Unit-III

Elementary Combinatorics

Dr. Amit Kumar

Department of Applied Science
Symbiosis Institute of Technology Pune
Elementary Combinatorics
 It is the study of arrangements/selection of objects, which is
an important part of discrete mathematics.
 This subject was studied as long ago as the seventeenth
century, when combinatorial questions arose in the study of
gambling games.
 Counting is used to determine the complexity of algorithms.
It has played a key role in mathematical biology,
especially in sequencing DNA, Password Generation,
Error Detection and Correction, Cryptographic Key
Generation, Design Theory and Coding Theory,
Telecommunications, Economics and Finance,
Probablity and Statistics and many more.
 The Basics of Counting
 PRODUCT RULE: The product rule is one of the
fundamental principles in combinatory that helps to
count the total number of outcomes when performing
a sequence of tasks or making choices.
 It is often used in situations where you have multiple
independent decisions to make, and you want to
determine the total number of possible outcomes.
 The product rule states that if there are n ways to
do task A and m ways to do task B, then there are
n×m ways to do both tasks A and B together.
 Sum Rule: The sum rule, also known as the addition
principle or the principle of addition, is another
fundamental concept in combinatory. It is used to
count the total number of outcomes when there are
multiple ways to achieve a certain goal.
 If there are n ways to do task A and m ways to do
task B, and these tasks are mutually exclusive,
then there are n+m ways to do either task A or
task B.
Examples
Example.1: How many different bit strings of length
seven are there?.
Solution: Each of the seven bits can be chosen in two
ways, because each bit is either 0 or 1.
Therefore, the product rule shows there are a total of
2^7 = 128 different bit strings of length seven.
 To be Cont…
Example. 2: Suppose that either a member of the
mathematics faculty or a student who is a
mathematics major is chosen as a representative to a
university committee. How many different choices
are there for this representative if there are 37
members of the mathematics faculty and 83
mathematics majors and no one is both a faculty
member and a student?
Ans: By sum rule it follows that there are 37 + 83 = 120
choices are there for this representative.
 To be Cont…
Example. 3: A student can choose a computer project
from one of three lists. The three lists contain 23, 15,
and 19 possible projects, respectively. No project is
on more than one list. How many possible projects
are there to choose from?

Ans: The student can choose a project by selecting a

project from the first list, the second list, or the third
list.
Because no project is on more than one list, by the sum
rule there are 23 + 15 + 19 = 57 ways to choose a
project.
 To be Cont…
Example. 4: Each user on a computer system has a
password, which is six to eight characters long, where
each character is an uppercase letter or a digit. Each
password must contain at least one digit. How many
possible passwords are there?
Ans:
 To be Cont…
Ans: Let P be the total number of possible passwords,
and let P6, P7, and P8 denote the number of possible
passwords of length 6, 7, and 8, respectively.
By the sum rule, P = P6 + P7 + P8. We will now find
P6, P7, and P8.
To find P6 it is easier to find the number of strings of
uppercase letters and digits that are six characters
long, including those with no digits, and subtract
from this the number of strings with no digits. By the
product rule, the number of strings of six characters is
36^6, and the number of strings with no digits is
26^6.
To be Cont…
Permutations and
Combinations
 Permutations:
A permutation is an arrangement of objects in a definite
order.

The number of arrangements of “r” (0 < r ≤ n) objects

out of n objects is given as

n n!
Pr  .
n  r !
P(n, r) = n(n − 1)(n − 2) · · · (n − r + 1)
When repetition of objects is allowed:

 The number of permutations of n things taken all at a

time, when repletion of objects is allowed is n n .

 The number of permutations of n objects, taken r at a

time, when repetition of objects is allowed nr .

 Permutations when the objects are not distinct:

 Permutations when the objects are not distinct:
The number of permutations of n objects of which P1
are of one kind, P2 are of second kind,…….Pk are of
kth kind, is

n!
.
P1 ! P2 ! Pk !
Combinations (selections)
 On many occasions we are not interested in arranging
but only in selecting r objects from given n objects.
 A combination is a selection of some or all of a
number of different objects where the order of
selection is immaterial.
 The number of selections of r objects from the given
n objects is denoted by nCr and defined as
n n!
Cr  .
r ! n  r !
Remarks:
1. Use Permutations if a problem calls for the number
of arrangements of objects and different orders are to
be counted.

2. Use Combinations if a problem calls for the number

of ways of selecting objects and the order of selection is
not to be counted.
To be Cont….
 To be Cont….
Q.1 Find the number of permutations of all
the letters of the word (i) Committee (ii)
Engineering.
 To be Cont….
Q.2 From six engineers and five architects a committee
is to be formed having three engineers and two
architects. How many different committees can be
formed if
(i) There is no restriction.
(ii) Two particular engineers must be included.
(iii) One particular architect must be excluded.
To be Cont….
 To be Cont….

 To be Cont….

Problems
Q.1 How many solutions are there to the equation x1 +
x2 + x3 + x4 = 17, where x1, x2, x3, and x4 are
nonnegative integers?

Q.2 How many solutions are there to the equation x1 +

x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 = 21, where xi, i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, is a
nonnegative integer such that a) x1 ≥ 1 b) xi ≥ 2 for i =
1, 2, 3, 4, 5?
Q.3 How many ways are there to place 10 identical balls
into eight different bins?
Solution:

C(8 + 10 − 1, 10) = C(17, 10) = 17! /10!7! = 19,448.

 To be Cont….
Q.4 Find the total number of 4-digits numbers formed
from 0, 1, 2, ………., 9.

Q.5 Find the total number of 4-digits numbers formed

from 0, 1, 2, ………., 9. (with repetition).

Q.6 Find the total number of 5-digits numbers which are

divisible by 5.
Problems
Q.1 How many ways are there to place 10 identical balls
into eight different bins?
Solution:

C(8 + 10 − 1, 10) = C(17, 10) = 17! 10!7! = 19,448.

Q.2 How many solutions are there to the equation x1 +
x2 + x3 + x4 = 17, where x1, x2, x3, and x4 are
nonnegative integers?

Q.3 How many solutions are there to the equation x1 +

x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 = 21, where xi, i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, is a
nonnegative integer such that a) x1 ≥ 1? b) xi ≥ 2 for i =
1, 2, 3, 4, 5?
Thank you!