SOLUTION

1. This question is a little different to the previous problems of arrangements

without repetition. In this question, we have the constraint that the youngest
boy and the oldest boy must sit together. The easiest way to think about this, is
to see each set of objects which have to be together as a single object to arrange.
If we let boy = B and let the number subscript indicate order of age, we can
view the objects to arrange as follows:
(B
1
; B
7
); (B
2
); (B
3
); (B
4
); (B
5
); (B
6
)
1 2 3 4 5 6
If the the youngest and oldest boys are treated as a single object, there are six
different objects to arrange so there are 6! different arrangements. However,
the youngest and oldest boys can be arranged in 2! different ways and still be
together:
(B
1
; B
7
) or (B
7
; B
1
)
Therefore there are:
6! 2! = 1440 ways for the boys to be seated
2. The arrangements where the youngest and oldest must not sit together is the total
number of arrangements minus the number of arrangements where the oldest
and youngest sit together. Therefore, there are:
7! 1440 = 3600 ways for the boys to be seated
Exercise 10 6: Number of choices in a row
1. How many different possible outcomes are there for a swimming event with six
competitors?
2. How many different possible outcomes are there for the gold (1st), silver (2nd)
and bronze (3rd) medals in a swimming event with six competitors?
3. Susan wants to visit her friends in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Phalaborwa, East Lon-
don and Port Elizabeth. In how many different ways can the visits be arranged?
4. A head boy, a deputy head boy, a head girl and a deputy head girl must be
chosen out of a student council consisting of 18 girls and 18 boys. In how many
ways can they be chosen?
5. Twenty different people enter a golf competition. Only the rst six of them can
win prizes. In how many different ways can the prizes be won?
6. Three letters of the word EMPTY are arranged in a row. How many different
arrangements are possible?
7. Pool balls are numbered from 1 to 15. You have only one set of pool balls. In
how many different ways can you arrange:
a) all 15 balls. Write your answer in scientic notation, rounding off to two
decimal places.
b) four of the 15 balls.
432 10.6. Application to counting problems