ESSENTIAL STATISTICS 2E

William Navidi and Barry Monk

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 Counting

Section 4.4

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 Objectives
1. Count the number of ways a sequence of operations can be
performed
2. Count the number of permutations
3. Count the number of combinations

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 Objective 1
Count the number of ways a sequence of
operations can be performed

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 The Fundamental Principle of Counting
If an operation can be performed in ways, and a second operation
can be performed in ways, then the total number of ways to
perform the sequence of two operations is . In general, if a
sequence of several operations is to be performed, the number of
ways to perform the sequence is found by multiplying together the
numbers of ways to perform each of the operations.
Example:
A certain make of automobile is available in any of
three colors: red, blue, or green, and comes with
either a large or small engine. In how many ways
can a buyer choose a car?

There are 3 choices of color and 2 choices of engine. The total number
of choices is 32 = 6.
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 Example: Fundamental Principle of Counting
License plates in a certain state contain three letters followed
by three digits. How many different license plates can be made?

Solution:
There are six operations in all; choosing three letters and
choosing three digits. There are 26 ways to choose each letter
and 10 ways to choose each digit. The total number of license
plates is therefore 262626101010 = 17,576,000.

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 Objective 2
Count the number of permutations

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 Permutations
The word permutation is another word for ordering. When
we count the number of permutations, we are counting the
number of different ways that a group of items can be ordered.

The number of permutations of objects is !

Recall that ! = 1 3(2)(1)

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 Example: Permutations
Five runners run a race. One of them will finish first, another will finish
second, and so on. In how many different orders can they finish?

The number of different orders the runners can finish is 5! = 54321 = 120.

Ten runners run a race. The first-place finisher will win a gold medal, the
second-place finisher will win a silver medal, and the third-place finisher will
win a bronze medal. In how many different ways can the medals be awarded?

We use the Fundamental Principle of Counting. There are 10 possible choices

for the gold medal winner. Once the gold medal winner is determined, there
are nine remaining choices for the silver medal. Finally, there are eight
choices for the bronze medal. The total number of ways the medals can be
awarded is 1098 = 720.

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 Permutation of Objects Chosen from
In the last example, three runners were chosen from a group of ten,
then ordered as first, second, and third. This is referred to as a
permutation of three items chosen from ten.

In general, a permutation of items chosen from items is an

ordering of the items. It is obtained by choosing items from a
group of items, then choosing an order for the items. The
number of permutations of items chosen from is denoted .

The number of permutations of objects chosen from is

!

= + = .
!

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 Example: Permutation of Objects from
Five lifeguards are available for duty one Saturday afternoon.
There are three lifeguard stations. In how many ways can
three lifeguards be chosen and ordered among the stations?

Solution:
We are choosing three items from a group of five and
ordering them. The number of ways to do this is

5! 5! 5 4 3 2 1
53 = = = = 5 4 3 = 60
(5 3)! 2! 21

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 Objective 3
Count the number of combinations

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 Combinations
In some cases, when choosing a set of objects from a larger set,
we dont care about the ordering of the chosen objects; we
care only which objects are chosen. For example, we may not
care which lifeguard occupies which station; we might care only
which three lifeguards are chosen. Each distinct group of
objects that can be selected, without regard to order, is called a
combination.

The number of combinations of objects chosen from is

!
= .
! !

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 Example: Combination
At a certain event, 30 people attend, and 5 will be chosen at
random to receive prizes. The prizes are all the same, so the
order in which the people are chosen does not matter. How
many different groups of 5 people can be chosen?

Solution:
Since the order of the 5 chosen people does not matter, we
need to compute the number of combinations of 5 chosen
from 30.
30! 30 29 28 27 26
30C5 = = = 142,506
5! (30 5)! 54321

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 Permutations and Combinations on the TI-84
Calculator commands for permutations
and combinations are accessed by pressing
MATH and scrolling to the PRB menu.

The format for entering these commands is to enter the value

of into the calculator, select either nPr (permutations) or nCr
(combinations) from the PRB menu, and then enter the value
of . To run the command, press Enter.

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 Example: Counting in a Probability
A box of lightbulbs contains eight good lightbulbs and two burned-out bulbs.
Four bulbs will be selected at random to put into a new lamp. What is the
probability that all four bulbs are good?

Solution:
The outcomes in the sample space consist of all the combinations of four
10! 3,628,800
bulbs that can be chosen from 10.
10 4 = = = 210.
4! 104 ! 24720

The number of outcomes that correspond to selecting four good bulbs is the
number of combinations of four bulbs that can be chosen from eight.
8! 40,320
84 = 4! 84 !
=
2424
= 70.

70 1
(Four good bulbs are selected) = = .
210 3

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 You Should Know . . .
How to use the Fundamental Principle of Counting
How to count the number of permutations of objects
How to count the number of permutations of objects
chosen from
How to count the number of combinations of objects
chosen from
How to compute permutations and combinations in the
TI-84 PLUS calculator
How to compute probabilities using permutations and
combinations

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