Permutations and Combinations Questions

FACTS  AND  FORMULAE  FOR  PERMUTATIONS  AND  COMBINATIONS  QUESTIONS

1.  Factorial Notation: Let n be a positive integer. Then, factorial n, denoted n! is defined as: n!=n(n - 1)(n - 2) ... 3.2.1.

Examples : We define 0! = 1.

4! = (4 x 3 x 2 x 1) = 24.

5! = (5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) = 120.

2.  Permutations: The different arrangements of a given number of things by taking some or all at a time, are called permutations.

Ex1 : All permutations (or arrangements) made with the letters a, b, c by taking two at a time are (ab, ba, ac, ca, bc, cb).

Ex2 : All permutations made with the letters a, b, c taking all at a time are:( abc, acb, bac, bca, cab, cba)

Number of Permutations: Number of all permutations of n things, taken r at a time, is given by:

$P_{r}^{n}=n\left(n-1\right)\left(n-2\right)....\left(n-r+1\right)=\frac{n!}{\left(n-r\right)!}$

Ex : (i) $P_{2}^{6}=\left(6×5\right)=30$   (ii) $P_{3}^{7}=\left(7×6×5\right)=210$

Cor. number of all permutations of n things, taken all at a time = n!.

Important Result: If there are n subjects of which p1 are alike of one kind; p2 are alike of another kind; p3 are alike of third kind and so on and pr are alike of rth kind,

such that $\left({p}_{1}+{p}_{2}+...+{p}_{r}\right)=n$

Then, number of permutations of these n objects is :

3.  Combinations: Each of the different groups or selections which can be formed by taking some or all of a number of objects is called a combination.

Ex.1 : Suppose we want to select two out of three boys A, B, C. Then, possible selections are AB, BC and CA.

Note that AB and BA represent the same selection.

Ex.2 : All the combinations formed by a, b, c taking ab, bc, ca.

Ex.3 : The only combination that can be formed of three letters a, b, c taken all at a time is abc.

Ex.4 : Various groups of 2 out of four persons A, B, C, D are : AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD.

Ex.5 : Note that ab ba are two different permutations but they represent the same combination.

Number of Combinations: The number of all combinations of n things, taken r at a time is:

Note : (i)     (ii)$C_{r}^{n}=C_{\left(n-r\right)}^{n}$

Examples : (i) $C_{4}^{11}=\frac{11×10×9×8}{4×3×2×1}=330$      (ii)$C_{13}^{16}=C_{\left(16-13\right)}^{16}=C_{3}^{16}=560$

Q:

A box contains 5 green, 4 yellow and 3 white marbles. Threemarbles are drawn at random. What is the probability thatthey are not of the same colour ?

 A) 40/44 B) 44/41 C) 41/44 D) 40/39

Explanation:

n(E) = 5C3 + 4C3 + 3C3 = 10 + 4 + 1 = 15n(S) = 12C3 = 220

8 1592
Q:

From a pack of 52 cards, 3 cards are drawn together atrandom, What is the probability of both the cards are king?

 A) 1/5225 B) 1/5525 C) 5525 D) 1/525

Explanation:

n(S) = 52C3 = 132600/6 = 22100

n(E) = 4C3 = 24/6 = 4

6 1493
Q:

If it is possible to make a meaningful word with the first, the seventh, the ninth and the tenth letters of the word RECREATIONAL, using each letter only once, which of the following will be the third letter of the word? If more than one such word can be formed, give ‘X’ as the answer. If no such word can be formed, give ‘Z’ as the answer.

 A) T B) X C) N D) R

Explanation:

The first, the seventh, the ninth and the tenth letters of the word RECREATIONAL are R, T, O and N respectively. Meaningful word from these letters is only TORN. The third letter of the word is ‘R’.

6 1450
Q:

If each of the vowels in the word 'MEAT' is kept unchanged and each of the consonants is replaced by the previous letter in the English alphabet, how many four-lettered meaningful words can be formed with the new letters, using each letter only once in each word?

 A) 3 B) 4 C) 1 D) 2

Explanation:

16 994
Q:

In a bag containing red, green and pink tokens, the ratio of red to green tokens was 5 : 12 while the ratio of pink to red tokens was 7 : 15. What was the ratio of green to pink tokens?

 A) 25 : 28 B) 36 : 7 C) 8 :25 D) 12 : 7