High Rank Achiever

Fundamental Principle of Counting

1. How many ways can you design an outfit where:

(a) Shirt=5, Pants=4, Caps=7?

(b) Shirt=6, Pants=3, and No Cap?

2. With 4 cars and 3 buses, how many ways can you choose transport for
your friend’s house?

3. To go to a friend’s home via a cafe, 5 cars from your home to the cafe
and 6 buses from the cafe to your friend’s home. How many ways can
you form a journey?

4. With 3 ice creams and 5 snack varieties, how many ways can you choose
1 item?

5. How many ways can you choose one of 3 ice creams and 5 snacks?

Arrangement
1. In how many ways can 3 different birds sit on 3 different trees?

2. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits (1, 2, 3, . . . , 9)?

3. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits (1, 2, 3, . . . , 9)
all divisible by 4?

(a) When repetition is allowed.

(b) When repetition is not allowed.

1
 4. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits (1, 2, 3, . . . , 9)
all divisible by 5?

(a) When repetition is allowed.

(b) When repetition is not allowed.

5. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits (0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9)
all divisible by 5?

(a) When repetition is allowed.

(b) When repetition is not allowed.

Selection
1. How many ways can I pack 4 out of 10 different balls into a bag?

2. How many ways can I pick 4 digits out of (0, 1, 2, . . . , 9) such that they
are in ascending or descending order?

3. How many ways are there to select 3 out of 13 caps?

4. In how many ways can 5 chocolates out of 15 be selected?

Consecutive Selections
1. Out of 10 distinct objects, how many ways can:

(a) 3 consecutive objects be selected?

(b) 4 consecutive objects be selected?
(c) If each object is assigned a number, then how many ways can
objects be selected in ascending order?

2. Select r consecutive objects out of n lined on a circle.

3. How many ways can you choose 4 consecutive objects out of 9 objects
on a circle?

2
Division and Distribution
1. An essay competition was conducted for 40 students. In how many
ways can:

(a) 3 top winners be chosen?

(b) The winner, first runner-up, and second runner-up be selected?

2. You have 4 items to distribute among 4 people.

3. Divide 5 flowers into sets of three.

4. Divide 18 students into 3 groups equally.

5. Divide 18 students into 3 groups equally and assign them to red, yellow,
and pink houses.

PIE
1. There are 5 married couples. Make them stand in such a way where all
couples are not together.

Number of Divisors
1. Find the number of divisors of 1440.

2. Find the sum of all 4-digit numbers using the digits 1, 2, 3, and 5.

Derangement
In how many ways can n letters not go to their own places?

1. When n = 2.

2. When n = 3.

3. When n = 4.

4. When n = 5.

3
Distribution of Alike Objects
1. Find solutions of x + y + z = 13.

2. Find solutions of x + y + z + w = 21.

4
 High Rank Achiever

Basic Counting Principle

1. How many ways can you design an outfit where:

1.1. Shirt=5, Pants=4, Caps=7.

• Answer: 5 × 4 × 7 = 140.

1.2. Shirt=6, Pants=3, and No Cap.

• Answer: 6 × 3 = 18.

2. 4 Cars and 3 Buses. How many ways can you take transport for your
friend’s house?

• Answer: 4 + 3 = 7 ways (either by car or bus).

3. To go to a friend’s home via a cafe, 5 cars from your home to cafe and
6 buses from cafe to your friend’s home. How many ways can you form
a journey?

• Answer: 5 × 6 = 30 ways (by combining cars and buses).

4. 3 Ice creams and 5 Snack Varieties. How many ways can you choose 1
item?

• Answer: 3 + 5 = 8 ways (choose one item from ice creams or snacks).

5. How many ways you can choose one of 3 ice creams and 5 snacks?

• Answer: 3×5 = 15 ways (choose one item from ice creams and snacks).

1
Arrangement/Permutation
1. In how many ways can 3 different birds sit on 3 different trees?

• Answer: 3 ! = 6 ways (permutations of 3 different birds).

2. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits 1 to 9 ?

• Answer: 9 × 9 × 9 × 9 = 6561 ways (each digit has 9 options).

3. How many ways can a 4 -digit number be made using digits 1 to 9 , all
divisible by 4 ?

• a. When repetition is allowed: Count the numbers that end with 2 or

6 ( 2 options for the last digit) and for the other three digits, there are
9 options each.

• Answer: 2 × 9 × 9 × 9 = 1458 ways.

• b. When repetition is not allowed: Only 2 and 6 are divisible by 4 , so

the last digit has 2 options.

For the other three digits, there are 8 options each.

• Answer: 2 × 8 × 8 × 8 = 1024 ways.

4. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits 1 to 9 , all
divisible by 5 ?

• a. When repetition is allowed: Only 5 can be the last digit, so there is

1 option for the last digit.

For the other three digits, there are 9 options each.

• Answer: 1 × 9 × 9 × 9 = 729 ways.

• b. When repetition is not allowed: Only 5 can be the last digit, so

there is 1 option for the last digit. For the other three digits, there are
8 options each.

• Answer: 1 × 8 × 8 × 8 = 512 ways.

2
 5. How many ways can a 4-digit number be made using digits 0 to 9 , all
divisible by 5 ?
• a. When repetition is allowed: Only 0 or 5 can be the last digit, so
there are 2 options for the last digit. For the other three digits, there
are 10 options each.
• Answer: 2 × 10 × 10 × 10 = 2000 ways.
• b. When repetition is not allowed: Only 0 or 5 can be the last digit, so
there are 2 options for the last digit. For the other three digits, there
are 9 options each.
• Answer: 2 × 9 × 9 × 9 = 1458 ways.

Selection/Combination
1. Packing 4 out of 10 Different Balls into a Bag:
• Formula: Combination
 
10
• Solution: 10!
= 4!(10−4)! = 210 ways.
4
2. Picking 4 Digits in Ascending or Descending Order from ( 0, 1, 2, . . . , 9)
:
• Solution: For ascending order, choose any 4digits out of 10. For de-
10
scending order, the same applies. So, 2 × = 2 × 210 = 420
4
ways.
3. Selecting 3 out of 13 Caps:
• Formula: Combination
 
13
• Solution: 13!
= 3!(13−3)! = 286 ways.
3
4. Selecting 5 Chocolates out of 15 :
• Formula: Combination
 
15
• Solution: 15!
= 5!(15−5)! = 3003 ways.
5

3
Consecutive Selections:
1. Out of 10 distinct objects, how many ways:

• a. 3 consecutive objects can be selected.

• Answer: 10 − 3 + 1 = 8 ways.
• b. 4 consecutive objects can be selected.
• Answer: 10 − 4 + 1 = 7 ways.
• c. Objects can be selected in ascending order.
 
10
• Answer: = 120 ways (using combinations).
3

2. Select r consecutive objects out of n lined on a circle.

• Answer: n ways.

3. How many ways can you choose 4 consecutive out of 9 objects on a

circle?

• Answer: 9 ways.

Non-Consecutive Selections:
Find all non-consecutive selections of 7 floors and you have to choose:

Use formula to
 
n−k+1
k evaluate

Grouping
1. An essay competition was conducted for 40 students. In how many
ways
a. 3 top winners can be chosen?
 
40
• Answer: = 9880 ways (using combinations).
3

4
b. Winner, first runner, second runner could be?

• Answer: 40 × 39 × 38 = 59280 ways (multiplying the number of choices

for each position).

2. You have 4 items to distribute among 4 people.

• Answer: 44 = 256 ways (each item has 4 choices of recipients).

3. Divide 5 flowers into a set of three.

 
5
• Answer: = 10 ways (using combinations).
3

4. 18 students in 3 groups (equal)

• Answer: (6!)
18!
3 = 17740800 ways (using permutations and considering

the groups as identical).

5. 18 students in 3 groups (equal) and in red, yellow, and pink houses.

• Answer: (6!)
18!
3 × 3! = 53222400 ways (considering both the groups and

the houses as distinct).

1. In how many ways can n letters not go to their own places?

• When n = 2 :

• The number of derangements (or permutations where no letter goes to

its original place) for 2 letters is given by the formula !2 = 1.

• When n = 3 :

• The number of derangements for 3 letters is !3 = 2.

• When n = 4

• The number of derangements for 4 letters is !4 = 9.

• When n = 5 :

• The number of derangements for 5 letters is !5 = 44.

5
Distribution of Alike Objects
1. x + y + z = 13 :

• This is a problem of distributing 13 identical items into 3 distinct boxes

(or variables). The solution is given by the formula fordistributing
n+k−1
identical items into distinct boxes, which is where n is
k−1
the total number of items and k is the number of boxes (or variables).
   
13 + 3 − 1 15
• Substituting the values, we get = = 105 solu-
3−1 2
tions.

2. x + y + z + w = 21 :

• Similarly, this is a problem of distributing 21 identical items

 into 4 dis- 
21 + 4 − 1
tinct boxes (or variables). Using the same formula, we have =
  4−1
24
= 2024 solutions.
3

Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion

To ensure that all couples are not standing together, we can use the Principle
of InclusionExclusion (PIE).

10! − 5! × 25