Permutations

Warm Up – Find the Mean

and the Standard Deviation.
Warm Up – Find the Mean
and Standard Deviation
Objective
 Find Sample Space
using
Permutations and
Combinations
 Relevance
 Learn various methods of
finding out how many
possible outcomes of a
probability experiment are
possible.
 Use this information to find

probability.
Definition……
 Permutation – an arrangement of objects in a specific order.

Order Matters!
Example……
 How many ways can  Answer:
you arrange 3
people for a picture?
3  2 1  6
 Note: You are using
all 3 people
Factorial……
 This is the same as  Using the previous
using a factorial: example:

n! n(n  1)(n  2).....1

3! 3(3  1)(3  2)

3! 3  2 1  6
Factorial can be found on our
graphing calculator……
 Example: Find 5!

 Calculator Steps:
a. 5
b. Math
c. Prb
d. 4:!
e. Enter
Example……
 Suppose a business  Answer:
owner has a choice of 5
locations in which to
establish her business.
5! 5  4  3  2 1  120
She decides to rank
them from best to least
according to certain  Note: She ranked ALL
criteria. How many 5 locations.
different ways can she
rank them?
 What if she only  Answer:
wanted to rank the
top 3? 5  4  3  60
 This is no longer a
factorial problem
because you don’t
rank ALL of them.
 Permutation Rule……
where n = total # of
n!
n Pr 
objects and r = how
many you need.
(n  r )!
“n objects taken r at a
time”
 Remember the  This is a
business woman permutation:
who only wanted to
rank the top 3 out of
5 places?
5! 5! 120
5 P3     60
5  4  3  60 (5  3)! 2! 2
Permutations can be found on
the graphing calculator……
 Example: Find 5 P3

 Calculator Steps:
 5
 Math
 Prb
 2:nPr
 3
 Enter
Example……
 A TV news director  Answer:
wishes to use 3
news stories on the
evening news. She
wants the top 3 8 P3  336
news stories out of
8 possible. How
many ways can the
program be set up?
Example……
 How many ways can  Answer:
a chairperson and
an assistant be
selected for a
project if there are 7 7 P2  42
scientists available?
Example……
 How many different  Answer:
ways can I arrange
3 box cars selected
from 8 to make a
train? 8 P3  336
Example……
 How many ways can  Answer:
4 books be arranged
on a shelf if they
can be selected from
9 books? 9 P4  3024
A factorial is also a
permutation……
 How many ways can  You can do 4! or
4 books be arranged you can set it up as
on a shelf? a permutation.

Answer:

4 P4  24
Note……

 0! = 1
and
1! = 1
Order Words……
 How many ways can I
 Listen
 Sing
 Read
 1st/2nd/etc
 Pres/Vice-Pres
 Chair/Assistant
 Eat
Special Permutation when
letters must repeat……
 Example: How many permutations of
the word seem can be made?
 Since there are 4 letters, the total
possible ways is 4! IF each “e” is
labeled differently. Also, there are 2!
Ways to permute e1e2. But, since they
are indistinguishable, these duplicates
must be eliminated by dividing by 2!.
 How many  Answer:
permutations of the
word seem can be 4!
made?  12
2!
This leads to another permutation
rule when some things repeat……

n!
n Pr 
k1!k 2 !k3!...k p !

 It reads: the # of permutations of n

objects in which k1 are alike, k2 are
alike, etc.
Example……
 Find the permutations  Answer:
of the word
Mississippi.
11!
 34650
 Number of Letters (1!4!4!2!)
 11 – Total Letters
 1–M
 4–I
 You can eliminate the
 4–S 1!’s because they are
 2-P equal to 1.
Combinations
Definition……
 Combination – a selection of “n”
objects without regard to order.

Order Does NOT Matter!

Let’s compare ABCD – Find permutations
of 2 and combinations of 2.
 Permutations of 2:  Combinations of 2:

AB CA AB
AC CB AC
AD CD AD
BA DA BC
BC DB BD
BD DC CD
 Note: AB is NOT the  Note: AB is the same
same as BA. as BA
 When different orderings of the
same items are counted
separately, we have a permutation
problem, but when different
orderings of the same items are
not counted separately, we have a
combination problem.
Combination Rule……

n!
C
n r 
(n  r )!r!

 Read: “n” objects taken “r” at a time.

Example……
 How many  Answer:
combinations of 4
objects are there, 4 C2 
4!

4! 12
 6
taken 2 at a time? (4  2)!2! 2!2! 2
Combinations: There is a key on
the graphing calculator…… 4 C2
 Find

 Calculator Steps:
 4
 Math
 Prb
 3: nCr
 2
 Enter
Example……
To survey opinions  Answer:
of customers at local
malls, a researcher
decides to select 5
C
12 5  792
from 12. How many
ways can this be
done?
Why is order is not
important?
Example……
 A bike shop owner has  Answer:
11 mountain bikes in
the showroom. He
wishes to select 5 to
display at a show. How
C
11 5  462
many ways can a group
of 5 be selected?

Note: He is NOT
interested in a specific
order.
Example……
 In a club there are 7  Answer:
women and 5 men. A
committee of 3 women
7 C3 5 C 2  35 10  350
and 2 men is to be
chosen. How many
different possibilities are
there?
 The “and” indicates that
you must use the
multiplication rule along
with the combination
rule.
Example……
 In a club with 7 women and  Now you must use
5 men, select a committee of
5 with at least 3 women. the multiplication
rule as well as the
addition rule.
 This means you have 3
possibilities:
 3W,2M or  The reason for this
 4W,1M or is you are using
 5W,0M
“and” and “or.”
Answer……
 3W,2M: 7 C3  5 C 2  350

 4W,1M: 7 C 4  5 C1  175

 5W,0M: C5  5 C 0  21
7

Add the totals: 350 + 175 + 21 = 546

Example……
 In a club with 7 women and  Use the
5 men, select a committee of
5 with at most 2 women. multiplication rule
and the addition
rule.
 This means you have 3
possibilities:
 0W,5M or  First you multiply,
 1W,4M or then you add.
 2W,3M
Answer……

 0W,5M: 7 C 0  5 C5  1 1  1

 1W,4M:
7 C1  5 C 4  7  5  35

 2W,3M:
7 C 2  5 C3  21 10  210
 Add the totals: 1 + 35 + 210 = 246