Question 1:

Find the 3-digit numbers that can be formed from the given digits: 1, 2, 3,
4 and 5 assuming that

a) digits can be repeated.

b) digits are not allowed to be repeated.

Solution:

a) By the multiplication principle, the number of ways in which three-digit

numbers can be formed from the given digits is 5 × 5 × 5 = 125

b) By the multiplication principle, the number of ways in which three-digit

numbers can be formed without repeating the given digits is 5 × 4 × 3 =
60

Question 2:

A coin is tossed 6 times, and the outcomes are noted. How many possible
outcomes can be there?

Solution:

When we toss a coin once, the number of outcomes we get is 2 (Either

Head or tail)

So, in each throw, the no. of ways to get a different face will be 2.

Therefore, by the multiplication principle, the required no. of possible

outcomes is

2 x 2 x 2 x 2 × 2 × 2 = 64

Question 3:

Evaluate the following

(i) 6 ! (ii) 5 ! – 2 !

Solution:

(i) 6! = 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 = 720
(ii) 5! = 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 x 5 = 120

As 2! = 1 × 2 = 2

Therefore, 5 ! – 2 ! = 120-2 = 118.

Question 4:

From a team of 6 students, in how many ways can we choose a captain

and vice-captain assuming one person can not hold more than one
position?

Solution:

From a team of 6 students, two students are to be chosen in such a way

that one student will hold only one position.

Here, the no. of ways of choosing a captain and vice-captain is the

permutation of 6 different things taken 2 at a time.

So, 6P2 = 6! / ( 6 -2 )! = 6! / 4! = 30

Question 5:

How many words, with or without meaning, can be formed using all the
letters of the word EQUATION, using each letter exactly once?

Solution:

Number of letters in word EQUATION` = 8

n=8

If all letters of the word used at a time

r=8

Different numbers formed = nPr

= 8P8

= 8!/(8 8)!

= 8!/0!
= 8!/1

= 8!

=8*7*6*5*4*3*2*1

= 40320

Question 6:

How many words can be formed each of 2 vowels and 3 consonants from
the letters of the given word – DAUGHTER?

Solution:

No. of Vowels in the word – DAUGHTER is 3.

No. of Consonants in the word Daughter is 5.

No of ways to select a vowel = 3c2 = 3!/2!(3 – 2)! = 3

No. of ways to select a consonant = 5c3 = 5!/3!(5 – 3)! = 10

Now you know that the number of combinations of 3 consonants and 2

vowels = 10x 3 = 30

Total number of words = 30 x 5! = 3600 ways.

Question 7:

It is needed to seat 5 boys and 4 girls in a row so that the girl gets the
even places. How many are such arrangements possible?

Solution:

5 boys and 4 girls are to be seated in a row so that the girl gets the even
places.

The 5 boys can be seated in 5! Ways.

For each of the arrangements, 4 girls can be seated only at the places
which are cross marked to make girls occupy the even places).

BxBxBxBxB
So, the girls can be seated in 4! Ways.

Hence, the possible number of arrangements = 4! × 5! = 24 × 120 =

2880

Question 8:

Find the number of 5-card combinations out of a deck of 52 cards if each

selection of 5 cards has exactly one king.

Solution:

Take a deck of 52 cards,

To get exactly one king, 5-card combinations have to be made. It should

be made in such a way that in each selection of 5 cards, or in a deck of 52
cards, there will be 4 kings.

To select 1 king out of 4 kings = 4c1

To select 4 cards out of the remaining 48 cards = 48c4

To get the needed number of 5 card combination = 4c1 x 48c4

= 4x2x 47x 46×45

= 778320 ways.

Question 9:

Find the number of 6 digit numbers that can be formed by using the digits
0, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. These digits shall be divisible by 10, and no digit shall
be repeated?

Solution:

The number which has a 0 in its units place is divisible by 10.

If we put 0 in the unit place, _ _ _ _ 0, there will be as many ways to fill 5

vacant places. (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)

The five vacant places can be filled in 5! ways = 120.

Question 10:
Evaluate: 10! – 6!

Solution:

10! = 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x1 = 3628800

6! = 6 X 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 720

10! – 6! = 3628800 – 720 = 3628080

Practice Problems for Class 11 Maths Chapter 7

Solve the problems from class 11 Maths Chapter 7 – permutations and
combinations:

1. Calculate how many numbers are there between 99 and 1000 having atleast
one of their digits 7? [Answer: 252]
2. A boy has 3 library tickets and 8 books of his interest in the library. Of these
8, he does not want to borrow Mathematics Part II, unless Mathematics Part I
is also borrowed. In how many ways can he choose the three books to be
borrowed? [Answer: 41]
3. Given that 5 flags are of different colours. Calculate how many different
signals can be generated if each signal requires the use of 2 flags, one below
the other? [Answer: 20]
4. Compute n!/ r!(n-r)!, when n=5 and r=2. [Answer: 10]
5. Determine the number of permutations of the letters of the word
ALLAHABAD. [Answer: 7560]
6. How many automobile license plates can be made, if each plate contains two
different letters followed by three different digits? [Answer: 468000]
7. Find the number of different words that can be formed from the letters of the
word TRIANGLE, so that no vowels are together. [Answer: 14400]
8. A box contains two white, three black and four red balls. In how many ways
can three balls be drawn from the box, if at least one black ball is to be
included in the draw? [Answer: 64]

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.”

Learn more about the fundamental principle of counting here.

 Permutation and Combination

 Important Questions Class 11 Maths Chapter 7 Permutations and Combinations
 Permutation and Combination Worksheet
 Permutation and Combination Formula

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.

Click here to know more about factorial.

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 n r .

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 p 1 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!)

To get more knowledge about permutations, visit here.

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;

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

To understand more about combinations, visit here.

Relationship Between Permutation and combination
In permutation and combination for class 11, 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 = Cr

n+1

Video Lesson

Problems based on Permutations and Combinations

2,471

Solved Questions
The sample for permutation and combination for class 11 is given here.
Go through the given example to get a clear idea.

Question 1: Find the number of ways of choosing 4 cards from a

pack of 52 playing cards? In how many of these
(i) four cards are of the same suit,

(ii) four cards belong to four different suits,

(iii) are face cards,

(iv) two are red and two are black cards,

(v) cards are of the same colour?

Solution :

There will be a number of possible ways for choosing 4 cards from 52

cards as there are combinations of 52 different things when we take 4 at a
time.

Therefore, the required number of ways = 52C4

= 52! / (4! 48!) = (49x50x51x52) / (2x3x4)

= 270725

(i) Four cards of the same suit:

There are four suits: Spade, heart, Club, diamond. Totally, there are 13
cards of each suit

Therefore, the required number of ways are given by 13C4 + 13C4 + 13C4 + 13C4

= 4(13! / (4! 9! )) = 2860

(ii) four cards belong to four different suits:

Since there are 13 cards in each suit. Therefore choosing 1 card from 13
cards of each suit, it becomes

= 13C1 + 13C1 + 13C1 + 13C1 = 134

(iii) Face cards :

There are 12 face cards and 4 cards are selected from these 12 cards, it
becomes

= 12C4

Therefore, the required number of ways = 12! / ( 4! 8!) = 495

(iv) Two red cards and two black cards:

There are 26 red and 26 black cards in a pack of52 cards.

Therefore, the required number of ways = 26C2 x 26C2

=
(26!2!24!)2

= (325)2

=105625

(v) Cards of the same color:

Out of 26 red cards and 26 black cards, 4 red and black cards are selected
in 26C4 ways. So, the required number of ways = 26C4 + 26C4

= 2 (26! / 4! 22! )

=29900.

Question 2: How many 4-digit numbers can be formed by using

the digits 1 to 9 if repetition of digits is not allowed?

Solution:

Digits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

We can form several four-digit numbers using these 9 digits. Suppose

3456 and 6543 are two 4-digit numbers. Here, the order of digits is not a
matter. Thus, there will be as many 4 digit numbers as there are
permutations of 9 different digits taken 4 at a time.

P4 = 9!/(9 – 4)!
9

= 9!/5!

= (9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5!)/5!

= 3024

Hence, 3024 four-digit numbers can be formed using the digits from 1 to 9
without repetition.

Question 3: How many words, with or without meaning can be

made from the letters of the word MONDAY, assuming that no
letter is repeated, if

(i) 4 letters are used at a time,

(ii) all letters are used at a time,

(iii) all letters are used but the first letter is a vowel?

Solution:
Given word: MONDAY

(i) Number of letters to be used = 4

Number of permutations = 6P4 = 6!/(6 – 4)! = 6!/2! = 720/2 = 360

Therefore, we can form 350 words with 4 letters from the word MONDAY.

(ii) Number of letters to be used = 6

Number of permutations = 6P6 = 6!/(6 – 6)! = 6!/0! = 720/1 = 720

Therefore, we can form 720 words using all the letters from the word
MONDAY.

(iii) Number of vowels in the word MONDAY = 2 (O and A)

Number of ways that the first letter is a vowel = 2P1 = 2!/(2 – 1)! = 2!/1! =
2

Now, the remaining places = 5

Remaining letters = 5

These can be arranged in 5! ways, i.e. 120

Therefore, the total number of words can be formed with the first letter as
vowel = 2 × 120 = 240.

Practice Questions
1. In an examination, in how many ways can a student select the questions if the
question paper consists of 25 questions divided into Part I and Part II,
containing 10 and 15 questions, respectively. A student is required to attempt
20 questions in all, selecting at least 5 from each part?
2. If each selection of 4 cards has exactly one queen in a deck of 52 cards.
Determine the number of 4-card combinations out of them
3. How many such arrangements are possible if we need to seat 6 men and 5
women in a row so that the women occupy the even places.
4. In how many ways can the outing party be chosen for a class of 40 students, if
25 are to be chosen.