This process of arranging students or objects on a line is called permutation of objects.

The arrangement of the objects in the set is very important.

Definition 1:
The permutation of objects taken n at a time is denoted by 𝑛 𝑃𝑛 , where

𝑛 𝑃𝑛 = n ∙ (n – 1) ∙ (n – 2) ∙ (n – 3) ∙ … ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1
Examples 1:

2. 5 𝑃5 1. 8 𝑃8

Solution: Solution:

5 𝑃5 =5∙4∙3∙2∙1 8 𝑃8 =8∙7∙6 ∙ 5∙4∙3∙2∙1

= 120 = 40 320

Example 2:
In how many ways can nine photo albums be arranged on a shelf?

SOLUTION
Since there are nine photo albums, we represent it as

9 𝑃9 =9∙8∙7∙6 ∙ 5∙4∙3∙2∙1

= 362 880

In the above examples, we notice that the solution shows a multiplication of the numbers
starting from n, then to (n – 1), (n – 2), (n – 3), and so on up to 1. Another way to write this is by using
the factorial notation.

Definition 2:

For any natural number,

n! = n ∙ (n – 1) ∙ (n – 2) ∙ (n – 3) ∙ … ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1

The expression is read as “n factorial.”

Examples 3: Evaluate the following;

1. 9!
2. 6! Note: In all the
3. 12! examples, we note
that 1 should be the
least factor. We
Solutions: cannot go less than 1.
1. 9! = 9 ∙ 8 ∙ 7 ∙ 6 ∙ 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 362 880
2. 6! = 6 ∙ 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 720
3. 12! = 12 ∙ 11 ∙ 10 ∙ 9 ∙ 8 ∙ 7 ∙ 6 ∙ 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 479 001 600
 When we have n objects in all and we need to arrange few only out of the n, then we
use permutation of n objects taken r at a time.

Definition 3: The permutation of n objects taken r at a time, denoted by 𝑛 𝑃𝑟 , is

𝒏!
𝒏 𝑷𝒓 = (𝒏−𝒓)!

Examples 4: Evaluate the following.

1. 𝟗 𝑷𝟒

Solution:
𝟗! 𝟗! 9∙8∙7∙6 ∙ 5∙4∙3∙2∙1 362 880
𝟗 𝑷𝟒 = (𝟗−𝟒)! = 𝟓! = = = 3,024
5∙4∙3∙2∙1 120

2. 𝟏𝟕 𝑷𝟗

Solution:
𝟏𝟕! 𝟏𝟕!
𝟏𝟕 𝑷𝟗 = (𝟏𝟕−𝟗)! = 𝟖!
= 8,821,612,800

Let us apply this concept in solving problems.

Example 5:
1. In how many ways can 12 students be seated in a single row of eight chairs?
Solution:

The permutation of 12 students taken 8 at a time is written as 12 𝑃8 . Hence,

𝟏𝟐! 𝟏𝟐!
𝟏𝟐 𝑷𝟖 = (𝟏𝟐−𝟖)! = 𝟒!
= 19,958,400
 2. In how many ways can 12 different shirts be displayed in a glass case that can accommodate 4 shirts
at a time?
Solution:

The problem may be represented as 12 𝑃4 .

𝟏𝟐! 𝟏𝟐!
𝟏𝟐 𝑷𝟒 = (𝟏𝟐−𝟒)! = 𝟖! = 11,880

Definition 4:
The permutations of objects where 𝑛1 , is of one kind, 𝑛2 is of a second kind, …, and 𝑛𝑘 is of a kth kind
is given by

𝒏!
𝒏𝟏 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟐 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟑 ! ∙, , ,∙ 𝒏𝒌 !
Where n = 𝑛1 + 𝑛2 + 𝑛3 + … + 𝑛𝑘

Examples 6:

1. In the parking lot of a car manufacturing company, there are 12 new identical cars where 2 of them
are red, 3 are blue, 5 are yellow, and 2 are white. In how many ways can the 12 cars be arranged?

Solution:
n= 12 (total number of cars)
𝑛1 = 2 (red)
𝑛2 = 3 (blue)
𝑛3 = 5 (yellow)
𝑛4 = 2 (white)
𝒏!
𝒏𝟏 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟐 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟑 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟒 !

𝟏𝟐!
𝟐! ∙ 𝟑! ∙ 𝟓! ∙ 𝟐!

𝟒𝟕𝟗, 𝟎𝟎𝟏, 𝟔𝟎𝟎

𝟐, 𝟖𝟖𝟎

= 166,320

2. Find the number of distinct permutations of the letters in the word SITSIRITSIT.
Solution:
n= 11 (the word SITSIRITSIT has 11 letters)
𝑛1 = 3 (letter S)
𝑛2 = 4 (letter I)
 𝑛3 = 3 (letter T)
𝑛4 = 1 (letter R)
𝒏!
𝒏𝟏 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟐 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟑 ! ∙ 𝒏𝟒 !

𝟏𝟏!
𝟑! ∙ 𝟒! ∙ 𝟑! ∙ 𝟏!

𝟑𝟗, 𝟗𝟏𝟔, 𝟖𝟎𝟎

𝟖𝟔𝟒

= 46,200
The permutations we discussed are in linear arrangement. We can also have objects in circular arrangement.

Definition 5:
The number of permutations of n objects in a circle is (n – 1)!

Example 7:
1. The five members of a production team are going to hold a meeting using a circular table. In how
many ways can they be seated around the table?

Solution:

(n – 1)! = (5 – 1)! = 4! = 4x3x2x1 = 24 ways

Consider the letters A, B, C, D and take 3 letters at a time without repeating any of the letters.
1. If order is significant
2. If order is not significant
Solutions:
1. If the order is significant, we have

𝟒! 𝟒!
𝟒 𝑷𝟑 = (𝟒−𝟑)! = 𝟏! = 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24

Possible arrangements of three objects.

ABC ABD ACD BCD

ACB ADB ADC BDC

BAC BAD CAD CBD

BCA BDA CDA CDB

CAB DAB DAC DBC

CBA DBA DCA DCB

 2. If the order is not significant, we have the following groups of three objects.

ABC ABD ACD BCD

There are only 4 out of the 24 selections that are observed.

This observation is called Combination.

Combination is the arrangement of n objects taken r at a time in which the order is not
significant. It is about grouping or forming groups like committees and the like.
A Combination is denoted by the formula
𝒏!
𝒏 𝑪𝒓 = 𝒓!(𝒏−𝒓)!

Example 8:
How many different committees of four people can be formed from a pool of seven people?

Solution:
This is forming a group of four people, order is not important, out of seven people in the pool. Thus, this
is a combination problem.

𝒏!
𝒏 𝑪𝒓 = 𝒓!(𝒏−𝒓)!

𝟕!
𝟕 𝑪𝟒 = 𝟒!(𝟕−𝟒)!
𝟕!
𝟕 𝑪𝟒 = 𝟒!(𝟑)!

𝟕!
𝟕 𝑪𝟒 = 𝟒!𝟑!

𝟓,𝟎𝟒𝟎
𝟕 𝑪𝟒 = 𝟐𝟒 (𝟔)

𝟓,𝟎𝟒𝟎
𝟕 𝑪𝟒 = 𝟏𝟒𝟒

𝟕 𝑪𝟒 = 35

BASIS FOR PERMUTATION COMBINATION

COMPARISON

Meaning Permutation refers to the different ways of Combination refers to several ways of choosing
arranging a set of objects in a sequential items from a large set of objects, such that their
order. order does not matters.

Order Relevant Irrelevant

Denotes Arrangement Selection

What is it? Ordered elements Unordered sets

 Answers How many different arrangements can be How many different groups can be chosen from a
created from a given set of objects? larger group of objects?

Derivation Multiple permutation from a single Single combination from a single permutation.
combination.

Task Sheet:
A. Evaluate the following.

1. 𝟕 𝑪𝟐

2. 𝟏𝟓 𝑪𝟔

3. 𝟏𝟓 𝑪𝟕

4. 𝟒 𝑪𝟎

5. 𝟏𝟎 𝑪𝟑

B. Solve the following problem.

1. In how many ways can Tony choose three books from a list of eight books?

2. How many committees of four members can be formed from 10 architects?

3. In how many ways can a coach select the first five from 12 players?
 C. Evaluate the following given in column A, and find the answers in column B. Write only
the letter corresponding to the answer before the number.

A B

A. 120
______1. 𝟖 𝑷𝟔

B. 3,628,800
______2. 12!
C. 40,320
______3. 𝟏𝟎 𝑪𝟑
D. 20,160
______4. (9-1)!
E. 24
______5. 𝟓 𝑪𝟓

______6. 4! F. 1

______7. 𝟏𝟎 𝑷𝟗 G. 36

______8. 𝟗 𝑪𝟐 H. 990

______9. 𝟏𝟏 𝑷𝟑 I. 479,001,600

D. How many distinct permutations are there in each word?

PERMUTATION COMBINATION

PROBABILITY