Basic Counting Problems

Difficulty Level : PRMO

1. Derive the formula for the number of diagonals of an 𝑛 − sided convex polygon.

2. Determine the number of rectangles in an 𝑚 × 𝑛 chessboard where the sides of

the rectangle are parallel to and along the lines drawn on the board.

3. Count the number of subsets of an 𝑛 −element set {1,2,3, … , 𝑛} in two ways.

Hence, give a combinatorial argument for the identity:
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
2𝑛 = ( ) + ( ) +. . . + ( )
0 1 𝑛
(Note: This identity can also be proved algebraically using the Binomial
Theorem)

4. Let 𝑋 be the set {1, 2, 3, . . ., 10} and 𝑃 be the subset {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. Find the
number of subsets 𝑄 of 𝑋 such that 𝑃 ∩ 𝑄 = {3}.

5. Consider three boxes, each containing 10 balls labelled 1, 2, 3, … , 10. Suppose

one ball is drawn from each of the boxes. Denote by 𝑛𝑖 the label of the ball drawn
from the 𝑖 𝑡ℎ box, where 𝑖 = 1,2,3. Then find the number of ways in which the
balls can be chosen such that 𝑛1 < 𝑛2 < 𝑛3.

6. Find the number of ways in which you can invite 3 of your friends on 5
consecutive days, exactly one friend a day, such that no friend is invited on more
than two days.

7. A closet has 5 pairs of shoes. Find the number ways in which 4 shoes can be
chosen from it so that no complete pair is chosen.

8. Find the number of ways one can put three balls numbered 1,2,3 in three boxes
labelled 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 such that at the most one box is empty.

9. There are 5 cities A, B, C, D, E on a certain island. Each city is connected to every

other city by road. In how many ways can a person starting from city A come
back to A after visiting some cities without visiting a city more than once and
without taking the same road more than once? (The order in which he visits the
cities also matters: e.g., the routes 𝐴 → 𝐵 → 𝐶 → 𝐴 and 𝐴 → 𝐶 → 𝐵 → 𝐴 are
different.) [PRMO 2017]
10. There are eight rooms on the first floor of a hotel, with four rooms on each side
of the corridor, symmetrically situated (that is each room is exactly opposite to
one other room). Four guests have to be accommodated in four of the eight
rooms (i.e., one in each) such that no two guests are in adjacent or opposite
rooms. In how many ways can the guests be accommodated? [PRMO 2017]

11. What is the number of ways in which one can choose 60 unit squares from a
11 × 11 chessboard such that no two chosen squares have a side in common?
[PRMO 2018]
12. How many integers 𝑛 are there such that 1 ≤ 𝑛 ≤ 1000 and the highest common
factor of 𝑛 and 36 is 1?

13. Find the number of polynomials of the form 𝑥 3 + 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 which are

divisible by 𝑥 2 + 1 and where 𝑎, 𝑏 and 𝑐 belong to {1,2, … ,10}.

14. In a multiple-choice test there are 8 questions. Each question has 4 alternatives, of
which only one is correct. If a candidate answers all the questions by choosing one
alternative for each, find the number of ways to get exactly four questions correct.

15. Find the sum of all the distinct four-digit numbers that can be formed by using the digits
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; each digit appearing at most once.

16. Find the number of terms in the expansion of (𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 + 𝑤)20 .

17. A random walker moves one step to the left or one step to the right at a time. In how
many ways can she return to her starting position after 20 steps? (she may pass her
starting point in between also)

18. Find the number of ways of going up 7 steps is we take one or two steps (always in the
forward direction) at a time.

19. A person 𝑋 standing at a point 𝑃 on a flat plane starts walking. At each step, she walks
exactly 1 metre on one of the four directions North, East, West or South. Suppose that
after 6 steps 𝑋 comes back to 𝑃. The find the number of distinct paths that 𝑋 can take.

20. Find the total number of ordered triplets (𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐) for positive integers 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 such that
𝑎𝑏𝑐 = 108. [PRMO 2017]

21. Find the total number of integer solutions of |𝑥| + |𝑦| + |𝑧| = 10.

22. A box contains 10 red cards and 10 black cards each numbered 1,2,…,10.. In how
many ways can we choose 10 out of these 20 cards so that there are exactly 3
𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠, where a 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ means a red card and a black card with the same
number?
23. Find the number of ways of selecting six distinct integers from the set
{1,2,3,…,49} such that no two consecutive integers are selected.

24. In a 10-sided regular polygon, find the number of

(i) Triangles that can be drawn using the sides and diagonals
(ii) Triangles that have two sides common with the polygon
(iii) Triangles that have only one side common with the polygon
(iv) Triangles that have no sides common with the polygon

25. A postman has to deliver 5 letters to 5 houses 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, 𝐷, 𝐸. In how many ways can
he deliver the letters so that no house gets the letter having its address?
(If you already know the formula for derangement, do it without using the
formula)

26. Find the number of polynomials 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 which satisfy the following

conditions
(a) 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 are distinct
(b) 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ {1,2,3, … ,1999}
(c) 𝑥 + 1 divides 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 [RMO 1999]

27. Find the number of all rational numbers 𝑚/𝑛 such that
(a) 0 < 𝑚/𝑛 < 1
(b) 𝑚 and 𝑛 are relatively prime
(c) 𝑚𝑛 = 25! [RMO 1994]

28. Repeat the previous problem but this time assume that 𝑚 and 𝑛 are NOT
relatively prime.

29. There are several teacups in the kitchen, some with handles and others without
handles. The number of ways of selecting two cups without a handle and three
with a handle is exactly 1200. What is the maximum possible number of cups in
the kitchen? [PRMO 2018]

30. All the 7-digit numbers containing each of the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 exactly once,
and not divisible by 5, are arranged in the increasing order. Find the 2000-th
number in this list. [RMO 2000]

31. How many 6-digit numbers are there such that

(a) The digits of each number are all from the set {1,2,3,4,5}
(b) Any digit that appears in the number appears at least twice?

(Example: 225252 is valid while 222133 is not) [RMO 2007]

32. Find the number of all 6-digit natural numbers such that the sum of their digit is
10 and each of the digits 0,1,2,3 occurs at least once in them. [RMO 2008]

33. Find the number of 4-digit numbers having non-zero digits and which are
divisible by 4 but not 8. [RMO 2010]

34. A finite non-empty set 𝑆 of integers is called 3-good if the sum of the elements of
𝑆 is divisible by 3. Find the number of 3-good non-empty subsets of {0,1,2,…,9}.
[RMO 2013]
35. Find the number of 8-digit numbers the sum of whose digits is 4.
[RMO 2013]
36. Determine the number of 3-digit natural numbers having at least one 5 and at
most one 3. [RMO 2015]

37. Suppose 32 objects are placed along a circle at equal distances. In how many
ways can 3 objects be chosen from among them so that no two of the three
chosen objects are adjacent nor diametrically opposite? [RMO 2015]

38. Find the number of all 6-digit numbers having exactly three odd and three even
digits. [RMO 2016]

39. For a rational number 𝑟, its period is the length of the smallest repeating block in
its decimal expansion. For example, the number 𝑟 = 0.123123123 … has a period
of 3. If 𝑆 denotes the set of all rational numbers of the form 𝑟 = 0. ̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑔ℎ
having period 8, find the sum of all elements in 𝑆. [RMO 2018]

40. Ten players are to play in a tennis tournament. Find the number of pairings for
the first round.

Answers
1. 𝑛(𝑛 − 3)/2 12. 333 23. 7,059,052 30. 4,315,672
2. 𝑚𝑛(𝑚 + 1)(𝑛 + 1)/4 13. 10 24. (i) 120 31. 1,405
3. 2𝑛 14. 5,670 (ii) 10 32. 490
4. 32 15. 399,960 (iii) 60 33. 729
5. 120 16. 1,771 (iv) 50 34. 351
6. 90 17. 184,756 35. 120
7. 80 18. 21 25. 44 36. 249
8. 24 19. 400 26. 1,996,002 37. 3,616
9. 60 20. 60 27. 256 38. 281,250
10. 48 21. 402 28. 170,016 39. 49,995,000
11. 62 22. 67,200 29. 29 40. 945