MTL180: Discrete Mathematical Structures 1st Semester, 2024-2025

Lecture 14 — 19/09/2024
Lecturer: Prof Minati De Scribe:

Scribed by:

1. Rohit Yuvaraj Jadekar (2022MT61984)

2. Soumya Namdeo (2022MT61978)

3. Vatsal Sejpal (2022MT11926)

4. Aditya Sharma (2022MT11820)

5. Rudranil Naskar (2022MT11287)

6. Abhishek Kumar Singh (2022MT11276)

7. Raj Aryan (2022MT11945)

8. Shamil Mohammaed (2022MT11938)

1 Elementary Counting Techniques

Why is counting important: Counting is essential for determining the number of possible
outcomes in various scenarios. Permutation and combination problems help solve arrangements
and selections, providing a foundation for probability and decision-making.

1.1 Basic Counting Principles

1.1.1 Addition Principle

Let A and B be two finite disjoint sets. Then:

|A ∪ B| = |A| + |B|

Let A1 , A2 , . . . , An be finite, mutually disjoint sets. Then:

|A1 ∪ A2 ∪ · · · ∪ An | = |A1 | + |A2 | + · · · + |An |

1.1.2 Subtraction Principle

Let A be a finite set and B ⊆ A. Then:

|A − B| = |A| − |B|

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1.1.3 Rule of Product

Let X and Y be two finite sets. Then the number of pairs (a, b), where a ∈ X and b ∈ Y , is:

|X| × |Y |

1.1.4 Rule of Division

Let X and Y be two sets. Let f : X → Y be a d-to-1 function (i.e., for each element in Y , there
are exactly d pre-images in X). Then:
|X|
|Y | =
d

2 Examples

2.1 Example 1: Counting Integers with At Least Two Different Digits

Problem: Find the number of positive integers less than 1000 that have at least two different
digits.
Solution: We can solve this using the rule of subtraction (i.e., total cases minus the non-favorable
cases).

• The total number of integers less than 1000 is 999 (since we are counting from 1 to 999).

• The non-favorable cases are the integers that have all digits the same. These include numbers
like 1,2, 11, 22, 111, 222, and 999 etc. Total non-favorable cases = 9 + 9 + 9 = 27.

Favorable cases = Total cases − Non-favorable cases = 999 − 27 = 972

Therefore, there are 972 positive integers less than 1000 that have at least two different digits.

3 Permutations and Arrangements

3.1 Definition: Permutation

A permutation of a set of distinct objects is an ordered arrangement of these objects. The number
of ways to arrange r objects from a set of n distinct objects is given by:
n!
P (n, r) = n(n − 1)(n − 2) . . . (n − r + 1) =
(n − r)!

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3.2 Example 2: Counting Functions f : X → Y

Problem: Find the number of functions f : X → Y , where |X| = n and |Y | = m.

Solution: A function from X to Y assigns to each element of X an element of Y . For each element
in X, there are m choices in Y . Since these choices are independent for each element in X, the
total number of functions is given by:
mn
Thus, there are mn possible functions from X to Y .

3.3 Example 3: Counting One-to-One Functions

Problem: Count the number of one-to-one functions from X → Y , where m ≥ n (i.e., the
codomain has at least as many elements as the domain).
Solution: A one-to-one function is a function in which each element of X is mapped to a unique
element of Y . To count the number of such functions, we can use the following logic:

• There are m choices for the image of the first element of X.

• For the second element, there are m − 1 choices (since the function is one-to-one and we
cannot repeat the previous value).

• For the third element, there are m − 2 choices, and so on, until there are m − (n − 1) choices
for the last element.

Thus, the number of one-to-one functions is:

m!
P (m, n) = m(m − 1)(m − 2) . . . (m − n + 1) =
(m − n)!

4 Combinations and Selections

4.1 Definition: Combination/Selection

The number of ways to select r elements from a set of n distinct elements is denoted as C(n, r),
and is given by:
P (n, r) n!
C(n, r) = =
r! r!(n − r)!
The values of C(n, r) are known as binomial coefficients, and they appear in the expansion of
(1 + x)n as:
Xn
(1 + x)n = C(n, r)xr
r=0

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4.2 Example: The Identity C(n + 1, r) = C(n, r) + C(n, r − 1)

Problem: Prove combinatorially that:

C(n + 1, r) = C(n, r) + C(n, r − 1)

Proof: Consider a set of n + 1 elements, and we want to select r elements. We can divide the
selections into two cases:

• Case 1: The (n + 1)-th element is not selected. In this case, we are left to select r elements
from the first n elements. This can be done in C(n, r) ways.

• Case 2: The (n + 1)-th element is selected. In this case, we need to select r − 1 elements from
the first n elements, which can be done in C(n, r − 1) ways.

Therefore, by considering both cases, the total number of ways to select r elements from n + 1
elements is:
C(n + 1, r) = C(n, r) + C(n, r − 1)
This proves the identity combinatorially.

4.3 Example: Vandermonde’s Identity

Problem: Prove combinatorially that:

r
X
C(m + n, r) = C(m, k)C(n, r − k)
k=0

Proof: Consider a set of m + n elements, where the first m elements are of one type and the
remaining n elements are of another type. We want to select r elements from this set.
To do so, we can split the selection into two parts:

• First, select k elements from the m elements. This can be done in C(m, k) ways.

• Then, select the remaining r−k elements from the n elements. This can be done in C(n, r−k)
ways.

By summing over all possible values of k (i.e., from 0 to r), we account for all possible ways to
select r elements from the total m + n elements. Thus:
r
X
C(m + n, r) = C(m, k)C(n, r − k)
k=0

This completes the combinatorial proof of Vandermonde’s identity.

Question : How many diagonals are possible for a decagon?

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Solution:  
10
D(10) = − 10
2

Exercise: If no 3 lines intersect at a common point and we have n lines, then find the number of
points of intersection.