University of Guelph

CIS 2910 W25 – Midterm #1 (Feb. 13) Solutions

Instructor: Joe Sawada and Daniel Gabrić

First Name:

Last Name:

Student Number:

The exam must be completed using the provided bubble-sheet.

Select the best answer.

For fairness, we will not answer any questions about the content of the midterm
while in session

This test is closed book and lasts 75 minutes.

You may not use any electronic/mechanical computation devices.
There are 8 pages including the cover page.

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1. Which of the following corresponds to the Generalized Pigeonhole Principle?

(a) If k+1 pigeons are placed into k holes, then there is a hole containing two pigeons.
(b) If more than k pigeons are placed into k holes, then then at least one holes contains two
pigeons.
(c) If N pigeons are placed into k holes, then there is exactly one hole containing at least
dN/ke pigeons.
(d) If N pigeons are placed into k holes, then there is at least one hole containing exactly
dN/ke pigeons.
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (e)

2. How many binary strings of length n = 20 are there with exactly 7 ones?

(a) 220 − 27
(b) 27
20


(c) 13
13
(d) 2
(e) (none of the above)
20 20



Solution: (c) 13
= 7

3. How many one-to-one functions are there from a set A with n elements to a set B with m
elements, assuming n ≤ m?

(a) n!
(b) m!
(c) nm
(d) P (m, n)
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (d)

4. How many bijective functions are there from a set A with n elements to a set B with n
elements?

(a) n!
(b) nn
(c) 2n
(d) n2
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a)

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5. Consider a 3-dimensional grid. How many ways can you travel from (0,0,0) to (5,10,10) if
each step is of unit length along one of the axes and gets you closer to your destination?
25!
(a) 5!·10!·10!
(b) 5! · 10! · 10!
(c) 25 · 210 · 210
(d) 325
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a) Same as number of ways to order 5 Xs, 10 Ys and 10 Zs.

20
X
6. The expression 2j can be simplified to:
j=5

(a) 221 − 25
(b) 221 − 24
(c) 221 − 17
(d) 220 + 25
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a)

7. In the upcoming provincial election the top four candidates are Doug, Marit, Bonnie and
Mike. If there are 101 votes cast then

(a) One candidate will receive exactly 25 votes

(b) There exists a subset of two candidates that will receive less than 50 votes
(c) There exits at least one candidate who will receive a majority of the votes
(d) There exists a candidate that receives at least 26 votes
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (d)

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 8. The number of binary strings of length 2n with exactly two 0s is
(a) 2 n2 + n2

(b) (2n)!/2!
(c) n(n + 1)/2
(d) (2n)(2n − 1)
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a) by considering where the 0’s are placed as in assignment

9. Which of the following is a non-increasing subsequence in: 8,2,1,3,4,2,4,9,8,3,7,8,8,2,3,1,5?

(a) 9,8,7,5,4
(b) 2,2,2,1
(c) 4,4,7,8
(d) 5,4,3,1
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b)

10. Consider any random sequence S of 101 distinct negative integers. Which of the following
must be true?
(a) S contains an increasing subsequence of length 10
(b) S contains an decreasing subsequence of length 10
(c) S contains an increasing subsequence of length 11
(d) S contains an decreasing subsequence of length 11
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (e)

11. Which of the following is true?

(a) Let S be an infinite subset of integers. The Well Ordering Property implies S has a least
element.
(b) If 100 students are born in September (30 days), then there exists a day where exactly
4 of the students are born.
(c) The number of binary strings of length 20 that have exactly 7 ones is the same as the
number of subsets of size 13 from a set of size 20.
(d) A recurrence relation does not necessarily need a base case, but one is usually given for
convenience.
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (c)

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12. A proposition P (n) is true for all integers n ≥ 4 if (a) P (4) is true and (b) the implication
P (k) → P (k + 1) evaluates to true for any k ≥ 4.

(a) The statement is accurate by the principle of mathematical induction

(b) The statement is not accurate since we must consider all possible base cases
(c) The statement is not accurate since the implication must be for k ≥ 5
(d) The statement is not accurate since it is not applying strong induction
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a)

13. The Guelph Storm are gearing up for a new season. In the final practice before the regular
season, the coach divides the players into three teams. After three games the three teams
have scored a total of 40 goals. One possible outcome is that Team A scored 25 goals, Team B
scored 13 goals, and Team C scored 2 goals. How many such different outcomes are possible?

(a) 40


3
(b) 40!/3!
(c) 42


2
42


(d) 39
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (c)

14. The Toronto Sceptres are gearing up for a new season. Their practice roster has 21 players.
In the final practice before the regular season, the coach divides them into three teams. How
many different ways can the 21 players be assigned to teams if each team has exactly 6 players?

(a) 321
(b) 21!
21!
(c) 7!7!7!
21


(d) 3
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (e) – also accepting (c) as it seems all 21 players belong to a team, and thought 6
was a typo for 7.

15. A local charity is giving away hats to the homeless. They come in one of three colours: Red,
White, Green. How many different ways can the first 15 people select their hat?

(a) 15


3
(b) 315

5
 15!
(c) 5!5!5!
(d) P (15, 3)
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b) They each of one of 3 choices.

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16. What is T (2), T (3), T (4), and T (5) for the following recurrence for n ≥ 0?

 0 if n = 0,
T (n) = 1 if n = 1,
T (n − 2) + n if n > 1.


(a) 3,6,10,15
(b) 2,3,4,5
(c) 2,4,6,8
(d) 2,4,6,9
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (d)

dn/2e
X
17. Suppose that T (n) = (2j − 1). What is T (119) as a decimal number?
j=1

(a) 3600
(b) 3540
(c) 3660
(d) 7260
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a) the sum of the first 60 odd integers.

40


18. Express C(40, 38) = 38
as a decimal number.
(a) 79
(b) 780
(c) 1560
(d) This number is too big to reasonably compute without a calculator
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b)

19. How many binary strings of length 12 begin and end with the same value?
(a) 210
(b) 211
(c) 212 − 210
(d) 210 + 210 − 29
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b)

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20. How many binary strings of length 10 begin with 000 or contain exactly 4 zeros?
(a) 331
(b) 335
10


(c) 27 + 4
(d) 447
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a)

21. How many ternary strings (strings with symbols 0,1,2) of length 10 include at least one of
each symbol?
(a) P (10, 3) · 37
(b) 37 10


3
(c) 37
(d) 310 − 3 · 210
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (e)

22. Trick or treat. Five children show up looking for candy at Halloween. You have 20 identical
candy bars to give to the 5 children. How many ways can you distribute the candy bars if
each child gets at least 2 candy bars?
(a) 14


4
20!
(b) 2!2!2!2!2!10!
20


(c) 5
20
− 10



(d) 5 5
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a)

23. How many subsets of S = {1, 2, . . . , 10} contain 6 consecutive integers? One such subset
would be {2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}.
(a) 40
(b) 48
(c) 52
(d) 56
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b)

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24. How many permutations of the 26 capital letters A-Z contain the substring EXAM ?

(a) 22!
(b) 26! − 22!
(c) 23


1
· 22!
26


(d) 4 · 22!
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (c)

25. Which pioneer in Discrete Mathematics is credited for the Online Encyclopedia of Integer
Sequences?

(a) Fibonnacci
(b) Sloane
(c) Pascal
(d) Ruskey
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b)

26. In the upcoming winter Olympics, Team Canada has 100 athletes but Team Jamaica has
only 10 athletes. As a show of solidarity, the two teams decide to enter the opening ceremony
together. If the players march out one at a time, how many different ways can they be ordered
so no athlete from Jamaica follows another athlete from Jamaica?

(a) 101


91
· 100! · 10!
(b) 101


10
(c) 110! − 109!
10


(d) 110! − 109! 2
(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (a)

27. Consider a 10 x 20 grid. A route is defined to be a path from (0,0) to (10,20) that only moves
up and to the right. How many routes are there that do not go through the point (2,7)?

(a) 92 + 21



8

(b) 30 − 21


9

10 8 2
(c) 1076
(d) 210 220 − 22 27

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(e) (none of the above)

Solution: (b)

– END OF MIDTERM –

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