Permutation,

Combination and
Probability
ENGR. Mark G. Barlao, ECT
 Fundamental Counting
Principle
Also called the “counting rule” is a way to figure
out the number of outcomes in a probability
problem. Basically, you multiply the events
together to get the total number of outcomes.
 PERMUTATION
 Permutation refers to an arrangement of objects in a
definite order.
 Examples: positions in a race, positions in the
government ( pres,vice pres, secretary and so on)
 The permutation of n different things taken r at a time is :
P(n,r)= n!/(n-r)!
Sa Calculator : SHIFT plus [X] button
 COMBINATION
 Combination refers to a collection of objects without
regard to sequence or order in which they were chosen.
 Examples : getting a committee of people in a group
 The combination of n object things taken r at a time is :
C(n,r) = n!/((n-r)!r!)
Sa Calculator : SHIFT plus [divide] button
Important things to remember:

 + sign indicates “or” or “Union”

 X or multiply indicates “and”
 PROBABILITY
 Probability is the likelihood that an event will occur
expressed as the ratio of the number of favorable
outcomes divided by the total number of possible
outcomes.
 p=success, q=fail , then p+q=1
 Probability= number of favorable ways over total
number of ways
Examples :

 1. How many permutations can be made out of the

letters in the word ISLAND taking four letters at a time ?

ANSWER : 360
Problem no. 2

How many 4 digit numbers can be formed without

repeating any digit, from the following digits 1, 2, 3, 4
and 6.

ANSWER: 120
 Problem No. 3

 How many permutations can be made out of the letters

of the word ENGINEERING?

ANSWER: 277, 200

Problem No. 4

 How many ways can 3 men and 4 women be seated on

a bench if the women are to be together?

ANSWER: 576
Problem No. 5

 In how many ways can 5 people line up to pay their

electric bills?

ANSWER: 120
Problem No. 6

 In how many ways can 5 people line up to pay their

electric bills if two particular persons refuse to follow
each other?

ANSWER: 72
Problem No. 7

 How many ways can 7 people be seated at a round

table?

ANSWER: 720
Problem No. 8

 In how many relative orders can we seat 7 people at a

round table with a certain 3 people side by side ?

ANSWER: 144
Problem No. 9

 In how many ways can we seat 7 people in a round

table with a certain 3 people not in consecutive order?

ANSWER: 576
Problem No. 10

 The captain of a baseball team assigns himself to the 4th

place in the batting order. In how many ways can he
assign the remaining places to his eight teammates if just
three men are eligible for the first position?

ANSWER: 15120
Problem No. 11

 In how many ways can IECEP chapter with 15 directors

choose a president, a vice president, a secretary, a
treasurer, and an auditor, if no member can hold more
than one position?

ANSWER: 360360
Problem No. 12

 How many ways can a committee of five may be

selected from an organization with 35 members?

ANSWER: 324632
Problem No. 13

 How many line segments can be formed by 13 distinct

point?

ANSWER: 78
Problem No. 14

 In how many ways can a hostess select six luncheon

guests from 10 women if she is to avoid having a
particular two of them together at the luncheon?

ANSWER: 140
Problem No. 15

 A semiconductor company will hire 7 men and 4

women. In how many ways can the company choose
from 9 men and 6 women who qualified for the position?

ANSWER: 540
Problem No. 16

 How many ways can you invite one or more of five

friends to a party?

ANSWER: 31
Problem No. 17

 A bag contains 4 red balls, 3 green balls, and 5 blue

balls. The probability of not getting a red ball in the first
draw is :

ANSWER: 2/3
Problem No. 18

 Which of the following cannot be a probability?

A.1
B.0
C.1/e
D.0.434343
Problem No. 19

 A bag contains 3 white and 5 black balls. If two balls are

drawn in succession without replacement, what is the
probability that both balls are black?

ANSWER : 5/14
Problem No. 20

 A bag contains 3 white and 5 red balls. If two balls are

drawn at random, find the probability that both are
white .

ANSWER: 3/28
Problem No. 21

 In problem 20, find the probability that one ball is white

and the other is red.

ANSWER: 15/28
Problem No. 22

 In Problem 20 , find the probability that all are of the

same color.

ANSWER: 13/28
Problem No. 23

 The probability that both stages of a two-stages rocket

to function correctly is 0.92. The reliability of the second
stage is:

ANSWER: 0.948
Problem No. 24

 Ricky and George each throw two dice. If Ricky gets a

sum of 4, what is the probability that George will get
less?

ANSWER: 1/12
Problem No. 25

 Two fair dice are thrown. What is the probability that the
sum shown on the dice is divisible by 5?

ANSWER: 7/36
Problem No. 26

 An urn contains 4 black balls and 6 white balls. Whats is

the probability of getting one black ball and one white
ball in two consecutive draws from the urn?

Answer: 0.53
 Problem No. 27

 If three balls are drawn in succession from 5 white and 6

black balls in a bag, find the probability that all are one
color, if the first ball is replaced immediately while the
second is not replaced before the third draw.

ANSWER: 28/121
 Problem No. 28

 A first bag contains 5 white balls and 10 black balls and

a second bag contains 20 white and 10 black ball. The
experiment consists of selecting a bag and the drawing
a ball from the selected bag. Find the probability of
drawing a white ball.

ANSWER:1/2
Problem No. 29

 In problem 28, find the probability of drawing a white

ball from the first bag.

ANSWER: 1/6
Problem No. 30

 If seven coins are tossed simultaneously, find the

probability that they will just have three heads.

ANSWER: 35/ 128

Problem No. 31

 If seven coins are tossed simultaneously, find the

probability that there will be at least six tails.

ANSWER: 1/16
Problem No. 32

 A face of a coin is either head or tail. If three coins are

tossed, what is the probability of getting three tails?

ANSWER: 1/8
Problem No. 33

 The face of a coin is either head or tail. If three coins are

tossed, what is the probability of getting three tails or
three heads?

ANSWER: 1/4
Problem No. 34

 Five fair coins were tossed simultaneously. What is the

probability of getting three heads and two tails?

ANSWER: 1/32
Problem No. 35

 Throw a fair coin five times. What is the probability of

getting three heads and two tails?

ANSWER: 5/16
Problem No. 36

 The probability of getting a credit in an examination is

1/3. If three students are selected at random, what is the
probability that at least one of them got a credit?

ANSWER: 19/27
Problem No. 37

 There are three short questions in mathematics test. For

each question, one (1) mark will be awarded for a
correct answer and no mark for a wrong answer. If the
probability that Mary correctly answers a question in a
test is 2/3, determine the probability that Mary gets two
marks.

ANSWER: 4/9
Problem No. 38

 A marksman hits 75% of all his targets. What is the

probability that he will exactly 4 of his next 10 shots?

ANSWER: 0.01622
Problem No. 39

 A two-digit number is chosen randomly. What is the

probability that it is devided by 7?

ANSWER: 13/90
Problem No. 40

 One box contains four cards numbered 1, 3, 5, and 6.

Another box contains three cards numbered 2, 4, and 7.
One card is drawn from each bag. Find the probability
that the sum is even.

ANSWER: 5/12
Problem No. 41

 Two people are chosen randomly from 4 married

couples. What is the probability that they are husband
and wife?

ANSWER: 1/7
Problem No. 42

 One letter is taken from each of the words PARALLEL

and LEVEL at random. What is the probability of getting
the same letter?

ANSWER: 1/5
Problem No. 43

 In a shooting game, the probabilities that Botoy and

Toto will hit a target is 2/3 and ¾ respectively. What is the
probability that the target is hit when both shoot at it
once?

ANSWER: 11/12
Problem No. 44

 A standard deck of 52 playing cards is well shuffled. The

probability that the first four cards dealth from the deck
will be the four aces is closest to:

ANSWER: 4X10^-6
Problem No. 45

 A card is chosen from a pack of playing cards. What is

the probability that it is either red or a picture card?

ANSWER: 8/13
Problem No. 46

 In a poker game consisting of 5 cards, what is the

probability of holding 2 aces and 2 Queens?

ANSWER: 33/54145
Problem No.47

 Dennis Rodman sinks 50% of all his attempts. What is the

probability that he will make exactly 3 of his next 10
attempts?

ANSWER: 15/128
Problem No. 48

 There are 10 detectives per 1000 items of a product in a

long run. What is the probability that there is one and
only one detective in a random lot of 100

ANSWER: 0.3697
Problem No. 49

 The UN forces for Bosnia uses a type of missile that hits

the target with a probability of 0.3. How many missiles
should be fired so that there is at least an 80% probability
of hitting the target?

ANSWER: 5
Problem No. 50

 In a dice game, one fair dice is used. The player wins

P20.00 if he rolls either 1 or 6. He loses P10.00 if he turns
up any other face. What is the expected winning for one
roll of the die?

ANSWER: P0.00