Unit 3

Counting Principles
 Basics of counting
• In many discrete problems,we are
encountered with the problem of counting so
permutation and combination is the branch of
discrete math concerned with counting
problem.
• The fundamental principles:
1.The rule of sum
2.The rule of product
 1.The rule of sum
• If an event can occur in m ways and another
event can occur in n ways ,and if these two
events can not occur simultaneously, then
one of the two event can occur in m+n ways.
Eg. 1 If there are 10 boys and 8 girls in a class,
find the number of ways of selecting one
student as a class representative
Solution: using the rule of sum ,there are 10+8
=18 ways of selecting one student (either boy
or girl)as class representative.
Eg2 IF a student is getting admission in 4
different engineering colleges and 2 medical
colleges. Find the number of ways of choosing
one of the above colleges.
Solution:
Using the rule of sum , there are 4+2=6 ways of
choosing one of the college
 2.The rule of product
• If an event can occur in m ways and a second
event can occur n ways ,and if number of ways
the second event occurs, does not depend
upon the occurrence of the first event, then
the two events can occur simultaneously in
m*n ways.
Eg.1 Three persons enter into car ,where there
are 5 seats .In how many ways can they take up
their seats.
Solution:The first person has a choice of 5 seats
and can sit in any one of those 5 seats.so there
are 5 ways to occupy the first seat.
The second person has a choice of 4 seats, and
the third person has a choice of 3 seats.

Hence the required number of ways in which all

the three person can seat is 5x4x3=60 ways
 Permutation
• A permutation is an arrangement of a number of object in
some definite order taken some or all at a time.
• The total number of permutation of n distinct object taken r
at a time is denoted by npr or p(n,r) where 1<=r<=n.
• Types of permutation:
1.Simple permutation:
The number of ways to have an ordered sequence of n distinct
element taken r at a time is called as an r-permutation of n
elements.
The first place in sequence can be filled up in n-ways.
The second place can be filled up in (n-1)ways and providing in
this manner the rth place can be filled up in (n-r+1)ways. hence
the number of permutations of n distinct elements taken r at a
time is given by the formula
p(n,r)=n pr =n(n-1).(n-2)----(n-r+1)
= n!/(n-r)! where 0<=r<=n
eg1 .Find permutation of set A={1,2,3}
solution:
In this case we have to arrange all three elements.
these sequences are 123,132,213,231,312,321
thus they can be arranged in 3! ways.

eg2 Find permutation of set A={1,2,3,4}taking 2 elements at a

time
solution:
The permutations are sequences
12,13,14,21,23,24,31,32,34,41,42,43.
note that, order in which elements appear is important
hence number of sequences are n pr i.e. 4 p2
here n=4 and r=2
n p 4 p =n!/(n-r)!
r= 2
=4!/(4-2)!
= 4*3*2*1/2*1
4 p =12 ways
2

eg3. A menu card in the restaurant displays 4 soups,5main cources,3

deserts and 5 beverages how many different menus can a
customer select if-
i) he select 1 item from each group without omission.
ii) he omits beverages but select one each from rest of the groups.
iii)he omits deserts but decides to take a beverage and one item each
from the remaining group
solution:
i)The customer can select soup in 4 ways .
main course in 5 ways.
desert in 3 ways
beverages in 5 ways
hence by product rule-
the number of ways in which he can select one
item each without omission is-
4*5*3*5=300 ways
ii)The number of ways in which selection is made is (omit
beverages)
4*5*3=60 ways

iii)The number of ways for such selection is-

4*5*5=100

eg4.In how many ways can one select a president ,general

secretary and treasurer from members of a committee consisting
of 9 men & 11 women if the treasurer must be a woman &
general secretary be a man

solution:
If president is man ,he can be selected in 9 ways
Then general secretary will be selected in 8 ways (as GS is a man)
If president is woman ,then she can be selected in 11
ways and then the treasurer in 10ways (as Treasurer is
woman)
hence by rule of sum and product total number of ways
to make the selection is –
(9*8*11)+(11*10*9)
=1782 ways
eg.5 Find how many symbols can be formed if
first 2 symbols are letters and next 3 are digits
but no symbol is replaced
solution:
first 2 symbols can be chosen from 26 alphabets
in 26 p2 ways.
next 3 digits can be chosen in 10 p3 ways
hence by product rule number of symbols that can
be formed is
26 p 10 p =468000
2* 3
2)Restricted permutation:
i) The number of permutations of n different
object taken r at a time in which k particular
object do not occur is p(n-k, r) i.e. n-kpr .
ii)The number of permutations of different object
taken r at a time in which k particular objects are
always present is p(n-k,r-k)xp(r,k).
Eg 1 How many 6 digit number can be formed by using
the digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 if every number is to start with
30 , with no digit repeated.
Solution:
All the number begins with 30, so we have to choose 4
digits from remaining 7 digits
Therefore total number that begins with 30 is
7p = 7!/(7-4)!
4
= 7*6*5*4*3!/3!
= 840
Eg2 In how many ways 5 different microprocessor books
and 4 different digital books be arranged in a shelf so
that all the four digital books are together
Solution: consider the 4 digital books are as one unit
thus we have 6 units that can be arranged in 6! Ways.
For each of their arrangement , 4 digital books can be
arranged among themselves in 4! Ways.
Total number of arrangement in which all four digital
books are together is =
6!*4!
= 720*24
= 17280
Eg3. How many permutations can be made out of letter of word
COMPUTER? How many of there-
i)begins with C?
ii)End with R?
iii)Begin with C and end with R?
iv)C & R occupy the end places?
Solution: There are 8 letters in the word COMPUTER and all are
distinct.therefore total number of permutations of these letter
= 8!= 40320.
i) Permutation which begins with C?
solution: first position that can be filled in only 1 way.i.e. C and
remaining 7 letters can be arranged in 7! ways.
therefore the total number of permutation starting with C are-
=1*7!
=5040
ii)permutations which ends with R.
solution: the last position can be filled in only one way
i.e. R and the remaining 7 letters can be arranged in 7!
ways.
therefore total number of permutations ending with
R=7!*1=5040.

iii)Permutation begins with C and ends with R.The first

position can be filled in only one way i.e. with C and
the last place can also be filled in only one way.i.e.R
and remaining 6 letters can be arranged in 6! ways
therefore total number of permutation begin with C &
end with R is = 1!*6!*1! =720
iv)permutation In which C & R occupy end places.
Solution:C & R occupy end position in 2! ways
and the remaining 6 letters can be arranged in
6! ways.
therefore total number of permutations in which
C & R occupy end place is =
2!*6!=1440
3.Permutation when all of the objects are not distinct.
The number of permutation of n object of which n1
objects are of one kind and n2 objects of another kind
when all are taken at a time is
n!/n1!*n2!
eg 1 Determine the number of permutation that can be
made out of letter of the word “PROGRAMMING”.
solution: There are 11 letters in the word
“PROGRAMMING” out of which G , M and R are
two each
therefore total number of permutation = 11! / 2!*2!*2!
=4989600
eg 2. there are 4 blue, 3 red and 2 black pen in a
box. These are drawn one by one. Determine
all the different permutations
solution: there are total 9 pens in the box.out of
which 4 are blue,3 are red and 2 of black
therefore total number of permutations=
9!/4!*3!*2!
= 9*8*7*6*5*4!/4!*6*2
=1260
eg 3 In how many ways can the letters in the
word “MISSISSIPPI” be arranged .
solution: Letter “I” occurs 4 times.hence there
are 4! ways in which the letters can be
rearranged between themselves thus I’s are
objects of one kind similarly 4 ‘S’ are objects of
2nd type and two P’s are object of 3rd type.
hence number of ways the letters of the word
MISSISSIPPI can be rearranged is=
11!/4!*4!*2!
=
4.Permutation with repeated objects:
The number of different permutations of n distinct objects
taken r at a time when every object is allowed to repeat any
number of time is given by nr.
Eg1.How many 4 digit numbers can be formed by using the
digits 2,4,6,8 when repetition of digit is allowed.
Solution:we have 4 digits
so number of ways of filling 1st place=4
so number of ways of filling 2nd place=4
so number of ways of filling 3rd place=4
so number of ways of filling 4th place=4
Therefore the total number of 4-digit number is =4*4*4*4
i.e. 44
= 256
Eg.2 A die is rolled 3 times, find the number of faces
that can appear on top.
Solution: If the die is rolled once, the face appearing on
the top can be any one of the 6 faces 1 to 6.when it is
rolled the 2nd time, then also there are 6 choices for
the face appearing on top, and same is the situation
when die is rolled the third time.
Hence total number of ways of a face appearing on
top is 63 i.e.6*6*6=216
Eg3. Find number of ways in which 3 exams can be
scheduled within a five day period, with no restriction
on the number of exams scheduled each day.
Solution: The first exam can be scheduled in any
of the 5 days , hence there are 5 choices to
schedule 1st exam.same is the case for other 2
exams.
Hence number of ways in which exams can be
held is 53 i.e. 5*5*5=125
5.Circular permutation:
The circular permutations are the permutations of the objects
placed in a circle.Consider the letter k,l,m,n,o placed along the
circle as shown in fig.

If we place letters linearly, there are five different

permutations i.e. k,l,m,n,o ; l,m,n,o,k; m,n,o,k,l ;n,o,k,l,m;
o,k,l,m,n.
But there is only one circular permutation k,l,m,n,o.There is
no starting point and ending point in circular permutation.The
number of circular permutation of n different object is (n-1)!
Eg1 In how many ways can these letters
a,b,c,d,e,f be arranged in a circle?
Solution: there are 6 letters and hence the
number of ways to arrange these 6 letters in a
circle is =(6-1)!
=5!
=120
Eg2. In how many ways 10 programmers can sit
on a round table to discuss the project so that
project leader and a particular programmer
always sit together
Solution:There are total 10 programmers but
project leader and particular programmer
always sit together so both become a single
unit and hence there are (10-2+1)=9 remains
Thus these 9 units can be arranged on round
table in (9-1)! Ways.
The two person i.e, 1 programmer and 1 leader
can be arranged in 2! Ways
Therefore the total number of ways in which 10
programmers can sit on a round table is-
(9-1)!*2!=8!*2!=80640
Eg3.Determine the number of ways in which 5
software engineers and 6 electronic engineers can
be sitted at a round table so that no two s/w engg.
Can sit together
Solution:There are 6 electronics engg that can be
arranged round a table in (6-1)! Ways.There are 5
s/w engg and they are not to sit together so we
have six places for s/w engg and can be placed in 6!
Ways.
Therefore total number of ways to arrange the engg
on a round table is =(6-1)!*6!
=5!*6!
=120*720=86400
 Combination
• Combination is a selection of some or all objects from a
set of given objects, where order of the object does not
matter. The number of combination of n objects taken r at a
time is represented by nCr or C(n,r).
• The number of combinations of n different things, taken r at
a time is given by

nC
r= n!/r!(n-r)! ,n>=r>=1

Eg1.How many 16 bit strings can be formed contained exactly

five 0’s .
Solution: A 16 bit string having exactly 5 zeros is determined
if we tell which bits are 0’s .This can be done in 16C5 =
16!/5!(16-5)!
= 16*15*14*13*12*11/5*4*3*2*1*11! =4368
Eg2.In how many ways we select a software
development group of 1 project leader, 5
programmer and 6 data entry operators from a
group of 5 project leaders,20 programmers and
25 data entry operators.
Solution:There are 5 project leaders out of which one
can be selected in 5C1 ways.
There are 20 programmers out of which 5 can be selected
in 20C5 ways .
There are 25 data entry operators out of which 6 can be
selected in 25C6 ways .
There fore total number of ways to select the s/w
development group is = 5C1 * 20C5 * 25C6 =96101544000
Eg3 From 10 programmers in how many ways can 5 be
selected when
a)A particular programmer is included every time.
b) A particular programmer is not included at all.
Solution:
a)When a particular programmer is included every time
then the remaining =5-1=4 programmer can be selected
from the remaining =10-1=9 programmers.This can be
done in 9C4 ways
=9!/4!(9-4)!
=126
b)When a particular programmer is not included at
all,then the five programmer can be selected from the
remaining =10-1=9 programmers
This can be done in 9C5 ways.
9!/5!(9-5)!
=126
 Binomial Coefficient
• By using formula of combination we can define
binomial coefficients.
• Generally bi means two and nomial means nominees
so binomial means an experiment which has only
two outcomes.
• Eg1. tossing a coin -it has outcome either tail or head .
• Eg2. Result of any examination is either pass or fail.
• For integers r and n,0<=r<=n ,the binomial coefficient
nC is defined by
r
nC
r = n! / r!(n-r)!
nC represents the number of ways to choose r objects
r
from n objects.
• The binomial coefficient is the coefficient of Xk
term in the polynomial expansion of the binomial power
(1+x)n.
(1+x)n =

• Binomial theorem gives expansion of (a+b)n as

Eg.
Thank You