Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial – Dumaguete Science High School

Division of Dumaguete City

School Year 2020 – 2021

MATH 8B
Advance Statistics
Compiler:
Winessa C. Flores
Cherry Lou G. Lagrimas

Name: ____________________________ Score: __________

Section: ___________________________ Date: ___________

Third Quarter
Lesson 3.3-3.4 Permutation and Combination
Lesson Objectives: The students will be able to:
1. define permutation and combination;
2. determine whether a situation involves permutation or combination; and
2. solve word problems involving permutation and combination.

We all have a group of some objects such as a collection of our favorite things. You may be one of those
who collect their favorite books. How do you arrange your collection of books? Your mother may be one of the
“plantitas” who has a collection of popular houseplants nowadays. How does she arrange her plants?
Today’s advancement and development make most, if not all, conscious about data privacy and security.
Your brother may be the type who loves his privacy and has a password for his cellphone and laptop. Have you
tried guessing his password? Did you succeed?

Real- World Connection

Look at the pictures below. Which are familiar to you? Which ones have you tried or experienced? In this
lesson, you will gain more understanding about these real-life scenarios.

CONCEPTS

Consider the following statements.

“My fruit salad is a combination of apples, grapes, and bananas.”

“The combination of the safe is 472.”

What is common in each statement? How is the word “combination” used in the first sentence? How
about in the second sentence? Is there a difference in how the word “combination” is used in the sentences?

In English, the word “combination” is used loosely, without thinking if the order of things is important. In
the first sentence, for example, we do not care what order the fruits are in because it is the same fruit salad
whether we say “bananas, grapes, and apples” or “grapes, apples, and bananas”. In the second sentence, on
the other hand, we care about the order. It must be exactly 4-7-2 for it to work.

In Mathematics, we use more precise language.

 When the order does not matter, it is Combination.

 When the order does matter, it is Permutation.

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PERMUTATION

There are two types of permutation.

 Repetition is Allowed
 No Repetition

A. Permutations with Repetition. This is the easiest to calculate. When a thing has n different types, then
there are n choices each time.

To illustrate: Choosing 3 of n things means n x n x n or simply multiply n three times by itself.

More generally, choosing r of something that has n different types means n x n x … r times which
is equal to nr. This means that there are n possibilities for the first choice, n possibilities for the second
choice, and so on, multiplying each time.

The formula is:

nr
where n is the number of things to choose from choosing r of them, repetition is allowed, and order
matters.

Example 1: In a lock with 10 numbers to choose from (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) choosing three of
these numbers means:

10 x 10 x 10 or 103 = 1, 000 permutations

when repetition is allowed and order matters.

Sometimes we are given a problem in which the identical items of type 1 are repeated "p" number
of times, type 2 are repeated "q" number of times, type 3 are repeated "r" number of times, and so on.
What shall we do in this case? Well, the answer is simple. There is a separate formula to compute
permutations in such problems.

Since the items are repeated, therefore such scenarios are also examples of permutations with
repetition. The formula that should be used while computing the permutations in such cases is given
below:

The formula is:

n!
PRp,q,r
n 
p!q!r !...

Example 2: How many eight-digit numbers can be formed with the numbers 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4?

Here, n = 8, p = 3, q = 3, and r = 2.

In this example, the order of elements matter, and digits are repeated. We will substitute the
above values in the formula below:

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 n!
PRp,q,r
n 
p!q!r !...
8!
PR3,3,2
8 
3!3!2!
40320

72
 560

Hence, 560 permutations are possible.

Example 3: In how many ways can the alphabets of the word EXCELLENT be arranged?

In this problem, n = 9, E is repeated 3 times (p = 3), and L is repeated 2 times (q = 2).

Substitute these values in the formula to get the number of ways in which the letters of this word
can be arranged:

n!
n 
PRp,q
p!q!
9!
PR3,2
9 
3!2!
362880

12
 30240

Hence, the letters in the word EXCELLENT can be arranged in 30240 ways.

B. Permutations without Repetition. This is the type of permutation where there is a need to reduce the
number of available choices each time.

To illustrate: Consider the 16 pool balls. After choosing one of the balls, say the number 14 ball, you
cannot choose it again. You are left with 15 other balls to choose from. After choosing another ball, say
the number 13 ball, you cannot choose it again. This time, you are left with the remaining 14 balls.

This simply showed that our first choice has 16 possibilities, our next choice has 15 possibilities,
then 14, 13, 12, …until we are left with a single ball. That is, there is a decrease of one every time we
choose a ball.

Permutation without repetition is when our choices get reduced each time. Mathematically, we
use the factorial function.

The factorial function (symbol: !) means multiplying a series of descending natural

numbers.
Examples:
 4! = 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24
 7! = 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 5, 040
 1! = 1

Note: It is generally agreed that 0! = 1.

Going back to the 16 poll balls, selecting all the balls without repetition is:

16! = 16 x 15 x 14 x … x 1 = 20, 922, 789, 888, 000.

And, selecting only 3 out of the 16 balls without repetition is:

16 x 15 x 14 x 13 x 12 x … = 16 x 15 x 14 = 3, 360
13 x 12 x …

Note that 13 x 12 x 11 x … got cancelled out leaving only 16 x 15 x 14.

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 The formula is:
n!
n  r  !
where n is the number of things to choose from choosing r of them, no repetitions, and order
matters.
Some other notations are:
n!
P n,r   n Pr  n Pr 
n  r  !

Example 1: How many ways can you choose 3 out of 16 billiard balls when repetition is not allowed?
16! 16! 20,922,789,888,000
P 16,3      3,360
16  3 ! 13! 6,227,020,800
(Recall that this is equal to 16 x 15 x 14.)
Example 2: How many ways can first and second place is awarded to 10 people?
10! 10! 3,628,800
P 10,2      90
10  2! 8! 40,320
Note that this is equal to 10 x 9. Also, this is permutation without repetition because, in a group of 10
people, only one can be in the first place. The second place will then be awarded to any of the remaining 9.

Collaborative Learning

Activity 1: Let’s Go!

I. Instructions: Evaluate each of the following.
1. 53 6. 12!

2. 74 7. P  5,2

3. 105 8. P  9,3 

4. 6! 9. P 12,4 

5. 8! 10. P 17,5   P  5,4 

II. Instructions: Identify the type of permutation problem and solve.

1. Sam is planting tomato plants in his vegetable garden. He has 5 plants he wants to plant in a row.
How many different ways can Sam plant his tomatoes side-by-side?

2. Lilia registers to take 7 classes freshman year. Each class is available during each of the 7 periods
of the school day. How many different ways can Lilia's classes be arranged?

3. How many ways can 4 letters of the word NUMBER be arranged?

4. A physics classroom has 10 desks. If there are 6 students in the AP Physics class, how many
different ways can the students choose desks?

5. How many 5-digit numbers can be written using all of the digits listed below?
3, 3, 8, 8, 9

6. How many 10-letter permutations are there for the word elementary?

7. A card game has 10 cards to pick from. If cards are matched in twos, how many different pairs of
cards can be matched?

8. A student has 5 blouses, 4 skirts, and 4 sweaters. In how many different ways can she select an
outfit comprising 3 items?

9. A car license plate consists of 6 characters. Each character can be any of the letters from A to Z4or
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any numeral from 0 to 9. How many license plates are possible if repetition is allowed?

10. There are 10 different books. How many ways can 4 of these books be arranged on a shelf?
COMBINATION

There are also two types of combinations.

 No Repetition
 Repetition is Allowed

A. Combination without Repetition. This is when the order matters and the elements cannot be repeated.

To illustrate: Think of how lotteries work. In a lottery, the numbers are drawn one at a time and if you
have the lucky numbers (no matter what order), you win!

Combination without repetition involves making an assumption that the order does matter (just
like in permutation) then altering it, so the order does not matter.

To illustrate: Let us go back to the poll ball permutation problem but this time, let us focus on determining
which 3 poll balls are chosen regardless of the order.

We know that 3 out of 16 gives 3, 360 permutations. That is,

16! 16! 20,922,789,888,000

P 16,3      3,360
16  3 ! 13! 6,227,020,800
But many of the 3, 360 are the same now since order does not matter. For example, if balls 1, 2,
and 3 are chosen, the following are the possibilities:

The table above shows that permutation has 6 times as many possibilities! This is because 3! =
3 x 2 x 1 = 6. So, for us to know the combination of 3 poll balls out of 16, we will adjust our permutation
formula to reduce it by how many ways the objects could be in order (because the order does not matter
anymore in combination).

That is,
n! 1 n!
x 
n  r ! r! r! n  r !

The formula is:

n!
r! n  r  !

where n is the number of things to choose from choosing r of them, no repetition, and order
does not matter.
Some other notations are:

C n,r   n Cr  n Cr     r! nn! r !
n
r

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 Example 1: In how many ways can you choose 3 poll balls out of 16 if repetition is not allowed and order
does not matter?

16! 16! 20,922,789,888,000

C 16,3      560
3! 16  3  ! 3!13! 6  6,227,020,800 

or

16! 16! 16x15x14 3360

C 16,3       560
3! 16  3  ! 3!13! 3x2x1 6

Example 2: In how many ways can you choose 13 poll balls out of 16 if repetition is not allowed and
order does not matter?

16! 16! 20,922,789,888,000

C 16,13      560
13! 16  13  ! 13!3! 6,227,020,800  6 

or

16! 16! 16x15x14 3360

C 16,13       560
13! 16  13  ! 13!3! 3x2x1 6

Did you notice something?

The formula is symmetrical. That is,

In other words, choosing 3 balls out of 16, or choosing 13 balls out of 16 have
the same number of combinations.
16! 16!
  560
3! 16  3  ! 13! 16  13  !

B. Combination with Repetition. This is when order does not matter and repetition is allowed.

To illustrate: Imagine that there are 5 flavors of ice cream (banana, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, and
vanilla) and you are allowed to have 3 scoops. How many combinations can you make?

For our convenience, let us use letters for the flavors: {b, c, l, s, v}.

Your combination could be:

o {b, l, v}

or a combination composed of any three of the flavors.

But you are not prohibited to have two scoops of the same flavor. Say,

o {b, v, v}

You can even choose to have all three scoops from your favorite flavor. Example,

o {c, c, c}

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Notice that you can choose in three ways. One, you can choose three different flavors. Two, you can
choose two flavors having two scoops of one of the chosen flavors. Three, you can simply choose one
flavor for your three scoops.

Now, let us think of ice cream being in boxes and are arranged in a row.

For you to visualize your possible combination, let us use arrows and circles (arrow means move,
circle means scoop).

How many different ways can we arrange the arrows and circles?

Notice that there are always 3 circles (3 scoops of ice cream) and 4 arrows (we need to move 4
times to go from the 1st to 5th container).

So, there are r + (n – 1) positions, and we want to choose r of them to have circles.

The formula is,

where n is the number of things to choose from choosing r of them, repetition is allowed,
and order does not matter.
Another notation,

C n  r  1,r  
n  r  1 !
r! n  1 !

Interestingly, we can look at the arrows instead of the circles, and say "we have r + (n−1) positions
and want to choose (n−1) of them to have arrows", and the answer is the same:

Example 1: In how many ways can you choose 3 scoops of ice cream out of 5 available flavors if
repetition is allowed?

C  5  3  1,3  
 5  3  1 !  7!  5040  35
3!  5  1 ! 3! 4! 6  24 

There are 35 ways of having 3 scoops from five flavors of ice cream.

Example 2: A sportsman goes to a store to buy 4 pairs of shoes. If at the store there are a lot of shoes
in 5 available colors, how many combinations of colors can the man buy.

C  5  3  1,4  
 5  4  1 !  8!  40320  70
4!  5  1 ! 4! 4! 24  24 

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 Collaborative Learning

Activity 2: Let’s Combine!

I. Instructions: Consider both types of combination and valuate each of the following.

1. C  9,2

2. C 14,6 

3. C 12,11

4. C 18,10 

5. C  20,15   C 10,3 

II. Instructions: Identify the type of combination problem and solve.

1. A girl is going to a candy shop where there are 8 types of flavors, if she is only going to buy 3, how
many combinations are possible?

2. In a bucket there are 10 balls, every ball is numbered from 1 to 10, if somebody pulls out 3 of these
balls randomly, how many combinations could he take?

3. A man will go on a trip for 3 days, so he will take with him 3 shirts, if he has 7 shirts, how many
combinations of shirts can he take?

4. There are 110 people at a meeting. They each shake hands with everyone else. How many
handshakes were there?

5. The manager of a baseball team has to select the 9 starters for a game. She has 11 players to
choose from. How many combinations of 9 players can she choose?

6. A committee of 5 students is to be selected from a class of 20 students. How many different

committees are possible?

7. The special combo pizza at Nieva’s Pizza includes any 5 toppings from the list of 16 toppings. How
many different combo pizzas are possible?

8. In how many ways can a committee of 4 be formed from 6 students?

9. A group of 5 barangay tanods will be assigned to maintain peace and order during nighttime. If there
are 10 barangay tanods, in how many ways can the group be formed?

10. There are 5 points in a plane, no three of which are collinear. How many different lines can be
formed?

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 Dependent Learning

Activity 3: Permutation or Combination?

Instructions: Tell whether each scenario involves permutation or combination.

1. During the final round, six cars were closing in on the finish line. The top three winners were awarded
gold, silver, and bronze medals.

2. Ana places 5 bananas, three mangoes, and ten guavas in a fruit basket. Her brother selects three fruits
from the basket.

3. Joanna chooses a combination of four digits from 0 to 9 without repetition for her school locker.

4. James shuffled a pack of 52 playing cards and asked his friend, Justin, to choose any three cards.

5. Sophia rearranged the letters in the word “TOGETHER” and formed new words beginning with R and
ending with T.

6. A team of 10 basketball players needs to choose a captain and co-captain.

7. Jude and Michelle are planning trips to nine countries this year. There are 13 countries they would like
to visit. They are deciding which countries to skip.

8. You are deciding which awards to display in your room. You have gathered 12 awards, but you only have
room to display 6 awards.

9. For a segment of a radio show, a disc jockey can play 7 songs. There are 12 songs to select from.

10. You find 7 articles related to the topic of your research paper and you decided to 5 articles to read.

11. A medical researcher needs 6 people to test the effectiveness of an experimental drug. Thirteen people
volunteered for the test.

12. You went to a department store to buy three ball pens. The sales lady presented 3 boxes of ball pens
(one box for each color). You decided to pick any three.

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 Independent Learning

Activity 2: Bring It On!

Instructions: Solve the following permutation and combination problems. Show your solutions.

1. The manager of a baseball team has named the 9 starters for a game. He needs to determine the batting
order. How many batting orders are possible?

2. A salesman has 6 products he wishes to display. He can only display 4. In how many ways can he display
his products?

3. A ship must raise ten flags at one time (three red, two blue, and five green). How many different flag
combinations can be raised at a time?

4. There are 33 cars in a car race. The first-, second-, and third-place finishers win a prize. How many
different arrangements of the first three positions are possible?

5. The license plates in a certain country contain a permutation of exactly 5 letters. If no letter can be
repeated, how many letter permutations are possible?

6. In how many ways can 3 contestants in a Math quiz be chosen from 6 equally qualified students?

7. In how many ways can a woman choose 12 dresses from 18 different dresses?

8. Jonathan owns six-colored pair of shoes (two white, two blue and two black). He wants to put all these
pairs of shoes on the shoe rack. How many different arrangements of shoes are possible?

9. A final examination consists of 20 questions. A student who takes the examination is told to select and
answer 15 questions. How many possible ways do the student have?

10. In how many ways can 10 different books be arranged in a shelf?

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 11. How many ways can we arrange four letters from the word “computer” if repetitions are not allowed, and
different orders of the same letters count as different arrangements?

12. How many ways can we arrange four letters from the word “computer” if repetitions are not allowed, and
different orders of the same letters count as the same arrangement?

13. In how many ways can you make a four-digit number from the set of first 10 natural numbers if repetition
is allowed?

14. In how many ways can you choose 5 toppings from 10 different options if repetition is allowed?

15. In how many ways the alphabets of the word ELECTRIC can be arranged?

Lesson Summary

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