers to subscribers
D. forming a committee from the members of a club
3. What is the product of a positive integer where n and all positive integers less than to it?
A. powers of n C. n – factors
B. multiples of n D. n factorial
4. What is an arrangement of objects where some of them are identical?
A. distinguishable permutations C. circular permutations
B. unique combinations D. circular combinations
5. How many different 4-digit even numbers can be formed from the digits 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 if
no repetition of digits is allowed?
A. 1 680 B. 840 C. 420 D. 120
6. In how many ways can 8 people be seated around a circular table if two of them insist on
sitting beside each other?
A. 360 B. 720 C. 1 440 D. 5 040
7. Find the number of distinguishable permutations of the letters of the word PASS.
A. 4 B. 12 C. 36 D. 144
8. If P(9 , r) = 3 024, what is r?
A. 2 B. 4 C. 5 D. 6
9. In a town fiesta singing competition with 12 contestants, in how many ways can the organizer
arrange the first three singers?
A. 132 B. 990 C. 1 320 D. 1 716
10. What is P(8, 5)?
A. 56 B. 336 C. 1 400 D. 6 720
 B. Learn
Before giving the general definitions, let us consider simple examples.
Example 1:
If you have three distinct digits, how many 3-digit numbers can you write using all these digits?
For instance, if you have digits 2, 3 and 4, you can write the 3-digit numbers as follows:
234, 243, 324, 342, 423, 432
Thus, 6 different 3-digit numbers can be written.
Example 2:
There are four boys: Alex, Bryan, Carl, and Dan. In how many ways can they form a line?
 There are 24 ways to form a line. Possible arrangements are presented below using the
boys’ initials (first letters of their names):
ABCD, ABDC, ACBD, ACDB, ADBC, ADCB – all possible arrangements with the letter “A”
in the first position,
BACD, BADC, BCAD, BCDA, BDAC, BDCA - all possible arrangements with the letter “B”
in the first position,
CABD, CADB, CBAD, CBDA, CDAB, CDBA - all possible arrangements with the letter “C”
in the first position,
DABC, DACB, DBAC, DBCA, DCAB, DCBA - all possible arrangements with the letter “D”
in the first position.
4 3 2 1 = 24 arrangements

A permutation is a mathematical technique that determines the number of possible arrangements

in a set when the order of the arrangement matters. Permutations are frequently confused with
another mathematical technique called combinations. However, in combinations, the order of the
chosen items does not influence the selection. In other words, the arrangements ab and be in
permutations are considered different arrangements, while in combinations, these arrangements
are equal.

Formula for Calculating Permutations

The general permutation formula is expressed in the following way:
𝑛!
𝑃(𝑛, 𝑟) = (𝑛−𝑟)!
reads as “the number of permutations of n objects taken r at a time equals to n factorial divided
by the quantity of n minus r factorial”.
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:
n – the total number of elements in a set
r – the number of selected elements arranged in a specific order
! - factorial

Factorial (noted as “!”) is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to the number
preceding the factorial sign. For example, 3! = 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 6

The formula above is used to find the number of arrangement of n objects taken r at a time.

Kinds of Permutations
1. Linear Permutation – refers to the number of ordered arrangement of objects in a line.
Example:
Arrange five different colored beads in a line. How many different arrangements are there in all?

Solution:

There are five possible positions of the beads on the line. There are 5 beads I can choose from.
For any of the bead I put in the first position, I now only have 4 beads to choose from for the
second position. For each of the previous arrangement I now only have 3 beads to choose from
for the third position and so forth until the last position. The tree diagram below illustrates this.
By the fundamental counting principle, the number of possible arrangements is 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1
or 5! or 120 ways.

5 4 3 2 1 = 5! = 120 ways or arrangements

For n different or distinguishable objects, the number of ways of arranging them linearly is n x (n-
1) x (n-2) x …1 or n!
2. Distinguishable Permutations – refers to the permutations of a set of objects where some of
them are alike. The number of distinguishable permutations of n objects when p are alike, q are
𝒏!
alike, r are alike, and so on, is given by 𝑷 =
𝒑!𝒒!𝒓!…

Example:
Find the number of permutations of the letters of the word STATISTICS.

Solution 1:
There are 10 letters of the word. Assuming that the letters are distinct, there are P(10,10) = 10!
permutations.
However, we have to take into consideration that the 3 S’s are alike, the 3 T’s are alike, and the
2 I’s are also alike. The permutations of the 3 S’s is P(3, 3) = 3!. The permutations of the 3 T’s is
P(3, 3) = 3!. The permutation of the 2 T’s is P(2, 2) = 2!
So we must divide 10! By 3! 3! 2! in order to eliminate the duplicates. Thus,
10!
𝑃= = 50 400 permutations
3!3!2!

3. Circular Permutations – the different possible arrangements of objects in a circle. The number
of permutations, P, of n objects around a circle is given by P = (n – 1)!
Example:
Arrange five different colored beads around a necklace. How many different arrangements are
there in all?

Solution 1:

The following 5 arrangement of beads around a necklace is counted as 1 arrangement. This

arrangement is black-red-green-purple-orange. You can put the black bead in the first position,
second, third, fourth, and fifth and as long as it is followed by the other four beads in the same
order, it will just be the same arrangement.

For n different or distinguishable objects, the number of ways they can be arranged around a
circle is n!/n.
Solution 2

Another way to think about this is to make the problem similar to linear permutation. This can
be done by choosing a fix position for one of the bead and then arrange the remaining beads in
different order. Suppose the black bead is in the first position. You have 4 choices for the second
position, 3 in the third, 2 in the fourth, and 1 in the fifth position. That is, having chosen 1 bead
for the first position, there are 4! ways of arranging the numbers in the remaining four positions
in the necklace. So the number of ways of arranging the beads around a necklace is 1×4! or simply
4! which is equal to 24.

For n different or distinguishable objects, the number of ways they can be arranged around a
circle is (n-1)!.

Note that n!/n = (n-1)!

C. Engage

Read each problem carefully. From the problem, be able to specify the following: a) the number
of objects to be arranged (n), b) the number of objects arranged at a time (r), and c) the number
of permutations of n objects taken r at a time (nPr), the number of n objects not all different and
the number of permutations of n distinct objects arranged in a circle.

1.) Five runners join a race. In how many possible ways can they be arranged as first, second, and
third placers?
a.) n = _____ b.) r = _____ c.) nPr = _____

2.) In how many ways can you arrange 4 different potted plants in a row?
a.) n = _____ b.) r = _____ c.) nPr = _____

3.) How many three-digit codes can be formed from the numbers 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9 if repetition
of digits is NOT allowed?
a.) n = _____ b.) r = _____ c.) nPr = _____
4.) Suppose that in a certain association, there are 8 elected members of the Board of Directors.
In how many ways can a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer be selected from the
board, assuming that each member is capable of handling any of the positions?
a.) n = _____ b.) r = _____ c.) nPr = _____

5.) In how many ways can 10 people arrange themselves in a row for picture taking?
a.) n = _____ b.) r = _____ c.) nPr = _____

6.) How many distinguishable permutations are possible with all the letters of the word
MESSENGER?
a.) n = _____ b.) E = _____; S = ______ c.) P = _____

7.) Find the number of distinguishable permutations of the digits of the number 348 838.
a.) n = _____ b.) 3 = _____; 8 = ______ c.) P = _____

8.) Find the number of different ways that a family of 6 can be seated around a circular table with
6 chairs.
a.) n = _____ b.) Pc = ______

D. Apply

Demonstrate the steps in solving the problem below:

1.) A teacher wants to assign 5 different tasks to her 5 students. In how many possible ways can
she do it?

2.) In a certain general assembly, three major prizes are at stake. In how many ways can the first,
second, and third prizes be drawn from a box containing 200 names?

3.) In how many different ways can 6 bicycles be parked if there are 8 available parking spaces?
4.) How many distinguishable permutations are possible with all the letters of the word ELLIPSES?

5.) How many ways can 5 boys and 5 girls be seated at a round table if no restrictions are
imposed?

IV. Guide Questions:

1. How did you calculate the different permutations?

2. What mathematics concepts or principles did you apply to solve each permutation?

3. Did you find any difficulty in finding the answers?

4. What technique or strategy can you think of to facilitate your way of solving?

V. Rubrics (if needed)

VI. References:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/circularpermutations.html
http://www.mathisfun.com/combinatorics/combinations-permutations.html
http://users.math.yale.edu/~anechka/math107/lecture13.pdf
https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/Permutations/Introduction-to-Permutations.lesson
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/permutation/
http://math-problems.math4teaching.com/linear-vs-circular-
permutations/#:~:text=Linear%20permutation%20refers%20to%20the,objects%20in%20a%20circular
%20manner
https://people.richland.edu/james/lecture/m116/sequences/counting.html#:~:text=To%20find%20the
%20number%20of,the%20total%20number%20of%20letters

RIENA E. JABOLI
SNS Grade 10 Math Teacher
 C. Engage
1. a) n= 5
b) r = 3
c) nPr = 60 ways
2. a) n= 4
b) r = 4
c) nPr = 24 ways
3. a) n = 6
b) r = 3
c) nPr = 120 ways
4. a) n = 8
b) r = 4
c) nPr = 1 680 ways
IV. Guide Questions: 5. a) n = 10
(Students answer may vary) b) r = 10
c) nPr = 3 628 800 ways A. Explore
6. a) n = 9 1. D
b) E = 3 2. C
S=2 3. D
D. Apply c) P = 30 240 ways 4. A
1. P (5, 5) = 120 ways 7. a) n = 6 5. D
2. P (200, 3) = 7 880 440 ways b) 3 = 2 6. C
3. P (8, 6) = 20 160 ways 8=3 7. B
8! 40,320
4. P = = = 5 040 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 c) P = 60 ways 8. B
2!2!2! 8
5. Pc = (10 – 1)! = 9! = 362 880 ways 8. a) n = 6 9. C
b) Pc = 120 ways 10. D
VII. Key to Correct Answers: