June 11, 2023

1 Set Theory
Definition : A well defined collection of objects is called a set.

1.1 Types of sets

1. Empty set: The empty set is denoted by φ and is defined as A ∪ B =
{x/x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
2. Subset: The set B is called a subset of the set A if every element of B is
an element ofA.
x ∈ B =⇒ x ∈ A and It is denoted by B ⊆ A. Here set A is called a
superset of the set B. Clearly A ⊆ A. If B ⊆ A, but B 6= A, then B is
called a proper subset of A
3. Universal set: The Universal set is the set that contains all sets into con-
sideration as it’s subsets .It is denoted by U
4. Complement of the set: the complement of a set is denoted by A0 or Ac
and is defined as Ac = {x ∈ U/x ∈
/ A}

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1.2 Operations on sets
1. Union: The union of two sets A and B is denoted by A ∪ B and is defined
as A ∪ B = {x/x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
2. Intersection:The union of two sets A and B is denoted by A ∩ B and is
defined as A ∩ B = {x/x ∈ A and x ∈ B}
3. A − B = {x ∈ A but x ∈
/ B}

1.3 Properties
1. φc = U and U c = φ
c
2. (Ac ) = A, A ∪ Ac = U, A ∩ Ac = φ

3. A ⊂ A ∪ B and A ∩ B ⊂ A and A ∩ B ⊂ B
4. A ∪ φ = A, A ∩ φ = φ, A ∪ U = U and A ∩ U = A
5. DeMorgan’s Laws (A ∪ B)c = Ac ∩ B c , (A ∩ B) = Ac ∪ B c

Problem set 1
1. Find the number of subsets of set A with | A |= n.
2. (preRMO 2014) What is the number of ordered pairs (A, B) where A and
B are subsets of {1, 2, ..., 5} such that neither A ⊆ B nor B ⊆ A?
3. *(RMO 1997)Find the number of unordered pairs {A, B} of subsets of an
n-element set X that satisfies the following: (a) A =
6 B (b) A ∪ B = X.
4. (RMO 2003) Consider the set X = {1, 2 . . . 10} . Find two disjoint nonempty
sunsets A and B of X such that
a) A
Q∪ B = X;
b) x∈A x is divisible by x∈B x, where x∈C x is the product of all
Q Q
numbers
Q in C;
x
c) x∈A
Q
x is as small as possible.
x∈B

5. *(RMO 2004) Prove that the number of triples (A, B, C) where A, B, C

are subsets of {1, 2, . . . , n} such that A∩B ∩C = φ , A∩B 6= φ, C ∩B 6= φ
is 7n − 2.6n + 5n .
6. *(RMO 2012 paper 1)Let X = {1, 2, 3, ..., 10}. FindTthe the number of
pairs {A, B} such that A ⊆ X, B ⊆ X, A 6= B and A B = {2, 3, 5, 7}.

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Answer
5 n
1) 2n , 2) 22 Q
− 2 · 35 + 25 ,3) 3 −1
2 ,4) A = {2, 7, 8, 9, 10} B =
x
6
{3, 6, 4, 5}and x∈A
Q
x = 7, 6) 3 −1
2
x∈B

2 The Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion

The Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion (PIE): Let S be a finite set of objects.
Let A and B be two subsets of S. Then to count the number of elements in
A ∪ B is to count the number of elements of A and those of B, and subtract the
number of elements common to both A and B, since they have been counted
twice.
|A ∪ B| = |A| + |B| − |A ∩ B|
For three subsets, A, B and C of S, similarly

|A ∪ B ∪ C| = |A| + |B| + |C| − |A ∩ B| − |B ∩ C| − |C ∩ A| + |A ∩ B ∩ C|

In general,
X X X X
|A1 ∪ A2 ∪ · · · ∪ An | = |Ai |− |Ai ∩ Aj |+ |Ai ∩ Aj ∩ Ak |−· · ·+(−1)n−1 |A1 ∩ A2 ∩ · · · ∩ An |

Problem set 2
1. How many natural numbers less than 201 are divisible by none of 2 or 3
or 5? 2
2. Find the number of rearrangements of the word ABCDEFG that contain
each of the following.
(a) The sequence ABC.
(b) The sequences AB, CD, and EF.
(c) The sequences AB, BC, and EF.
3. How many 5-digit numbers do not contain the subsequence 121?
4. Find the number of rearrangements of the string 12345 in which none of
the sequences 12, 23 and 34 occur.
5. Let A = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}. Find the number of subsets of A which are
neither subsets of {1,2,3,4,5} nor of {4,5,6,7,8}.
6. Find the number of five-letter words that use letters from the set {A, B,
C} and include at least one A and at least one B.
7. Consider a sequence of natural numbers which is obtained by deleting all
multiples of 3 or 4 or 5 less than 610. Which term of this sequence is 601?
8. Find the number of rearrangements of 12345 such that 1 is not in position
3, 2 is not in position 1 and 4 is not in position 4.

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 9. A faulty car odometer proceeds from digit 3 to digit 5, always skipping
the digit 4, regardless of position. If the odometer now reads 002005, how
many miles has the car actually traveled?

3 Derangements
Consider a permutation " 2314 " of the elements of {1, 2, 3, 4}. Here 2 occurs
at first position, 3 occurs at second, 1 at third, and 4 at fourth position. Then
all the permutations in which 2 does not occur at first position, 3 does not
occur at second, 1 not at third and 4 not at fourth, are known as derangements
of the original permutation (here "2314"). For example, 3421 and 4132 are
derangements of 2314, while 3412 and 1234 are not.
A "derangement" of a particular pemutation is set of all the permutations
in which none of the elements occupy their original places.
n
X (−1)i
• !n = Dn = n! for n ≥ 0
i=0
i!

• The recurrence relation for the sequence of derangement numbers Dn will

be
Dn = (n − 1)Dn−1 + (n − 1)Dn−2 for n ≥ 2
and Dn = (n)Dn−1 + (−1)n for n ≥ 1

• Few derangement values are given as follows

n 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Dn 1 0 1 2 9 44 265 1,854 14,833 133,496 1,334,961

Problem set 3
1. List all derangements of ABCD.
2. A postman has to deliver four couriers to four registered addresses. In
how many ways can he deliver such that (a) all 4 (b) only 3 (c) only 2 (d)
only 1(e) none of the couriers get delivered to correct addresses?
3. Six people arrive at a party with their own umbrellas. After the party,
in how many ways can they leave such that two persons carry their own
umbrellas while none of the remaining leaves with his own umbrella?
4. Find the number of permutations of the string 1234 in which at least one
of the digits is in its original position.
5. In our village we have a baker, a grocer, a publican, and a policeman.
They are called Mr. Bun, Mr. Sugar, Mr. Pale-Ale, and Mr. Copper,
but Mr. Bun is not the baker, Mr. Sugar is not the grocer, Mr. Pale-Ale
is not the publican, and Mr. Copper is not the policeman. How many
possibilities remain for the last names of the baker, grocer, publican, and
policeman?

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 6. On the way into a party 5 people check a coat and a bag at the door each.
On the way out, the attendant hands out coats and bags randomly. In
how many ways can this be done if no one gets either their own coat or
their own bag?
7. Eight people are sitting in a row. In how many ways one can switch the
seats of four of them, while the remaining four stay in their seats?

4 Binomial Theorem
For natural number n, binomial theorem gives expansion for any index of a
binomial (a + b),∀a, b ∈ R
       
n n n n
(a + b)n = an + an−1 · b + an−2 b2 + ... + bn
0 1 2 n
 
n n−k k
1. The (k + 1) st
term in the expansion will be tk+1 = a b
k
     
n n n
2. (a + b) = a +
n n
an−1
b+ an−2 2
b + an−3 b3 + · · ·
1 2 3
     
n n n
(a − b)n = an − an−1 b + an−2 b2 − an−3 b3 + · · · ·
1   2 3
  
n n
(a + b) + (a − b)n = 2 an + an−2 b2 + an−4 b4 + · · ·
 2  4 
n n
(a + b)n − (a − b)n = 2 an−1 b + an−3 b3 + · · · ·
1 3
√ n √ n
3. (a + b p) + (a − b p) = 2s
√ √ √
(a + b p)n − (a − b p)n = 2k p, s, k ∈ Z

Other identities
     
n n n+1
1. + =
r r−1 r
     
n k n n−m
2. =
k m m k−m
       
n n−1 n n−1
3. k =n that is = nk provided that r ≥
k k−1 k k−1
1
   
n n
4. = n−r+1 provided that r ≥ 1
r r r−1
     
n m n n−r
5. =
m r r m−r

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 n
         
n n n n n
6. = 2n
P
= + + + ... +
r=0 r 0 1 2 n
           
n n n n n n
7. + + + ... = + + + ... = 2n−1
0 2 4 1 3 5
n
         
r n n n n n n
8.
P
(−1) = − + − ... + (−1) =0
r=0 r 0 1 2 n
n
         
n n n n n
9. = n2n−1
P
r = +2 +3 + ... + n
r=0 r 1 2 3 n
n
         
n n n n n
10. r2 + 22 + 32 + ... + n2
P
= =
r=0 r 1 2 3 n
n (n + 1) 2n−2
n
         
n n n n n
11. r3 + 23 + 33 + ... + n3
P
= =
r=0 r 1 2 3 n
n2 (n + 3) 2n−3

12. Vandermonde’s
  identity
      
Pr m n m n m n
= + + .... +
i=0 i r−i 0 r 1 r−1
    
m n m+n
=
r 0 r
n
 2  2  2  2  2  
n n n n n 2n
13.
P
= + + + ... + =
r=0 r 0 1 2 n n

14. Chu Shih-Chieh’s Identity (Hockey stick identity)

   
Pn k n+1
The rule k=r = can be nicely identified on the
r r+1
Pascal triangle as shown. Due to its shape, it is known as Hockey-
stick rule.
      
r r+1 n n+1
(i) + +···+ = for all r, n ∈ N
r r r r+1
with n
  ≥ r   
n n n+1
+ =
r r−1 r
       
r r+1 r+k r+k+1
(ii) + +···+ = for all
0 1 k k
r, k ∈ N.

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Multinomial Theorem
 
n n
1. For all n ≥ 0, (x1 + x2 + . . . + xr ) = xa1 xb2 . . . xrr
P
a+b+...+r=n a, b, c . . . , r
 
n
where n!
= a!b!c...!...! .
a, b, c . . . , r
 
n
2. The coefficient of any term, xa1 xb2 . . . xrr is = a!b!c|...!.r! .
n!
a, b, c., r
3. The total number of terms of a multinomial is given by the number of
nonnegative solutions to the equation t1 +t2 +. . .+tr = n that is n+r−1 Cr−1
or n+r−1 Cn .

4. All the terms whose  powers arepermutations

 of each other will have  same
n n
coefficient. Since, =
a, b, c.., r Permutation (a, b, c . . . , r)

Problem set 4
80
1. (a) Find the t29 in the expansion of (a + b) .
80
(b) Find the t29 in the expansion of (1 + 11x) .
100
(a) Find the t54 in the expansion of (3x + 4y) .
140
(a) Find the t36 in the expansion of (15y + 11x) .
60
(a) Find the t34 in the expansion of 7p2 + 3q 2 .


200
(a) Find the t41 in the expansion of m2 + n3 .

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2. (a) Find the coefficient of x5 in the expansion of (1 + x) .
24
(b) Find the coefficient of x10 in the expansion of (3 + 2x) .
100
(c) Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of (3x + 2y) .
20

200
(d) Find the coefficient of x45 in the expansion of 4x2 + 5y 4 .
100
(e) Find the coefficient of x30 in the expansion of (12 + 15x) .
3. Find number of term is the expansion of (x + y − z + w)10 .
4. Find the coefficient of x2 y 3 in the expansion of (a) (x+y+z)4 (b) (x+y+z)5
(c) (2x + y − 3)6

5. a) Find the coefficient of x7 y 3 z 9 in the expansion of (2x + 3y + 5z)19

b) Find the coefficient of x11 yz 9 in the expansion of (7x − 3y + 8z)21
c) Find the coefficient of x3 y 2 z 5 in the expansion of (4x + 9y + 5z)10
d) Find the coefficient of x7 y 3 z 9 in the expansion of (2x + 3y + 5z)20

6. How many terms are there in the expansion of (a + b + c + d)8 ?

7. Expand using multinomial theorem : (x + y + z)3 .

7

8
8. Find last four terms in the expansion of x + 2x2 .
 1 20
9. In the expansion of 4 3 + 11 find number of rational terms
64

2 20
10. 1 + x + x = a0 +a1 x+a2 x2 +. . . .+a39 x39 +a40 x40 . Compute (a0 + a1 + . . . + a40 ) and (a1 + a3 + a5

11. Show that the coefficients of each of ab4 , ac4 , bc4 in the expansion (a+b+c)5
are equal. Which other terms will have same coefficient as these?

12. Of the 66 terms in the multinomial expansion of (x + y + z)10 , how many

involve
(a) just one variable?
(b) exactly two variables?
(c) all three variables?

13. Given below is a row of Pascal’s Triangle. Fill in the remaining numbers.
1 − − − 126 − 84 − −1
14. The following is a portion of Pascal’s triangle. Find the values of X, Y
and Z.
1287 − − X
3003 3432 Y
− 6435
Z

15. Expand (1 − 2x)4 using Pascal’s triangle.

16. Can you compute 116 using Pascal’s triangle? How?

17. Determine the last 3 digits of the number 7999
18. (RMO) Determine the largest 3-digit prime factor of the integer 2000 C1000 .
19. (RMO 1993)Show that 1993 − 1399 is a positive integer divisible by 162.

20. Prove that for positive integer n we have n2 |(n + 1)n − 1

21. Let a, b, c be the positive integers such that a|b2 , b|c2 and c|a2 then prove
that abc|(a + b + c)7
√
22. If (2 + 3)n = I + f , where I and n are positive integers and 0 < f < 1,
show that I is an odd integer and (1 − f ) × (I + f ) = 1.
23. Let an = 6n +8n . Determine the remainder on dividing a83 by 49 . (AIME,
1983/6)
24. Let a, b, c be positive integers such that a divides b2 , b divides c2 and c
divides a2 . Prove that abc divides (a + b + c)7 .(RMO 2002)

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Difficult problems
1. Find the value of 2010 2010 2010 2010





2 + 5 + 8 + ... + 2009

2. If (3 + x2008 + x2009 )2010 = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn . Then find the

value of : a0 − a21 − a22 + a3 − a24 − a25 + a6 − · · ·
√ √
1980
3. Find the first digit before and after the decimal point in 2+ 3 .
√ √ √
4. Prove that 10 ( 10 + 1)100 − ( 10 − 1)100 is an even integer


√
5. Find the first 100 decimals of ( 50 + 7)100 ( that is first 100 digits after
the decimal point).
n
6. (IMO 1974) Prove that the number 2n+1
23k is not divisible by 5 for
P

2k+1
k=0
any integer n ≥ 0
7. Let S = {1, 2, . . . , n}. For each A ⊆ S with A 6= ∅, let M (A) = max{x |
x ∈ A}, m(A) = min{x | x ∈ A} and α(A) = M (A) + m(A). Evaluate
the arithmetic mean of all the α(A) ’s when A runs through all nonempty
subsets of S.

5 Distribution into Groups

Case (1) Distributing r distinct objects into n distinct boxes.
(i) If each box can hold at most one object, then the number of ways to
distribute the objects is given by

n(n − 1)(n − 2) · · · (n − r + 1) = Prn ,

(ii) If each box can hold any number of objects, then the number of ways to
distribute the objects is given by
r
| · n{z· · · n} = n ,
n

(iii) Assume that each box can hold any number of objects and the orderings
of objects in each box count.
The number of ways that an arrangement can be made in this case is given
by
(n − 1 + r)!
n(n + 1)(n + 2) · · · (n + (r − 1))=
(n − 1)!
Case (2) Distributing r identical objects into n distinct boxes.
(i) Assume that each box can hold at most one object
 (and
 thus r ≤ n ).
n
The number of ways this can be done is given by .
r

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 (ii) Assume that each box can hold any number of objects. The number of
ways this can be done is given by the number of
nonnegative integral solutions to the equation r1 + r2 + · · · + rn = r, which
means that ri objects are put in box
 i, i = 1, 2,. . . , n.
r+n−1
Thus a way of distribution is
r
Problem set
1. In how many permutations of the word EQUATION do the vowels occur in
alphabetical order? For how many permutations the relative positioning
of vowels and consonants does not change?

2. Suppose you have four boxes, labeled A, B, C, and D. How many ways
are there to distribute
(a) ten identical marbles among the four boxes?
(b) the numbers 0 − 9 among the four boxes?
3. In how many ways can a group of six boys and six girls be divided into
two equals groups so that each group contains odd numbers of boys and
girls?
4. Find the number of ways in which 8 nonidentical apples can be distributed
among 3 boys such that every boy should get at least 1 apple and at most
4 apples.

5. In how many ways can 8 different books be distributed among 3 students

if each receives at least 2 books?
6. In a shooting tournament, eight clay targets are arranged in three hanging
columns, as shown. A marksman is to break all eight targets according
to the following rule : One must break the lowest remaining target before
breaking higher unbroken targets in the same column. He is free to switch
columns for the next shot. In how many different ways, can these targets
be broken?

7. In how many ways six diff. books can be distributed between four persons,
so that each person gets at least one book.

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