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Permutations and Combinations: February 17, 2022 19:6 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical b4143-ch01
Permutations and Combinations: February 17, 2022 19:6 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical b4143-ch01
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Chapter 1
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Permutations and
Combinations
1
February 17, 2022 19:6 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical. . . - 9in x 6in b4143-ch01 page 2
The spirit of the addition principle is that the “whole” is equal to the sum
of “parts.” Applying the addition principle is to divide the “whole” (the
methods of accomplishing one task) into several disjoint classes, so that the
number of the elements in each class is easy to calculate. As for how to
group the method, of course, it depends on the specific problems.
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Here and later, the notation |X| represents the number of elements in the
finite set X.
However, if S1 , S2 , . . . , Sn are not pairwise disjoint, in order to calculate
|S|, we need a slightly deeper method — the inclusion-exclusion principle,
which will be discussed in Chapter 4.
m1 × m2 × · · · × mn
different ways to do the first thing, second thing, . . . , and the nth thing in
succession.
The key point of applying the multiplication principle is that the process
of accomplishing a task is divided into several steps, and the number of the
methods in each step is easy to determine.
The multiplication principle can also be expressed in the set language,
but this form is a little abstract, and it is not needed in this book, so we
will not discuss it.
1. Permutations
is denoted as Pkn .
From the multiplication principle,
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(There are n methods to select the first element. After selecting the first
element, there are n − 1 methods to select the second element because the
first element cannot be repeated, . . . , and finally, there are n−k+1 methods
to select the kth element.)
In particular, if k = n, then we get the full permutation formula of
n different elements (that is, the number of n-permutations of n different
elements):
Pnn = n × (n − 1) × · · · × 2 × 1 = n!.
tively. Let’s take any one of these permutations. Assume that these n1
numbers of x are marked with subscripts 1, 2, . . . , n1 . Then there are n1 !
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(that is, the integer multiple of m!; see the definition of exact division
in Chapter 6).
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Illustrative Examples
Example 1. How many possible permutations can be made of nine ones
and four zeros, if no two zeros are adjacent?
Solution First arrange nine ones to generate
10 “gaps.” Then insert four
zeros into the 10 “gaps.” Hence there are 10 = 210 ways.
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Example 2. Find the number of five-digit numbers such that each digit
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Try to find the number of different ways that meet the above requirements.
Clearly we know that a1 < a2 − 2 < a3 − 4 are three numbers selected from
1, 2, . . ., 10,and this correspondence is one-to-one. So, the number of ways
equals 10 3 = 120.
Example 6. How many subsets of the set {1, 2, . . . , 100} contain at least
one odd number?
Solution The number of all subsets of the set {1, 2, . . . , 100} is easy to
determine, which is 2100 , but it is a little troublesome to directly find the
number of subsets that meet the requirement. However, the number of
undesired subsets, that is subsets of {2, 4, . . . , 98, 100}, is clearly known to
be 250 . Therefore, the number of the desired subsets is 2100 − 250 .
such sequences, there are ni ways to arrange i zeros in n positions; then
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Therefore, xn = 12 [k n + (k − 2)n ].
Remark 8. The correctness of the equality “(3)” can be seen from the
combinatorial significance (it is not necessary to use (1) and (2)). After
finding out xn + yn , in order to determine xn , we can try to deduce another
equivalent relation between xn and yn (the simplest, of course, is to consider
xn − yn ). However, without deriving (1) and (2), such an equality seems to
be difficult to establish.
This problem can also be solved by the recursive method (it is not
necessary to use (1) and (2) or the binomial theorem), which is left for the
reader to complete (Exercise 10 in Chapter 3).
Exercises
Group A
1. How many 3-digit numbers can be constructed from the digits 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6 if each digit may be used (i) only once; (ii) as often as desired?
2. How many 7-digit numbers can be constructed from the digits 1, 2, 3,
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4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 if each digit can be used only once, and 8 and 9 must not
be adjacent?
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3. How many ways are there to arrange a program list with 6 singing pro-
grams and 4 dancing programs, so that any two dance programs are not
adjacent?
4. There are 9 rooms, of which 2 will be painted white, 3 will be painted
green, and 4 will be painted yellow. How many plans are there?
5. Use the letters a, b, and c to form five-letter words. In each word, a
appears at most twice, b appears at most once, and c appears at most
three times. Find the number of such words.
6. Suppose n boys and n girls sit in a circle such that no two boys are
next to each other, and so do any two girls. How many arrangements
are there?
7. Put n+1 different balls into n different boxes. How many ways are there
if each box is not empty?
8. How many different results can be produced by rolling k same dice at
the same time?
Group B
9. Take out any three different numbers from 1 to 300 such that the sum
of the three numbers is divisible by 3. How many options are there in
total?
10. Given five points in a plane, it is known that the straight lines con-
necting these points are not parallel, perpendicular to each other, or
coincident with each other. Construct perpendicular lines through each
point to the lines between any two of the other four points. Find the
maximual number of the intersection points of these perpendicular lines
(excluding the known five points).
February 17, 2022 19:6 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical. . . - 9in x 6in b4143-ch01 page 11
11. Find the number of ordered non-empty set pairs A and B satisfying
the following conditions:
(1) A ∪ B = {1, 2, . . . , 12};
(2) A ∩ B = Ø;
(3) the number of elements of A is not an element of A, and the number
of elements of B is also not an element of B.
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12. Given the set S = {1, 2, . . . , 10}, find the number of unordered pairs of
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