Elementary Statistics Counting Rules

1. A newly married couple is planning to have three children. List the elements of the sample space
S using letter M for male and F for female.

m m m
m m f
2. Suppose that 3 items are m f m selected at random from a manufacturing process.
Each item is inspected andS = m f f classified defective (D) or non-defective (N). List the
elements of the sample f m m space S.
f m f
f df d md
d d n
f f f
d n d
d n n
n d d
n d n
n n d
n n n

3. In how many ways can an MVP be selected in a league with 9 teams and each team has 12
players in its roster?
S=
12 × 9 = 108

4. How many four-digit numbers can be formed using 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9

a. If repetition is allowed?

6 × 6 × 6 × 6 = 1,296

b. If the number can only appear once?

6 × 5 × 4 × 3 = 6P4 = 360

c. If it is even number (without repetition)?

Even number: 2 and 8

5 × 4 × 3 × 2 = 120

d. If the numbers are odd (with repetition)?

5 × 4 × 3 × 4 = 864

5. If a car dealer has 5 model line-ups and each model has 6 colors to choose from, how many
ways can a customer choose his car?

5 × 6 = 30

6. A jar contains 40 cookies, 15 are bingo, 8 are cream-o, 12 are presto and 5 are hi-ro. IF you are
to select 5, how many ways can you select such that
a. All the cookies are the same?
Elementary Statistics Counting Rules

All bingo cookies: 15C5

All cream-o cookies: 8C5

All presto cookies: 12C5

All hi-ro cookies: 5C5

b. 3 bingo and 2 hi-ro?

15C3 + 5C2 = 465

c. All are presto?

12C5 = 792

d. One cream-o?

40C4 + 8C1 = 91,398

7. In how many ways can Chot Reyes fill his first five for the PBA finals if all of his 14 players can
play all the positions?

14P5 = 240,240

8. In jai-alai game there are ten players. In how many ways can a bettor win, if he must select the
top three finishers to win?

10P3 = 720

9. In how many ways can 6 people seat

a. In a row?

6! = 720

b. If 3 people insisted to be seated together?

3! × 4! = 144

c. If there are only 3 seats available?

6P3 = 120

d. If a pair don’t want to be together?

6! – 2! × 4! = 672

e. Around a table?

(6-1)! = 120

10. How many ways can the letters of the word LETTERS be arranged?

7!
= 1,260
2!×2!
Elementary Statistics Counting Rules

11. Christmas lights has 50 bulbs. And there are 5 different colors of bulb (10 of each color). How
many ways can the bulbs
a. be arranged?

50! = 3.0414 E 64

b. be arranged where the same color is next to each other?

10! = 3,628,800

12. In meeting of 620 (where there are 20 countries) a country will be represented by one person.
a. how many handshakes will occur?

620C2 = 191,890

b. if the American representative won’t shake hands with the Chinese and the Russian leader,
how many handshakes are possible?

13. How many ways can an ace, a jack, a queen, a king be drawn in a deck of 52?

4 × 4 × 4 × 4 = 64

14. How many ways can 10 Engineering students be selected from 20?

20C10 = 184,756

15. List the elements of the following sample space, the set of integers between 1 and 50 divisible
by 8.

S = {8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48}

16. How many lunches are possible consisting of soup, a sandwich, dessert, and a drink if one can
select from 4 soups, 3 kinds of sandwiches, 5 desserts and 4 drinks?

4 × 3 × 5 × 4 = 240

17. How many ways can 7 people be assigned to 1 triple and 2 double room?

7C3 × 4C2 × 2C2 = 210

18. An engineer wishes to build 9 houses, each different in design. In how many ways can be place
these homes on a street if 6 lots are on one side of the street and 3 lots are on the opposite
side?

9! = 362,880