Description

In this chapter, we are going to introduce the concept of factorial and study the
arrangement of objects with and without considering the order of arrangement called
permutation and combination. Practical problems are also present to differentiate and
understanding.

Video Lectures:

Introduction to permutations and combinations

Permutations and Combinations | Counting | Don't Memorise

Online Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NAASclUm4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3wC8fjMV9g

Monograph:

Permutations

Definition
Permutations are the different ways in which a collection of items can be arranged.

For example:

The different ways in which the alphabets A, B and C can be grouped together, taken all at a time, are
ABC, ACB, BCA, CBA, CAB, BAC.

Note that ABC and CBA are not same as the order of arrangement is different. The same rule applies
while solving any problem in Permutations.

The number of ways in which n things can be arranged, taken all at a time, P = n!, called ‘n factorial.’
n
n

Factorial Formula
Factorial of a number n is defined as the product of all the numbers from n to 1.

For example, the factorial of 5, 5! = 5*4*3*2*1 = 120.

Therefore, the number of ways in which the 3 letters can be arranged, taken all a time, is 3! = 3*2*1 = 6
ways.

Number of permutations of n things, taken r at a time, denoted by:

P = n! / (n-r)!
n
r

For example:

The different ways in which the 3 letters, taken 2 at a time, can be arranged is 3!/(3-2)! = 3!/1! = 6 ways.

Important Permutation Formulas

1! = 1

0! = 1

Let us take a look at some examples:

Problem 1: Find the number of words, with or without meaning, that can be formed with the letters of
the word ‘CHAIR’.

Solution:

‘CHAIR’ contains 5 letters.

Therefore, the number of words that can be formed with these 5 letters = 5! = 5*4*3*2*1 = 120.
Problem 2: Find the number of words, with or without meaning, that can be formed with the letters of
the word ‘INDIA’.

Solution:

The word ‘INDIA’ contains 5 letters and ‘I’ comes twice.

When a letter occurs more than once in a word, we divide the factorial of the number of all letters in the
word by the number of occurrences of each letter.

Therefore, the number of words formed by ‘INDIA’ = 5!/2! = 60.

Problem 3: Find the number of words, with or without meaning, that can be formed with the letters of
the word ‘SWIMMING?

Solution:

The word ‘SWIMMING contains 8 letters. Of which, I occurs twice and M occurs twice.

Therefore, the number of words formed by this word = 8! / (2!*2!) = 10080.

Problem 4: How many different words can be formed with the letters of the word ‘SUPER’ such that the
vowels always come together?

Solution:

The word ‘SUPER’ contains 5 letters.

In order to find the number of permutations that can be formed where the two vowels U and E come
together.

In these cases, we group the letters that should come together and consider that group as one letter.

So, the letters are S,P,R, (UE). Now the number of words are 4.

Therefore, the number of ways in which 4 letters can be arranged is 4!

In U and E, the number of ways in which U and E can be arranged is 2!

Hence, the total number of ways in which the letters of the ‘SUPER’ can be arranged such that vowels
are always together are 4! * 2! = 48 ways.

Problem 5: Find the number of different words that can be formed with the letters of the word ‘BUTTER’
so that the vowels are always together.

Solution:
The word ‘BUTTER’ contains 6 letters.

The letters U and E should always come together. So the letters are B, T, T, R, (UE).

Number of ways in which the letters above can be arranged = 5!/2! = 60 (since the letter ‘T’ is repeated
twice).

Number of ways in which U and E can be arranged = 2! = 2 ways

Therefore, total number of permutations possible = 60*2 = 120 ways.

Problem 6: Find the number of permutations of the letters of the word ‘REMAINS’ such that the vowels
always occur in odd places.

Solution:

The word ‘REMAINS’ has 7 letters.

There are 4 consonants and 3 vowels in it.

Writing in the following way makes it easier to solve these types of questions.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

No. of ways 3 vowels can occur in 4 different places = P = 24 ways.

4
3

After 3 vowels take 3 places, no. of ways 4 consonants can take 4 places = P = 4! = 24 ways.
4
4

Therefore, total number of permutations possible = 24*24 = 576 ways.

Combinations

Definition
The different selections possible from a collection of items are called combinations.

For example:

The different selections possible from the alphabets A, B, C, taken 2 at a time, are AB, BC and CA.

It does not matter whether we select A after B or B after A. The order of selection is not important in
combinations.

To find the number of combinations possible from a given group of items n, taken r at a time, the
formula, denoted by C is n
r

n
C = n! / [r! * (n-r)!]
r

For example, verifying the above example, the different selections possible from the alphabets A, B, C,
taken two at a time are

C = 3! / (2! * (3-2)!) = 3 possible selections (i.e., AB, BC, CA)

3
2
Important Combination formulas
n
C =1
n

n
C=1
0

n
C=n
1

n
C= C
r
n
(n-r)

The number of selections possible with A, B, C, taken all at a time is C = 1 (i.e., ABC)
3
3

Solved examples of Combination

Let us take a look at some examples to understand how Combination work:

Problem 1: In how many ways can a committee of 1 man and 3 women can be formed from a group of 3
men and 4 women?

Solution:

No. of ways 1 man can be selected from a group of 3 men = C = 3! / 1!*(3-1)! = 3 ways.
3
1

No. of ways 3 women can be selected from a group of 4 women = C = 4! / (3!*1!) = 4 ways.
4
3

Problem 2: Among a set of 5 black balls and 3 red balls, how many selections of 5 balls can be made
such that at least 3 of them are black balls.

Solution:

Selecting at least 3 black balls from a set of 5 black balls in a total selection of 5 balls can be

3 B and 2 R

4 B and 1 R and

5 B and 0 R balls.

Therefore, our solution expression looks like this.

C * C + C * C + C * C = 46 ways.
5
3
3
2
5
4
3
1
5
5
3
0