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This document discusses permutations and combinations. It defines a permutation as an arrangement of objects in a definite order. The permutation formula is Pr = n!/(n-r)!, where n is the total number of objects and r are the number of objects arranged. A combination is a selection of objects where order does not matter. The combination formula is Cr = n!/r!(n-r)!. The relationship between permutations and combinations is that nPr = nCr * r! and nCr + nCr-1 = n+1Cr.

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48 views

Notes

This document discusses permutations and combinations. It defines a permutation as an arrangement of objects in a definite order. The permutation formula is Pr = n!/(n-r)!, where n is the total number of objects and r are the number of objects arranged. A combination is a selection of objects where order does not matter. The combination formula is Cr = n!/r!(n-r)!. The relationship between permutations and combinations is that nPr = nCr * r! and nCr + nCr-1 = n+1Cr.

Uploaded by

christeena t t
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 7

PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS

Fundamental Principle of Counting


“If an event can occur in m different ways, following which another event can occur in n
different ways, then the total number of occurrence of the events in the given order is m ×
n.”
The above principle can be generalised for any finite number of events.
“If an event can occur in m different ways, following which another event can occur in n
different ways, following which a third event can occur in p different ways, then the total
number of occurrence to ‘the events in the given order is m × n × p.”

Permutation Definition
A permutation is defined as an arrangement in a definite order of a number of objects
taken, some or all at a time. Counting permutations are merely counting the number of
ways in which some or all objects at a time are rearranged. The convenient expression to
denote permutation is defined as “ nPr ”.
The permutation formula is given by,

Pr = n!/(n-r)! ; 0 ≤ r ≤ n

Where the symbol “!” denotes the factorial which means that the product of all the
integers is less than or equal to n but it should be greater than or equal to 1.
Factorial notation
The notation n! represents the product of first n natural numbers, i.e., the product 1 × 2 ×
3 × . . . × (n – 1) × n is denoted as n!. We read this symbol as ‘n factorial’.
Thus, 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 . . . × (n – 1) × n = n !
For example,
1! = 1
2! = 1 x 2 = 2
3! = 1 x 2 x 3 = 6
4! = 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 = 24, which are the factors of the given number.
Permutation When all the Objects are Distinct
There are some theorems involved in finding the permutations when all the objects are
distinct. They are :
Theorem 1: If the number of permutations of n different objects taken r at a time, it will
satisfy the condition 0 < r ≤ n and the objects which do not repeat is n ( n – 1) ( n –
2)……( n – r + 1), then the notation to denote the permutation is given by “ n Pr”
Theorem 2: The number of permutations of different objects “n” taken r at a time, where
repetition is allowed and is given by nr .

Permutation When all the Objects are not Distinct Objects


Theorem 3: To find the number of permutations of the objects ‘n’, and ‘p’s are of the
objects of the same kind and rest is all different is given as n! / p!
Theorem 4: The number of permutations of n objects, where p1 are the objects of one
kind, p2 are of the second kind, …, pk is of the kth kind and the rest, if any, are of a
different kind, then the permutation is given by n! / ( p1!p2!…Pk!)

Combination Definition
The combination is a selection of a part of a set of objects or a selection of all objects
when the order doesn’t matter. Therefore, the number of combinations of n objects taken
r at a time and the combination formula is given by;

Cr = n(n-1)(n-2)…(n-r+1)/ r! = n!/ r!(n-r)!= nPr /r!


n

Relationship Between Permutation and combination


The relationship between the two concepts is given by two theorems. They are;
Theorem 5: nPr = nCr r! ; if 0 < r ≤ n.
Theorem 6: nCr + nCr-1 = n+1Cr

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