Scribd
Upload
109 views1 page

Permutations and Combinations... : A1. Basic Reviews

There are 5 people (a, b, c, d, e) who need to stand in a portrait in distinct arrangements. The number of possible permutations is calculated as 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120, which is written as "5 factorial" or 5!. In general, the number of permutations of n objects is calculated as n factorial (n!), which is the product of all whole numbers from n down to 1. Examples of calculating factorials for different values of n are shown.

Uploaded by

Ahmed Kasim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
109 views1 page

Permutations and Combinations... : A1. Basic Reviews

There are 5 people (a, b, c, d, e) who need to stand in a portrait in distinct arrangements. The number of possible permutations is calculated as 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120, which is written as "5 factorial" or 5!. In general, the number of permutations of n objects is calculated as n factorial (n!), which is the product of all whole numbers from n down to 1. Examples of calculating factorials for different values of n are shown.

Uploaded by

Ahmed Kasim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Ismor Fischer, 7/21/2010 Appendix / A1.

Basic Reviews / Perms & Combos-1

A1. Basic Reviews


PERMUTATIONS and COMBINATIONS...
or “HOW TO COUNT”

 Question 1: Suppose we wish to arrange n = 5 people {a, b, c, d, e}, standing side by side, for
a portrait. How many such distinct portraits (“permutations”) are possible?

a b c d e
Here, every different ordering
Example:
 counts as a distinct permutation.
For instance,
(a,b,c,d,e) is
(c,e,a,d,b), etc.
the
distinct
ordering
from

Solution: There are 5 possible choices for which person stands in the first position (either a, b, c,
d, or e). For each of these five possibilities, there are 4 possible choices left for who is in the next
position. For each of these four possibilities, there are 3 possible choices left for the next position,
and so on. Therefore, there are 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120 distinct permutations. See Table 1.

This number, 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 (or equivalently, 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5), is denoted by the symbol “5!”


and read “5 factorial”, so we can write the answer succinctly as 5! = 120.

In general,

FACT 1: The number of distinct PERMUTATIONS of n objects is “n factorial”, denoted by


FACT 1: The number of distinct PERMUTATIONS of n objects is "n factorial", denoted by
n! = 1 × 2 × 3 × ... × n,
n! or 1 × 2 × 3 × ... × n, or equivalently,
= equivalently,
= n × (n-1) × (n-2) × ...=× n2 ×× (n
1. − 1) × (n − 2) × ... × 2 × 1.

Examples: 6! = 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1

= 6× 5!

= 6× 120 (by previous calculation)


= 720

3! = 3 × 2 × 1 = 6

2! = 2 × 1 = 2

1! = 1

0! = 1, BY CONVENTION (It may not be obvious why, but there are good
mathematical reasons for it.)

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy