Combinations

A Combination is an arrangement
of items in which order does not
matter.
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER!
Since the order does not matter in
combinations, there are fewer combinations
than permutations. The combinations are a
"subset" of the permutations.
 Combinations
HEPHEP – HOORAY

Study the following situations. Identify which

situation does not need order. Say HEPHEP if the
situation needs order, otherwise HOORAY.

1. Picking a team captain, pitcher, and shortstop

from a group.
HEPHEP
 Combinations
HEPHEP – HOORAY

Study the following situations. Identify which

situation does not need order. Say HEPHEP if the
situation needs order, otherwise HOORAY.

2. Picking two colors from a color brochure.

HOORAY
 Combinations
HEPHEP – HOORAY
Study the following situations. Identify which
situation does not need order. Say HEPHEP if the
situation needs order, otherwise HOORAY.

3. Picking first, second and third place winners.

HEPHEP
 Combinations
HEPHEP – HOORAY
Study the following situations. Identify which
situation does not need order. Say HEPHEP if the
situation needs order, otherwise HOORAY.

4. Choosing 3 desserts from a menu of 10.

HOORAY
 Combinations
HEPHEP – HOORAY
Study the following situations. Identify which
situation does not need order. Say HEPHEP if the
situation needs order, otherwise HOORAY.

5. Listing your 3 favorite desserts, in order, from a menu

of 10.
HEPHEP
 Combinations
If your school canteen offers pork, beef, chicken,
and fish for main dish, chopsuey, pinakbet, and black
beans for vegetable dishes, banana and pineapple for
dessert, and tea, juice, and soft drinks for beverage
in how many ways can you choose your meal consisting
of 1 cup of rice, 1 main dish, 1 vegetable dish, 1
beverage, and 1 dessert?

a. How did you find the number of ways in

choosing your meal?
 Combinations
If your school canteen offers pork, beef, chicken,
and fish for main dish, chopsuey, pinakbet, and black
beans for vegetable dishes, banana and pineapple for
dessert, and tea, juice, and soft drinks for beverage
in how many ways can you choose your meal consisting
of 1 cup of rice, 1 main dish, 1 vegetable dish, 1
beverage, and 1 dessert?

b. What mathematics concepts or principles did

you apply?
 Combinations
If your school canteen offers pork, beef, chicken,
and fish for main dish, chopsuey, pinakbet, and black
beans for vegetable dishes, banana and pineapple for
dessert, and tea, juice, and soft drinks for beverage
in how many ways can you choose your meal consisting
of 1 cup of rice, 1 main dish, 1 vegetable dish, 1
beverage, and 1 dessert?

c. How did you apply these concepts or

principles?
 Combinations
If your school canteen offers pork, beef, chicken,
and fish for main dish, chopsuey, pinakbet, and black
beans for vegetable dishes, banana and pineapple for
dessert, and tea, juice, and soft drinks for beverage
in how many ways can you choose your meal consisting
of 1 cup of rice, 1 main dish, 1 vegetable dish, 1
beverage, and 1 dessert?

d. Does the situation above illustrate

permutations or not? Why?
 Combinations
Suppose now, that you are asked to form different triangles out of
4 points plotted, say, A, B, C, and D, of which no three are
collinear. We can see that ABC is the same as BCA and CBA. In
the same manner, BCD is the same as CBD and DBC. This is
another illustration of combination. The different triangles that can
be formed are ABC, ABD, BCD,
And CDA. Thus, there are 4
combinations.
 Combinations
Practice:

A student must answer 3 out of 5

essay questions on a test. In how
many different ways can the
student select the questions?

Answer Now
 Combinations
Practice:
A basketball team consists of two
centers, five forwards, and four
guards. In how many ways can the
coach select a starting line up of
one center, two forwards, and two
guards?
Answer Now
 Combinations
Practice: A basketball team consists of two centers, five forwards,
and four guards. In how many ways can the coach select a
starting line up of one center, two forwards, and two
guards?
Center: Forwards: Guards:
2! 5! 5 * 4 4! 4 * 3
2 C1  25 2
C    10 4 C2   6
1!1! 2!3! 2 * 1 2!2! 2 * 1

2 C1 * 5 C 2 * 4 C 2

Thus, the number of ways to select the

starting line up is 2*10*6 = 120.
 Combinations
Situation:
There are 12 boys and 14 girls in
Mrs. Dela Cruz’s math class. Find
the number of ways Mrs. Dela
Cruz can select a team of 3
students from the class to work
on a group project. The team is to
consist of 1 girl and 2 boys.
 Combinations
Solve the following:
1.To play a particular card game, each player is
dealt five cards from a standard deck of 52 cards.
How many different hands are possible?
2. In how many ways can you select 6 students to
be seated in a row of 5 seats?
3. How many different 3-member committees can
be selected from a class of 20 students?
4. A cookie jar contains 5 cookies. How many ways
can a child choose all 5 cookies if order doesn’t
matter?
 Combinations
Answer the following question given the situation:
DAMATH is a board game that incorporates
mathematical skills in the Filipino game DAMA. In a school
DAMATH tournament, there are 28 participants who are
divided into 7 groups. Each participant plays against each
member of his group in the eliminations. The winner in each
group advances to the semi- finals where they again
compete with each other. The 5 players with the most
number of wins proceed to the final round and play against
each other. Assume that there are no ties.
 Combinations
a. What is the total number of games to be played
in the elimination?
b. How many matches will be played in the final
round?
c. In how many possible ways can the top 5 in the
semi-finals come up?
d. In how many possible ways can the 1st, 2nd, and
3rd placer be declared in
the final round?
e. How many matches will be played altogether
 Combinations

To find the number of Combinations of

n items chosen r at a time, you can use
the formula
n!
C  where 0  r  n .
n r r! ( n  r )!
 Evaluation
Answer the following questions completely.

1. Jones is the Chairman of a committee. In how

many ways can a committee of 5 be chosen from 10
people given that Jones must be one of them?
2. In a party of 10 people, each person shakes
hands with every other person. How many possible
combinations of handshakes can be made?

Find the unknown in each item.

1. C(8, 3) = ___ 2. C(4, 4) = ___ 3. C(5, 4) =___