A pinch of

probability is
worth a pound of
perhaps.

NAME:____________________________________________________________

Grade & Section: _______________________________________________________________________________

COMBINATORICS

FUNDAMENTAL COUNTING
PRINCIPLE
RECALL

FACTORIAL NOTATION

Finding the permutation of n

objects taken r at a time
PERMUTATIONS
Problems involving
permutations

Finding the combinations of n

objects taken r at a time
COMBINATIONS
Problems involving
combinations

PROBLEMS INVOLVING PERMUTATIONS AND

COMBINATIONS
NAME:______________________________________________________ Grade & Section: _______________________

ACTIVITIES ITEM SCORE

ACTIVITY 1
15
ACTIVITY 2
18
ACTIVITY 3
20
ACTIVITY 4
28
ACTIVITY 5
12
ACTIVITY 6
20
ACTIVITY 7
20
ACTIVITY 8
26
ACTIVITY 9
20
ACTIVITY 10
10
ACTIVITY 11
20

SUMMATIVE TEST 50
 Example 1: How many ways
can a president and a secretary
be chosen from 3 candidates for
president and 5 for secretary?
For Example 1
Solution:
There are 3 ways to choose a
president and there are 5 ways
to choose a secretary, then
choosing the two, we have
𝟑 × 𝟓 = 𝟏𝟓 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔

Example 2: Erika wants to buy a

blouse. She has a choice of 5
styles, 4 sizes and 8 colors.
How many choices does she
have in the selection?

Solution:
𝟓 × 𝟒 × 𝟖 = 𝟏𝟔𝟎 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔

If one thing can occur in 𝒎 ways

and a second thing can occur in
𝒏 ways, and a third thing can
occur in 𝒑 ways, and so on, then
the sequence of things can
occur in
𝒎 × 𝒏 × 𝒑 ways.
4
 Example 3: A plate number is made up of three letters from the English
Alphabet followed by a three-digit number. How many plate numbers are
possible if
a. the letters and digits can be repeated in the same plate number?
b. the letters and digits cannot be repeated in the same plate number?

Solution:
A. There are 26 choices for the letters and 10 choices for the numbers.
Since the letters and numbers can be repeated, the total number of
possible plate numbers is:
26 x 26 x 26 x 10 x 10 x 10
L E T T E R S N U M B E R S
There are 17,576,000 possible plate numbers.
B. There are 26 choices for the first box. Since the letters cannot be
repeated, there are only 25 choices for the second box, and 24 choices
for the third box. There are 10 choices for the fourth box, 9 choices for
the fifth box, and 8 choices for the sixth box.
26 x 25 x 24 x 10 x 9 x 8
L E T T E R S N U M B E R S
There are 11, 232, 000 possible plate numbers.

Answer each of the following:

John Dave wants to buy a car. He A true or false test consists of 15

has a choice of 8 makes, 4 body questions. In how many ways can
styles and 6 colors. How many Eunice mark her answer to these
choices does he have in the questions?
selection?

5
Joy Bistro offers a new menu in How many five digit numbers can
which for a fixed dinner cost, one be formed with the digits 1, 2, 3, 4,
can choose from one of four salads, 5, 6, and 7
one of six entrées, and one of eight a. If repetition of digits is not
desserts. How many different allowed?
dinners are available? b. If repetition of digits is allowed?

Write the letter of your answer in the space

provided before each number.

____ 1. According to the Fundamental ____ 5. You are ordering dinner at a

Counting Principle, if one event has m restaurant. How many ways can you
possible outcomes and a second order a meal if you have three choices for
independent event has n possible a drink (juice, coffee, or tea), four main
outcomes, how many total possible courses to choose from (chicken, beef,
outcomes are there for the two events fish, or pork) and two desserts (pie or
together? cake)?
a. 𝑚 × 𝑛 c. 𝑚 − 𝑛 a. 24 b. 12 c. 9 d. 15
b. 𝑚 + 𝑛 d. 𝑚 ÷ 𝑛 ____ 6. How many two-digit numbers are
____ 2. A computer store sells 5 different there?
computers, 6 different computer monitors, a. 80 b. 90 c. 100 d. 110
4 different printers, and 4 different ____ 7. How many ways can you order all
multimedia packages. How many the letters of the word ORANGE such that
different computer systems are available? the first letter is a vowel and the last letter
a. 19 b. 38 c. 480 d. 38 is a consonant?
____ 3. The café also features 20 flavors a. 120 b. 216 c. 336 d. 720
of ice cream and 10 flavors of toppings. ____ 8. How many three-digit even
You may order ice cream in regular, numbers can be formed using the digits
sugar, or waffle cones. How many {1,2,3,4,5} if repetition of digits
different orders of ice cream are is not allowed?
possible? a. 24 b. 50 c. 36 d. 45
a. 600 b. 200 c. 60 d. 30 ____ 9. Ana, Juan, Pedro, Rosa, and
____ 4. How many arrangements can be Anita seated in a row for a photograph. If
formed using all the letters of the word Ana insisted to sit beside Rosa, how
GREAT? many ways can they be arranged?
a. 24 b. 60 c. 120 d. 720 a. 24 b. 12 c. 9 d. 15
6
 Write the letter of your answer in the space
provided before each number.

____ 1. Which of the following is the ____ 5. What is the value of 4! + 3!?
correct factorial notation? a. 30 b. 7! c. 24 d. 12!
a. 𝑎! b. 𝑎? c. 𝑎∗ d. 𝑎^ ____ 6. What is the value of 6! + 5!?
____ 2. Which of the following factorial a. 600 b. 120 c. 1 d. 96
notations corresponds to ____ 7. Simplify: 10! ÷ 7!
6×5×4×3×2×1? a. 360 b. 540 c. 720 d. 1440
a. 6! c. 3! + 3! ____ 8. Simplify: 5! 8! ÷ 6! 2!
b. 5! + 1! d. 2(3!) a. 1680
____ 3. Which of the following is the b. 3360
expanded form of 𝑥!? c. 3630
a. (𝑥 )(𝑥 − 1)(𝑥 − 2) … (1) d. 5040
b. (𝑥 )(𝑥 − 1)(𝑥 − 2) … (0) ____ 9. What value of 𝑛 satisfies
c. (𝑥 − 1)(𝑥 − 2) … (1) 𝑛!
(𝑛−2)!
= 30?
d. (𝑥 − 1)(𝑥 − 2) … (0)
____ 4. Which of the following has
a. 4 b. 5 c. 6 d. 7
different value from the rest? ____ 10. Find the value of 𝑛 that
2(𝑛−1)!
a. (2 + 3)! c. 8! − 3! satisfies (𝑛−3)! = 84
b. 5! + 1! d. 5! × 0! a. 5 b. 6 c. 7 d. 8

The number of permutations

PART I. Evaluate: of 𝒏 things taken 𝒓 at a time
1. P(10,3) ________ is given by:
𝒏!
2. P(8,4) ________ 𝑷(𝒏, 𝒓) = ,𝒏 ≥ 𝒓
(𝒏 − 𝒓)!
and the permutation of 𝒏
3. P(9,9) ________
objects taken all at a time is:
4. P(6,3) ________ 𝑷(𝒏, 𝒏) = 𝒏!

5. P(15,8) ________
7
PART II. How many permutations can be made from the letters in the following words:
1. PHILIPPINES ________ 4. MATATALINO ________

2. MISSISSIPPI ________ 5. IBABANG IYAM ________

3. GULANG GULANG ________

PART III. Solve the following:

1. In how many ways can Patricia hang 6 pictures
________ a. in a row?

________ b. in a circular arrangements?

________2. A photographer is taking a picture of a bride and a groom together with 6

sponsors. How many ways can he arrange the 8 people in a line of the bride
and groom stand in the middle?

________ 3. In how many ways can 4 Aitas, 3 Bagobos, and 5 Tausogs be seated in a
row so that all people of ethnicity are together?

Write the letter of your answer in the space

provided before each number.

____ 1. A father, a mother, two boys, ____ 4. How many five-digit numbers
and three girls are asked to line up for can be made from the digits 1, 2. 4, 6,
a photograph. How many ways can and 8 such that each digit appears
they line up if the parents do not stand exactly once, and 2 and 8 are not
together? adjacent?
a. 5400 b. 3600 c. 2400 d. 1400 a. 24 b. 72 c. 102 d. 120
____ 2. A game uses signals made ____ 5. How many arrangements of
from four different flags. How many the letters of the word FINISH can be
signals can you make with four made if each arrangement begins
different flags, knowing any number of with F and ends with H?
them can be used at a time? a. 2 b. 12 c. 24 d. 48
a. 12 b. 24 c. 64 d. 128 ____ 6. In how many ways
____ 3. There are 6 different flags can 4 different mathematics books
used for making signals. How many and 5 different physics books be
signals can you make from these if placed on a shelf with space
each signal uses 3 flags? for 9 books if all books of the same
a. 24 b. 90 c. 120 d. 720 subject are kept together?
a. 5760 b. 7560 c. 5700 d. 4235
8
 The number of distinguishable permutations, 𝑷, of 𝒏
objects where 𝒑 objects are alike, 𝒒 objects are
𝒏!
alike, 𝒓 objects are alike, and so on, is 𝑷 =
𝒑!𝒒!𝒓!…

Write the letter of your answer in the space

provided before each number.

____ 1. How many distinguishable ____ 6. Which of the following

permutations can be made using all words has the least number of
the letters of the word APPLE? distinguishable permutations?
a. 60 c. 122 a. YELLOW c. PANAMA
b. 240 d. 118 b. GRAVEL d. HAWAII
____ 2. What is the number of ____ 7. How many different words
permutations that can be made starting with R can be formed by
using all the letters of the word using all the letters of the word
FACTORIAL? ENGINEERING?
a. 362878 c. 181440 a. 151 200 c. 50 400
b. 725760 d. 362880 b. 302 400 d. 25 200
____ 3. How many 6-digit numbers ____ 8. How many distinguishable
can be made using the digits 1, 1, permutations of six letters can be
2, 2, 3 and 3? made using the letters of the word
a. 90 c. 720 HONOLULU?
b. 1 d. 360 a. 5 040 c. 20 160
____ 4. Which of the following b. 10 080 d. 2 520
words has the greatest number of ____ 9. In how many ways can you
distinguishable permutations? arrange five letters from the letters
a. YELLOW c. PANAMA of the word STATISTICS?
b. GRAVEL d. HAWAII a. 1 260 c. 2 520
____ 5. In how many ways different b. 420 d. 840
ways can the letters of the word ____ 10. How many different 5-digit
MATHEMATICS be arranged such numbers use the digits 5, 6, 4, 5,
that the vowels must always be and 9?
grouped together? a. 60 c. 240
a. 120 960 c. 10 080 b. 120 d. 24
b. 60 480 d. 100 240
9
 The permutation 𝒏 objects arrange in a circle is
𝑷 = (𝒏 − 𝟏)!

Write the letter of your answer in the space

provided before each number.

____ 1. If n objects are arranged in a ____ 6. Seven people seated around

circular manner, how many possible a round table. How many possible
arrangements are there? arrangements are there?
a. (n-1)! c. n! a. 6! b. 5! c. 7! d. 8!
b. (n-2)! d. n ____ 7. Five students are seated
____ 2. A family of six members is around a circular table. How many
seated around a circular dining table. arrangements are possible if one
How many possible arrangements student insists to sit on a specific
are there? chair?
a. 120 c. 720 a. 720 c. 120
b. 24 d. 240 b. 24 d. 600
____ 3. Three married couples are ____ 8. A mother, a father, and 4
seated around a round table. How children (2 girls and 2 boys) are
many possible arrangements are seated around a circular dining table.
there if the husbands sit together? In how many ways can they be
a. 36 b. 48 c. 24 d. 72 seated if the mother and father do not
____ 4. Three married couples are sit beside each other?
seated around a round table. How a. 72 c. 96
many possible arrangements are b. 48 d. 24
there if each couple sits together? ____ 9. In how many ways can 4
a. 16 b. 4 c. 8 d. 6 boys and 4 girls be seated around a
____ 5. The president, the vice- table such that no two boys are next
president and six directors of a to each other?
company are seated at a round table. a. 144 b. 72 c. 120 d. 96
How many arrangements are there is ____ 10. Three married couples are
the president is to sit between the seated around a round table. How
vice-president and one of the many possible arrangements are
directors? there if they can take any of the
a. 1 440 c. 720 seats?
b. 120 d. 5 040 a. 4! b. 5! c. 3! d. 6!
10
0
 The combination of 𝒏 objects
taken 𝒓 at a time is:
PART I. Evaluate each: 𝒏!
𝑪(𝒏, 𝒓) = ,𝒏 ≥ 𝒓 ≥ 𝟎
1. C(8,4) ________ 𝒓! (𝒏 − 𝒓)!

2. C(5,0) ________

3. C(4,4) ________

4. C(6,5) ________

5. C(8,8) ________

PART II. Solve the following:

How many group of five can be In how many ways can you select
formed from 20 students? 5 red cards and 2 black cards from
a deck of 10 red cards and 8 black
cards?

A box of Mrs. Donuts contains 8 A box with 12 articles contains one

honey dipped, 6 bavarians, and 4 that is defective. In how many
chocolate filled donuts. How many ways can Laila select 5 articles
ways can 5 donuts be selected to such that
meet each condition. a. The defective article is
a. All Bavarian included?
b. All chocolate filled b. The defective article is not
c. All honey dipped included?
d. 2 bavarians, 2 honey dipped, 1
chocolate filled

11
0
 Write the letter of your answer in the space
provided before each number.

____ 1. Which of the following qualifies as ____ 7. A class consists of 30 students.

a combination? Only one-fifth of the students have got an
a. Selecting a team of 11 from 15 A in their communication skills course. In
people. how many ways can a team of 3 debaters
b. Making 4 letter words using 6 letters. be made from the class if every debater is
c. Making 3 digit numbers using 5 required to have an A grade in
digits. communication skills?
d. Selecting a dancer and a singer a. 20 b. 10 c. 4060 d. 593775
from a group of 5 people. ____ 8. Different sets of r items are to be
____ 2. Which of the following is not a chosen from a group of n items. If the
combination? number of possible permutations P(n,r) is
a. Choosing a lead guitarist and bass 132 and the number of possible
guitarist from a group of 5 guitarists. combinations C(n,r) is 66, then what are
b. Selecting 3 students from a class for the two numbers n and r?
a debate competition. a. n=12,r=2 c. n=12,r=11
c. Choosing 3 winners for a lottery. b. n=11,r=2 d. n=66,r=1
d. Choosing 3 shirts from a garments ____ 9. A squad for a soccer team
shop. consists of 18 players. It has three goal
____ 3. Which of the following is the value keepers, five defenders, six midfielders,
of 5C3? and four strikers. In how many different
a. 10 b. 20 c. 120 d.6 combinations can a team of 11 players
____ 4. How many possible combinations form a 3-4-3 formation using this squad?
exist when selecting a committee of 12 Note: 3-4-3 formation means that the 11
people from a group of 20 people? players of the team consist of a
a. 125 970 c. 40320 goalkeeper, 3 defenders, 4 midfielders,
b. 6.03 x 10¹³ d. 5 079 110 400 and 3 strikers.
____ 5. The coach of a volleyball team a. 1800 c. 1 555 200
has to select 6 players to start a match b. 31 824 d. 14 400
from a squad of 10 players. If the captain ____ 10. A group of performing artists
of the team must be a part of the starting consists of 3 drummers, 4 singers, 6
team, how many combinations exist for guitarists, and 3 pianists. In how many
the starting team? different combinations can a band of 7
a. 126 b. 3024 c. 252 d.210 artists be formed if the band must consist
____ 6. Four books are selected from a of 1 drummer, 2 singers, 1 electric
set of an unknown number of books. If guitarist, 1 acoustic guitarist, and 2
the total number of possible pianists?
combinations is 1001, what will be the Consider that all the guitarists can play
total number of possible permutations? both the acoustic guitar and the electric
a. 24 024 c. 6006 guitar.
b. 4004 d. 120 120 a. 1620 b. 810 c. 2 d. 27

12
0
 Determine whether each situation involves a
permutation or a combination.

_____________1. Five badminton players from a group of nine.

_____________2. Seven toppings for pizza
_____________3. Finding the diagonals of a polygon
_____________4. A classroom sitting chart
_____________5. 15 books in a library shelf
_____________6. Choosing a class president, vice president, and a secretary
_____________7. Eight outfits chosen from fifteen outfits to be modeled
_____________8. A six-person committee from you math class.
_____________9. A group of 25 people are going to run a race. The top 8
finishers advance to the finals.
_____________10. 5 of 13 students will ride in a car instead of a van

State if each scenario involves a permutation

or a combination. Then find the number of
possibilities.

One hundred twelve people bought How many different 7-card hands
raffle tickets to enter a random can be chosen from a standard 52-
drawing for three prizes. How many card deck?
ways can three names be drawn for
the first prize, second prize, and
third prize?

_______________ _________ _______________ _________

How many different four-letter How many different committees of

passwords can be created for a 3 people can be chosen to work on
software access if no letter can be a special project from a group of 9
used more than once? people?

_______________ _________ _______________ _________

13
0
Write the letter of the correct answer in the space provided before each number.
____ 1. Choosing a subset of a set is an example of ________.
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. The product of a positive integer n and all the positive integers less than it is
a. Powers of n c. n – factors
b. Multiples of n d. n factorial
____ 4. Two different arrangements of objects where some of them are identical are
called
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. 1680 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. 1440 d. 5040
____ 7. Find the number of distinguishable permutations of the letters of the word
PASS.
a. 4 b. 12 c. 36 d. 144
____ 8. Ms. Santos asked Renz to draw all the diagonals of a certain polygon on the
blackboard. Renz was able to draw 27 diagonals which hos teacher declared
correct. What was the given polygon?
a. pentagon b. hexagon c. nonagon d. decagon
____ 9. Ms. De Leon wants to produce different sets of test questions for her essay
test. If she plans to do this by putting together 3 out of 5 questions she
prepared, how many different sets of questions could she construct?
a. 10 b. 20 c. 60 d. 80
____ 10. If 𝑃(9, 𝑟) = 3024, what is 𝑟?
a. 2 b. 4 c. 5 d. 6
____ 11. 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. 1320 d. 1716
14
0
____ 12. What is 𝑃(8,5)?
a. 56 b. 336 c. 1400 d. 6720
____ 13. If 𝑃(𝑛, 4) = 5040, then n= ____.
a. 12 b. 10 c. 9 d. 8
____ 14. Given 𝑥 = 𝑃(𝑛, 𝑛) and 𝑦 = 𝑃(𝑛, 𝑛 − 1), what can be concluded about 𝑥 and
𝑦?
a. 𝑥 > 𝑦 b. 𝑥 < 𝑦 c. 𝑥 = 𝑦 d. 𝑥 = −𝑦
____ 15. Find the number of distinguishable permutations of the letters of the word
EDUCATED.
a. 1680 b. 10 080 c. 20160 d. 40 320
____ 16. If a combination lock must contain 5 different digits, in how many ways can a
code be formed from the digits 0 to 9?
a. 15 120 b. 30 240 c. 151 200 d. 1 000 000
____ 17. In how many ways can 4 men and 3 women arrange themselves in a row for
picture taking if the men and women must stand in alternate positions?
a. 5040 b. 720 c. 144 d. 30
____ 18. In a room, there are 10 chairs in a row. In how many ways can 5 students be
seated in consecutive chairs?
a. 720 b. 600 c. 252 d. 120
____ 19. Which of the following situations does NOT illustrate combination?
a. Selecting 2 songs from 10 choices for an audition piece
b. Fixing the schedule of a group of students who must take exactly 8
subjects
c. Enumerating the subsets of a set
d. Identifying the lines formed by connecting some given points on a plane.
____ 20. If 𝑤 = 𝐶(5,2), 𝑥 = 𝐶(5,3), 𝑦 = 𝐶(5,4), and 𝑧 = 𝐶(5,5), and we are given 5 points
on a plane of which no three are collinear, which expression gives the total
number of polygons that can be drawn?
a. 𝑥 + 𝑦 b. 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 c. 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 d. 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧
____ 21. 𝐶(𝑛, 𝑛) = ____
a. n b. r c. 1 d. cannot be
determined
____ 22. If 𝐶(𝑛, 𝑟) = 35, which of the following are possible values of n and r?
a. n=6, r=4 b. n=7, r=3 c. n=8, r=3 d. n=9, r=2
____ 23. If 𝐶(𝑛, 4) = 126, what is n?
a. 11 b. 10 c. 9 d. 7
____ 24. If 𝐶 (12, 𝑟) = 792, which of the following is a possible value of 𝑟?
a. 8 b. 7 c. 6 d. 4
____ 25. A caterer offers 3 kinds of soup, 7 kinds of main dish, 4 kinds of vegetable
dish, and 4 kinds of dessert. In how many possible ways can a caterer form a
meal consisting 1 soup, 2 main dishes, 1 vegetable dish, and 2 desserts?
a. 140 b. 336 c. 672 d. 1512
15
0
 Module in

for Grade 10
References:

Alferez, M. et. al. (2013). Statistics and probability. MSA Publishing House,
Cainta, Philippines

Caras, M. et. al. (2012). Statistics & probability: A stratified approach. Cacho
Hermanos, Inc. Madaluyong City, Philippines

Mathematics 10 Learner’s Module

Oronce, O. & Mendoza, M. (2012). E-math: Advanced algebra and

trigonometry. Rex Book Store, Inc. Manila, Philippines

http://depts.gpc.edu/~mcse/CourseDocs/math1001/1001Supplements/100
1permComb.pdf

http://cdn.kutasoftware.com/Worksheets/Alg2/Permutations%20vs%20Co
mbinations.pdf

© Printed 2016
Mathematics Department
Quezon National High School
Lucena City Philippines