Answer Keys

1 Basic counting rules

1. C(n, 2).

2. C(100, 2) + C(100, 1) + C(100, 0).

3. 2n − (C(100, 2) + C(100, 1) + C(100, 0)).

4. 2n .

5. 1285 − 1275 .

6. How many bit strings of length 5 contain

(a) C(5, 2).

(b) C(5, 2) + C(5, 1) + C(5, 0).
(c) C(5, 2) + C(5, 3) + C(5, 4) + C(5, 5) or equivalently 25 − C(5, 0) −
C(5, 1).

7.

8. 26 · 100.

9. 263 · 103 .

10. 524 + 525 + 526 + 527 + 528 .

11. C(10, 1) · C(9, 2).

12. 9 · 104 ; 95 ; 9 · 104 − 95 .

13. (1, 1, 1); (1, 1, 2); (1, 2, 1); (2, 1, 1); (1, 2, 2); (2, 1, 2); (2, 2, 1); (2, 2, 2).

14.

15.

1
16. nm .

17.
5!
18. 3!
.
n!
19. m!
.

20. 52 · 51 · 50.

21. C(52, 2)

22. Given n different objects put in a secret box. Take k objects out of the
box.
n!
(a) k!
(b) C(n, k)

23. nk
n!
24. k!
if k ≤ n and 0 otherwise.

25. C(n, k) if k ≤ n and 0 otherwise.

26. C(n, k).

(2n)!
27. n!2n+1
; (2n)!
2n!
. To check

28. C(10, 3)

29.

30.

31. 5!

32. 2(n!)2 .

33. C(25, 3); 3!C(25, 3).

34. (a) C(9, 3) · C(20, 8).

(b) C(29, 11) − C(20, 11).

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35. 26 + 25 − 24 .

36.

37. 2101 (−3)9 9.

38. C(100, 100+i

2
) if i is even and 0 ≤ i ≤ 100 and 0 otherwise.
305!
39. 101!·99!·105!
2101 399 .
10!
40. 3!·3!·4!
.

41. C(m + n, m).

42. False
10!
43. 2!4!
.
7!
44. 3!·2!
.
10!
45. − 3!·2!·5! 28 · 32

46. C(5, 2).

9!
47. 3!·2!·4!
.

48. C(n + k − 1, k).

49. C(n + k − 1, k).

50. C(n + k − 1, k).

51. C(k − 1, k − n).

52. C(k − 1, k − n).

(2n)!
53. n!(n+1)!
.

54. (a) C(20, 16).

(b) C(15, 11)
(c) C(25, 21) − C(14, 10).

55. C(14, 11).

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56. (a) No
(b) No
(c) Yes
(d) No
(e) Yes

57.

58. 1; C(n, 2); 1.

59. S(n, k) = S(n − 1, k − 1) + kS(n − 1, k); S(n, 2) = 2n−1 − 1.

60.

61. a) No
b) No
c) Yes
d) No

62. S(4, 3) + S(4, 2) + S(4, 1).

63. S(4, 3) = C(4, 2)

64.

65.

66. 1015

67. S(15, 10) · 10!.

68. 0
15!
69. 5!
.

70. C(102, 100)

71. C(59, 50)

72.

4
73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.
7!
80. 3!·2!·2!
.
6!
81. 2!

82.

83. C(59, 50).

84. (n!)2 .

85. 31

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

91.

92.

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2 Advanced counting rules
1
1. (a) (1−x)2
1
(b) (1−x)n
.
1+x
(c) (1−x)3
.
x
(d) 1−x−x2
√
1− 1−4x
(e) 2x
.
1
(f) (1−x)2
.

2. (a) A(x).(x + 1)
A(x)−a0
(b) x
.
A(x)−a0
(c) A(x) + x
(d) A(2x)
A(x)
(e) 1−x
(f) A(bx).
A(x)+A(−x)
(g) 2
√ √
A( x)+A(− x)
(h) 2
.
1
3. (1−x3 )(1−x5 )(1−x7 )
.
x5 +x6
4. (1−x2 )4

x8
5. (1−x)(1−x4 )(1−x6 )
.
x5 (1−x5 )2
6. (1−x)3
; a7 = 6.

7.

8. C(n + k − 1, k).
x2
9. (1−x)(1−2x)
; and S(n, 2) = 2n−1 − 1.
2
10. (a) 1−3x
and an = 2 · 3n .
x+2
(b) 1−3x
and an = 7 · 3n−1 for n ≥ 1 and a0 = 2.

6
 1+2x 2
(c) 1−5x+4x2
, and an = 3
+ 31 4n .
8+10x 24x2
(d) 1+8x−9x2
+ (1−3x)(1+8x−9x2 )
, and un = ...
2−4x
(e) (1−2x)(1−4x)
and un = 2n−1 + 21 4n .
(f)

11. (a) (−64, 144, −108, 27, 0, 0, · · · ) (d) an = n − 1.

(b) an = 3n−3 for n ≥ 3 and (e) an = n−1−n = −1 for n ≥ 1
an = 0 for n = 0, 1, 2. and a0 = 0.
(c) (f)

12. Use generating function to find the number of different ways 10 identical
balloons can be given to four children if each child receives at least two
balloons.

13. Use generating function to find the number of different ways 15 identical
objects can be put into 6 distinct boxes such that each box contains at
least one but no more than three objects.

14. How many words are formed from all letters of the word MISSISSIPPI
that

(a) does not contain four letters S consecutively.

(b) does not contains four consecutive letters S nor two consecutive
letters P .

15. Use the PIE to find the number of positive integers not exceeding 100
that are NOT divisible by 5 or by 7.

16. Using the PIE to find the number of positive integers not exceeding
100 that are either odd or square of an integer.

17. Find the number of positive integers not exceeding 1000 that are either
square or cube of an integer.

18. How many elements are in the union of four sets if each of the sets has
100 elements, each pair of the sets share 50 elements, each three of the
sets share 25 elements, and there are 5 elements in all four sets.

7
19. In a survey of of 270 college students, it is found that 64 students like
Brussels sprout, 94 like broccoli, 58 like cauliflower, 26 like both Brus-
sels sprout and broccoli, 28 like both Brussels sprout and cauliflower, 22
like both cauliflower and broccoli, and 14 like all three vegetables. How
many students of the 270 students do not like any of these vegetables.

20. How many terms are there in the formula for the number of elements
in the union of 5 sets given by the PIE?

21. How many permutations of the 26 letters of the English alphabet do

not contain any of the strings fish, rat, and bird ?

22. How many non-negative integer solutions does the following equation
have
x + y + z = 13, where 0 ≤ x, y, z ≤ 6.

23. How many non-negative integer solutions does the following equation
have
x + y + z + t = 18, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 4, 0 ≤ y ≤ 7.

24. How many surjective (onto) functions from a set with 7 elements to a
set with 5 elements.

25. How many ways are there to distribute six different toys to three dif-
ferent children such that each child gets at least one toy.

26. In how many ways can eight distinct balls be distributed into three
distinct urns if each urn must contain at least one ball.

27. How many derangements of [4] are there. List all derangements of [4].

28. A group of 8 students is assigned seats for each of two classes in the
same classroom. How many ways can these seats be assigned if no
student is assigned the same seat for both classes.

29. How many non-negative integers not exceed 100 are there which are
relatively prime with 100?

8
3 Graphs
10.1: 23, 3-6, 9 (Rosen’s textbook, Chapter 10.1)

10.2: 1-6, 16-22, 25, 34, 37-44, 46 (Rosen’s textbook, Chapter 10.2)

10.3: 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 18, 22-28, 39-40 (Rosen’s textbook, Chapter 10.3)

10.4: 1-3, 7-9, 12-14, 21-23, 25, 33, 38, 42, 43 (Rosen’s textbook, Chapter
10.4)

1. Investigate the existence of an Eulerian/Hamiltonian cycle on Cn , Wn , Kn , Km,n , Qn ?

2. Propose an algorithm for finding an Eulerian circuit of a given graph.

What is the complexity of that algorithm?

3. Show that a bipartite graph with an odd number of vertices does not
have a Hamiltonian cycle.

4. A diagnostic message can be sent out over a computer network to per-

form tests over all links and in all devices. What sort of paths should
be used to test

(a) all links?

(b) all devices?

5. Investigate the existence of a Hamiltonian cycle/path on graphs in Ex-

ercises 30-36 (Chapter 10.5, Rosen’s textbook).

6. Investigate the existence of an Eulerian cycle/path on graphs in Exer-

cises 13-14, 18-22 (Chapter 10.5, Rosen’s textbook).

7. Construct a Gray code of n contacts. (Hint. Use mathematical induc-

tion. Show how to produce a Gray code of n contacts from one of n−1).

8. How many faces are there in a tree of n vertices?

9. Can six houses be connected to two utilities without connections cross-

ing?

10. Are Q4 , Q5 , Q6 planar?

9
11. Prove that if G is connected and planar graph, then G has a vertex of
degree not exceeding five.

12. Suppose that a connected planar graph has 20 vertices, each of degree
3. Into how many regions does a representation of this planar graph
split the plane?

13. Is Petersen graph planar?

14. Are K3,4 , K6 planar?

15. Show that any connected triangle-free planar graph, i.e. it has no simple
cycle of length three, has at least one vertex of degree not exceeding
three.

16. Prove by induction on the number of vertices that any connected triangle-
free planar graph is 4-colorable.

10
4 Trees
1. Given the following rooted tree

a c o i

b k g f

h l e m n

p q

(a) Which vertex is the root?

(b) Which vertices are internal?
(c) Which vertices are leaves?
(d) Which vertices are of level 3?
(e) What is the height of the subtree with the root c
(f) List all descendants of the node b
(g) Is the tree balanced?
(h) List all ancestors of q?

2. How many non-isomorphic un-rooted trees are there with 3 vertices?

3. How many non-isomorphic un-rooted tree are there with 4 vertices?

4. How many leaves does a full 3-ary tree with 100 vertices have?

5. Either draw a full m-ary tree with 84 leaves and height 3, where m is
a positive integer, or show that no such tree exists

6. Does there exist a full 4-ary tree with 80 leaves?

7. Does there exists a full m-ary tree with height 4 and 100 leaves?

11
 8. Suppose 1000 people enter a chess tournament. Use a rooted tree model
of the tournament to determine how many games must be played to
determine a champion, if a player is eliminated after one loss and games
are played until only one entrant has not lost. Assume that there are
no ties.

9. How many edges are there in a forest of k trees and n vertices?

10. Draw the tree whose Prufer sequence is (1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 5)

11. Draw the tree whose Prufer sequence is (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3)

12. Draw the tree whose Prufer sequence is (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

13. Given the following labeled trees. Determine their Prufer codes

1 2

9 5 3 8

7 2 3 8 4 7 9 6 10

10 6 4 1 5

14. Determine which trees have Prufer codes that have distinct value in all
positions. How many labeled trees with n vertices are there that their
Prufer codes satisfy this property?

15. How many labeled trees with 6 vertices are there such that its degrees
sequence is

(a) (5, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)?

(b) (4, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1)?
(c) (3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1)?
(d) (2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1)?

16. How many labeled trees with n vertices are there such that the degree
of node labeled by n is equal to k?

12
17. How many labeled rooted forests on n vertices are there?

18. How many labeled rooted forests on n vertices with exactly k compo-
nents are there?

19. Find a spanning tree for each of these graphs: K5 , C5 , K1,6 , K2,3 , Q3

20. Draw all the spanning trees of C5 and determine how many spanning
trees does C5 have? Find its Laplacian, reduced Laplacian matrices.
Check your result by using Matrix-Tree Theorem. How many spanning
trees does Cn have?

21. How many trees are there in the spanning forest of a graph?

22. How many edges must be removed to produce the spanning forest of a
graph with n vertices, m edges, and c connected components?

23. How many different spanning trees does each of these graphs have?

(a) K2,2
(b) Cn
(c) K1,n
(d) Km,n
(e) Q3
(f) Wn

24. Which connected simple graphs have exactly one spanning tree?

25. When must an edge of a connected simple graph be in every spanning

tree for this graph?

26. Prove that if G is a connected, simple graph with n vertices and G does
not contain a simple path of length k, then it contains at most (k − 1)n
edges.

27. Use Matrix-Tree Theorem on the complete graph with n vertices to

reprove Cayley’s Theorem.

13
28. Let G be a graph and v be a cut vertex of G. Assume that cutting vertex
v creates k connected components G1 , G2 , . . . , Gk . Assume that the
complexities of G\ ∪i̸=1 Gi , G\ ∪i̸=2 Gi , . . . , G\ ∪i̸=k Gi are κ1 , κ2 , . . . , κk
respectively. Using Matrix-Tree Theorem to prove that

κ(G) = κ1 κ2 · · · κk .

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