Fundamental Principle of Counting

- the fundamental counting principle is a mathematical rule that allows

you to find the number of ways that a combination of events can occur.
- if one event can occur in “x” different ways and a second event can
occur in “y” different ways, then you can find out the number of unique
combinations by multiplying “x” by “y”.
- this multiplication method works anytime you have several factors
and each of those factors can be combined with each other in any way
possible.
- you can use the fundamental counting principle (multiplication) any
time you have a set of categories and one out of several choices in each
category will be selected.

EXAMPLE: A contractor has 4 styles of homes, each with 3 styles of

carports, 4 styles of deck, and 5 styles of roofing. How many possible
designs are there?

EXAMPLE: A building has 6 outside doors. In how many ways can a

person enter and leave the building using a different door?

EXAMPLE: How many 3-digit numbers can be formed using the

numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 if

a. repetitions are allowed?

b. repetitions are not allowed?
c. the number is less than 400 and repetitions are not permitted?

EXAMPLE: Two men and a woman rode a bus with 5 vacant seats on
each side. In how many ways can they be seated if the woman insisted
on sitting at the right side?
 Permutation
Permutation is an arrangement of all or part of a number of things (or
objects) in a definite or specific order.

Permutation of ‘n‘ things taken ‘r’ at a time.

n!
𝑁 = nPr =
(n − r)!

N = total number of arrangements

n = number of objects as reference
r = number of objects chosen at a time

EXAMPLE: How many 5-digit postal ZIP codes are there if no digits are
repeated?

EXAMPLE: How many automobile license plates of five symbols can be

made if each one begins with 2 different letters and ends with 3
different digits?

EXAMPLE: In how many ways can 3 accountants and 3 engineers be

seated in a bench if the accountants are to be sitting together?

EXAMPLE: In how many ways can 7 people be assigned consecutive

positions in a receiving line if the first 2 positions must be filled by
selections from 4 of the people?

Permutations with repeated elements.

- it often happens that objects which are virtually identical get
arranged. Our inability to distinguish between these items reduces the
number of possible permutations by the number of ways these
identical items themselves can be arranged.
Permutation of ‘n’ things with q, r, s are alike

n!
𝑁=
q! r! s! …

EXAMPLE: Find the number of ways in which two balls, four dolls and
six toy guns can be given to 12 children, if each child gets a toy.

EXAMPLE: Find the number of distinguishable permutations using all

the letters in the word BEGINNING.

EXAMPLE: The word CALCULUS is to be arranged. How many

arrangements are possible if it begins and end with the same letters?

Circular Permutation of ‘n’ things

When things are arranged in places along a closed curve or a circle, in

which any place may be regarded as the first or last place, they form
a circular permutation. Thus, with n distinguishable objects we have

N = (n-1)!

Note: In a round table one person shall be the reference and should
be sitting permanently, while the others can transfer into the
different seats.

EXAMPLE: In how many ways can a party of 7 persons arranged

themselves around a circular table?

EXAMPLE: In how many orders can a party of 3 girls and 3 boys be

placed at a round table so that boys and girls alternate?

EXAMPLE: In how many orders can 6 people be seated at a round

table with a certain 2 people don’t want to sit side by side?
Circular permutation of ‘n’ keys in a ring

(n − 1)!
𝑁=
2
Combination
Combination is an arrangement of a set of objects without specific
pattern or order.

Combination of ‘n’ things taken r at a time

n!
𝑁 = 𝑛𝐶𝑟 =
(n − r)! r!

EXAMPLE: In how many ways can 5 players be chosen from a team

composed of 12 players?

EXAMPLE: In how many groups of 3 blue dresses and 2 white ones

can be chosen from 10 blue and 8 white dresses?

EXAMPLE: From 10 different books including just 3 books of math,

how many groups of 5 books each can be formed, if each group is to
involve 2 books of math?

EXAMPLE: A student is to answer 8 out of 10 questions in an exam.

How many choices he has if he must answer at least 4 of the first five
questions?

EXAMPLE: A woman has 11 close friends. In how many ways can she
invite 5 of them to a dinner, if two of the friends are married and will
not attend separately?

Combination of different things taken any number at a time

N = 2n – 1
EXAMPLE: In how many ways can a poster be colored if there are 6
different colors available
 Binomial Expansion Theorem

-the binomial expansion theorem describes the algebraic expansion of

powers of a binomial.
For example: (x+y)n

Properties of Binomial Expansion:

• The first term is 𝑥 𝑛 while the last term is 𝑦 𝑛

• The exponent of x is decreasing by 1 while the exponent of y is
increasing by 1
• The sum of the exponents x and y in each term is equal to n
• The number of terms in the expansion is equal to “n + 1”

The rth term of a binomial expansion (x + y)n

rth term = 𝑛𝐶𝑟− 1 (𝑥)𝑛 − 𝑟+1 (𝑦)𝑟 − 1 or
𝑛! 𝑛 − 𝑟+1 𝑟−1
(𝑥) (𝑦)
(𝑛 − 𝑟 +1)!(𝑟 − 1)!

r = rth term of the binomial expansion

n = power of the binomial expansion
C = symbol for a combination process

If r is unknown, use the formula below:

𝐸1 (𝑛 − 𝑟 + 1) + 𝐸2 (𝑟 − 1) = 𝑁

where:
𝐸1 & 𝐸2 = exponents of the variable in each term of the given binomial
N = exponent of the variable of the 𝑟 𝑡ℎ term

EXAMPLE: Find the coefficient of the 5th term of the expansion (x+3y)10.

EXAMPLE: Find the 4th term in the expansion (2𝑎 − 𝑏)9 .

EXAMPLE: Find the coefficient of (x-2y)10 having the term x7.