COMBINATORICS

Fundamental Counting Principle and

Factorial Notation

Problem Set: Sept. 29

 Your parents gave you two pants and three shirts for your
birthday. How many sets of clothes could you possibly wear
with these?

SHIRT SHIRT SHIRT

1 2 3

PANTS PANTS 2
1
6 sets of clothes
 OU
TC
OM
S1, P1
PANTS 1 ES
SHIRT
1
PANTS 2 S1, P2

PANTS 1 S2, P1
SHIRT
2 S2, P2
PANTS 2

PANTS 1 S3, P1
SHIRT
3 S3, P2
PANTS 2
 What is the fundamental
principle of counting?

Fundamental Counting Principle. If one event can occur

in m ways and another event can occur in n ways, then the
number of ways that both events can occur is m• n.
 Let’s go back to the problem earlier:

Your parents gave you two pants, three shirts for your birthday. How
many sets of clothes could you possibly wear with these?

2 • 3 = 6 sets of clothes
COMBINATORICS
Session 1: Fundamental Counting Principle

LONG TEST 1: Nov. 25 (Day 1)

Example 1:
You are on a road trip with your friends. If you are
planning to visit towns Q and R, linked to starting
point, town P, as shown in the figure below, how many
ways are there to do your road trip?

2 • 3 = 6 ways to
do your road trip
 Sen. Jose
Vera
New
EDSA
Manila

Ortigas
Pinaglabanan
Xavier SM
School Shaw Megamall
Blvd.
 Example 2:
A group of G12 students decided to do a small deli
shop for their Entrep bazaar. They offer 3 types of
bread (inspired from Subway Menu) – Parmesan,
Wheat, and Honey. They also offer 4 types of meat –
ham, roast beef, roasted chicken breast and tuna.

How many choices do their customers have for their

sandwich?

3 • 4 = 12 choices
for sandwiches
Example 3:

A coin is tossed thrice. How many possible outcomes

are there?

2•2•2=8
possible
outcomes
Example 4:

A die is rolled and a coin is tossed. Determine the

number of different possible outcomes.

6 • 2 = 12
possible
outcomes
 Example 5:
Police use photographs of various facial features to help
witnesses identify suspects. One basic identification kit
contains 195 hairlines, 99 eyes and eyebrows, 89 noses,
105 mouths, and 74 chins and cheeks.

The developer of the identification kit claims that it can

produce billions of different faces. Is this claim correct?

195 • 99 • 89 • 105 • 74 = 13,349,986,650 faces

Source: Readers’ Digest: How In The

 Example 5:
Police use photographs of various facial features to help
witnesses identify suspects. One basic identification kit
contains 195 hairlines, 99 eyes and eyebrows, 89 noses,
105 mouths, and 74 chins and cheeks.

A witness can clearly remember the hairline and the eyes

and eyebrows of a suspect. How many different faces can
be produced with this information?

1 • 1 • 89 • 105 • 74 = 691,530 faces

Source: Readers’ Digest: How In The
 Example 6:

The standard configuration for a Philippine license

plate is 3 letters followed by 4 digits.
How many different license plates are possible if digits and
letters can be repeated?

26 • 26 • 26 • 10 •
10 • 10 • 10 =
175,760,000
license plates
 Example 6:

The standard configuration for a Philippine license

plate is 3 letters followed by 4 digits.
How many different license plates are possible if digits and
letters cannot be repeated?

26 • 25 • 24 • 10 • 9 •
8 • 7 = 78, 624,000
license plates
WHAT IF…
WHAT IF: You want to go on a road trip again but this time,
from Town P to Town Q. The following routes are available.
How many ways can you go from Town P to Town Q?

In general, the word and

suggests multiplying
possibilities while the word
or suggests adding
possibilities.

1•2•3•1=6
ways
1 • 4 •if2you
• 1 =will
8
choose
ways if route
you PA
will
6 + 8 = 14 ways
Example 7:
A car company sells cars in two body styles, five colors
and three models. However, for style B, only four colors
are available. How many different types of cars can be
bought from the company?

1 • 5 • 3 = 15 types of
car if you choose
style A.
1 • 4 • 3 = 12 types of
car if you choose
style B.
Example 8:
How many different paths lead from A to B?

1 • 2 • 1 = 2 paths
1 • 3 • 1 = 3 paths
2 + 3 = 5 paths
Example 9:
How many different paths lead from A to B?

1 • 3 • 1 = 3 paths
1 • 2 • 2 • 1= 4 paths
3 + 4 = 7 paths
Example 10:
You went to SM appliance center to purchase a new
television. You have the following choices: LCD or
plasma, screen size 27”, 32”, 36”, 41”, 51” or 63” and
manufacturer Sony, Samsung or Phillips. However, for
plasma, screen sizes 41” and 63” are not available.

How many different televisions does the store has to offer?

1 • 6 • 3 = 18
televisions if you will
buy LCD
1 • 4 • 3 = 12
1.

1. You have a new food stall in the HS canteen that lets you choose what will be
included in your meal. You can choose between two types of rice–steamed or
Java rice, three choices for the viand–chicken, pork and beef and two choices
for dessert–fruits or buko pandan. How many kinds of meal can you make out
of these choices?
2. Pizza hut offers two sizes of pizza, four types of crust, and eight types of
flavor. How many possible types of pizza can you order?
3. How many four–digit even numbers can be made using 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4?
4. Suppose that a certain bank gives out ATM cards with six digit PINs. How
many ATM cards could the bank give out?
5. This frame is made of strong wire. A beetle crawls along the wire from A to B
by travelling along exactly three edges. How many different paths could the
beetle have used to get from A to B?
Consider the
Session 2: three letters
Factorial A, B, and C. How many ways can
Notation
we arrange these three letters if repetition is not allowed?

3 • 2 • 1 = 6 ways to arrange A, B and C

In general, n! = n(n–1)(n–2)…3 x 2 x 1
n! = n(n–1)!
where n ≥ 1 and n is an integer
Evaluate the following expressions without
using a calculator.

4!

4!–3!

4!− 3!
2!
Evaluate the following expressions without
using a calculator.

4!3!
5!
Simplify.

n
n!

n!
( n − 2)!

( n − 2)!
( n +1)!
Simplify.

n!
( n −1)!
Simplify.

( n + 2)!n
n!
Simplify.

( n + 5)!
( n +1)!
( n + 3)!
( n +1)!
n!( n −1)!
( n +1)!( n − 2)!
 Simplifying Factorial
Notations
( n!)
2
( n −1)!
2

( n −1)!( n +1)! ( n )!
2

( n!)
2
(2n )!
( n −1)!n! (2n − 2)!2!
Think about this: What is the “0!” ?

n! = n(n–1)!
When n = 1,
1! = 1(1–1)!
1 = 1(0)!
∴ 1 = 0!
 SEATWORK
Answer worksheet uploaded in Schoology
COMBINATORICS
Permutation

Problem Set: Sept. 29

Think about this:
Every Saturday during SOP, you ask the kids assigned
to you to line up during lunch time to get their food.
How many different arrangements can you create for
the lineup if you have six kids assigned to you?
Try this:
Your mom and dad are planning your summer trip to
Vancouver Island in British Columbia. They plan to
stay seven days in Tofino. While in Tofino, they
decided that your family should take part in the
following activities: whale watching, hiking, scuba
diving, surfing, sea kayaking, snorkeling and fishing.
They plan to do a different activity each day. In how
many different ways can they sequence these activities
over the seven days?
Try this:

The SBC club organizes a car race in which four cars

A, B, C and D are entered. In how many ways can the
race be finished if there are no ties?
 What is Permutation?

Permutation. A permutation is an arrangement of things

in a definite order. ORDER is VERY important.
 Try this:
Consider the letters A, B, C, and D.
A permutation of these symbols is BCDA.
What are the other permutations available?

How many ways can you arrange the letters A, B, C and D?

What if you will only arrange 3 letters?

n!
n Pr =
( n − r )!
How many different six-letter sequences can you form
from the first 15 letters of the alphabet if no two letters are
the same?
Example 1:
In how many ways can the Miss Universe, the first runner-
up, and the second runner-up be chosen from the 10
finalists?

10!
10 P3 =
7!
Example 2:
In how many ways can a president, a vice-president, a
secretary, and a treasurer be elected from a class with 39
students?
Example 3:
In how many ways can 9 different books be arranged on a
shelf?
Example 4:
Suppose 4 different mathematics books and 5 different
physics books shall be arranged in a shelf. In how many
ways can such books be arranged if all books of the same
subject shall be placed together side by side?
Example 4:
Suppose 4 different mathematics books and 5 different
physics books shall be arranged in a shelf. In how many
ways can such books be arranged if all books of the same
subject shall be placed together side by side?

2 P2 i 4 P4 i 5 P5
Example 5:
Each student in Grade 9 takes up 8 academic subjects to
be distributed in either a five– or six– period class day. If
on a particular day a student will take five classes in five
periods, determine the number of ways this can be done.

8 P5
 Think about this:
In how many ways can you arrange the letters of the word
MOM?

n!
n1 !n 2 !...n k !
Try this:
In how many ways can the letters of the word ‘BANANA’
be rearranged?
Try this:
How many distinct arrangements can be made using all
the letters from the word COMMITTEE?
 Try this:
Find the permutation of n objects where one or more
objects are repeated the given number of times:
1.

1. 7 objects with one object repeated 4 times.

2. 5 objects with one object repeated three times and a
second object repeated two times.

n!
n1 !n 2 !...n k !
 SEATWORK
Answer worksheet uploaded in Schoology
COMBINATORICS
Combination

Problem Set: Sept. 29

 What is Combination?

Combination. A combination is a selection of objects

WITHOUT regard to order or arrangement.
The possible teams of three people selected from A, B, C
and D are:

AB AB BC CD
C D D A
Example 1:
How many different committees of 5 people can be
appointed from a group of 10 people?
Example 2:
How many different pairs of cards can be chosen from the
5 cards in a royal flush?
Example 3:
Your teacher gave you a problem set consisting of 10
questions and required you to answer any 7 problems. In
how many ways can you choose 7 problems from the
problem set?
Example 4:
How many different teams of three can be selected from a
squad of 8 if:
there are no restrictions?
the team must include the captain?
Example 4:
The PKK volunteers are trying to form a group of four
facilitators from their students that will spearhead their
field trip this coming summer. After several screenings,
the facilitators’ group is to be chosen from 7 boys and 6
girls. How many different groups can be chosen if:
there are no restrictions?
there must be two of each gender?
at least one of each gender is required?
TRY THIS ON YOUR OWN:
A certain club in XSN consists of 3 people chosen from 6
male and 8 female members.
If there are no restrictions, how many different committees
can be chosen?
How many committees in a consist of:
A. 3 males

B. 2 males and 1 female

C. 1 male and 2 females

D. 3 females
 SEATWORK
Answer worksheet uploaded in Schoology