PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS

(A) Fundamental Principle of Counting

1. In a class there are 21 boys & 19 girls. The teacher wants to select 1 boy & 1 girl
as class representatives. In how many ways can this selection be made?(Ans:399)
2. How many numbers are there between 100 & 1000 in which all the digits are
distinct if we are to use digits 0, 3, 5, 7 & 9? (Ans : 48)
3. Five coins are tossed simultaneously. In how many ways can they fall? (Ans : 32)
4. In how many ways can 5 women draw water from 5 taps if no tap remains
unused? (Ans : 120)
5. A team consists of 6 boys & 4 girls and the other team has 5 boys & 3 girls. How
many single matches can be arranged between the two teams, when a boy plays
against a boy & a girl plays against a girl? (Ans : 42)
6. A man forgets a 4-digit code for an ATM in a bank. However, he remembers that
this code consists of digits 3, 5, 6 & 9. Find the largest possible number of trials
required to obtain the correct code. (Ans : 24)
7. For a set of 6 true or false questions, no student has written all the correct
answers and no two students have written the same sequence of answers. What
is the maximum number of students in the class for this to be possible?(Ans:63)
8. How many automobile license plates can be made if the inscription on each
contains two different letters followed by three different digits. (Ans:468000)
9. In how many ways can 4 different prizes be awarded among 6 students, so that a
student may receive
(a) At most one prize? (b) Any number of prizes? [Ans : (a) 360 (b) 1296]
10. From the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 how many 3-digit even numbers can be formed
when the repetition of digits is
(a) Allowed? (b) Not allowed? [Ans : (a) 108 (b) 60]
11. How many natural numbers from 1 to 1000 have no digits repeated?(Ans:738)
12. How many natural numbers not exceeding 4321 can be formed with the digits 1,
2, 3 & 4 if the digits can repeat? (Ans : 313)
 (B) Factorial Notation

1. Evaluate (i) 7! (ii) 9!⁄4! 5! [Ans : (i) 5040 (ii) 126]

2. Show that 12!⁄6! = [Link].9.11.26.
3. Prove that 2𝑛!⁄𝑛! = 1.3.5……(2n-1)2n.
4. Evaluate 𝑛!⁄(𝑛 − 𝑟)! when n = 10 & r = 4. [Ans : (i) 5040]
5. Find n if (n+1)! = 12 (n-1)! [Ans : 3]
6. Find n if (n+2)! = 60 (n-1)! [Ans : 3]
7. Show that n! (n+2) = n! + (n+1)!
8. Find the LCM & HCF of 10!, 12! & 17! [Ans : 17! & 10!]
𝑛! 2.𝑛!
9. If 2!.(𝑛−2)! = , find n. [Ans : 5]
4!.(𝑛−4)!
2𝑥! 𝑥!
10. If n Є N, solve the equation : = 44:3. [Ans : 6]
3!.(2𝑥−3)! 2!.(𝑥−2)!
(𝑥+2)! (2𝑥+1)!
11. If n Є N, solve the equation (2𝑥−1)!
X (𝑥+3)! = 72/7. [Ans : 4]
𝑛! 𝑛! (𝑛+1)!
12. Show that 𝑟!.(𝑛−𝑟)! + =
(𝑟−1)!.(𝑛−𝑟+1)! 𝑟!.(𝑛−𝑟+1)!

(C) Permutations
1. Evaluate : (i) 𝑃 3 7
(ii) 20
𝑃 16 [Ans : (i) 210 (ii) 116280]
2. Find n if 16 𝑃3 = 13.
𝑛 𝑛+1
𝑃3 [Ans : 15]
3. Find n if 𝑛𝑃5 = 42 𝑛𝑃3 [Ans : 10]
4. Find n if 𝑃n+1 :
10 11
𝑃 n = 30 : 11. [Ans : 5]
5. Find n if 𝑛−1
𝑃3 : 𝑛+1
𝑃3 = 5 : 12. [Ans : 8]
6. In how many ways can the letters of the following words be arranged:
(i) ROHAN (ii) PERSONAL? [Ans : (i) 120 (ii) 40320]
7. Three married couples are to be seated in a row having 6 seats in a cinema hall.
If spouses are to be seated next to each other, in how many ways can they be
seated? [Ans : 48]
8. How many words can be made out of the letters of the word TRIANGLE? How
many of these :
(i) Begin with T?
(ii) Begin with T & end with E?
(iii) T & E occupy the end places? [Ans : (i) 5040 (ii) 720 (iii) 1440]
9. In how many ways can the letters of the word FRACTION be arranged if
(i) Vowels occupy odd places only.
(ii) Vowels are always together.
(iii) F& N are placed at the extreme places only.
(iv) No two vowels are together. [Ans : (i) 2880 (ii) 4320 (iii) 14400 (iv) 2400]
10. How many signals can be given with 6 flags of different colours such that :
(i) 3 flags are used for a signal.
(ii) At most three flags are used for a signal.
(iii) At least three flags are used for a signal.
(iv) Any number of flags are used. [Ans : (i) 120 (ii) 156 (iii) 1920 (iv) 1956 ]
11. How many different numbers between 100 & 1000 can be formed using the
digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 assuming that in any number, the digits are not repeated?
How many of these will be divisible by 5? [Ans : 180, 55]
12. How many 3-digit numbers have at least one of the digits ‘6’ [Ans : 252]
13. In an examination hall, there are 4 rows of chairs. Each row has 8 chairs one
behind the other. There are two classes sitting for the examination with 16
students in each class. In each row all students belong to the same class and no
two adjacent rows are allotted to the same class. In how many ways can these 32
students be seated? [Ans : 2(16!)2]
14. Anu wants to arrange 4 English, 3 Maths & 2 Physics books on a shelf. If the
books on the same subject are different, determine (i) the number of all
possible arrangements? (ii) Arrangements if the books on the same subject are
to be kept together? [Ans : (i) 362880 (ii) 1728]
15. Find the number of permutations of8 things taking 5 at a time in which two
particular things are always (i) included (ii) excluded? [Ans (i) 2400 (ii) 720]
16. If the letters of the word are arranged as in dictionary, find the rank of the
following words :
(i) FAST (ii) MOTHER (iii) RANDOM [Ans : (i) 7 (ii) 309 (iii) 614]
17. How many arrangements can be made by using the letters of the word
MATHEMATICS? In how many of them the vowels occur together?
[Ans : 4989600, 120960]
18. How many numbers greater than a million can be formed by using the digits 4, 6,
0, 6, 7, 4, 6? [Ans : 360]
19. Find the number of different words which can be formed by using all the letters
of the word ‘INSTITUTION’. In how many of these : (i) the 3 T’s are together?
(ii) the first two letters are the two N’s? [Ans : 554400, (i) 30240 (ii) 10080]
20. If the letters of the word are arranged as in dictionary, find the rank of the
following words : (i) INDIA (ii) SMALL [Ans : (i) 46 (ii) 58]
21. If all the permutations of the letters of the word AGAIN are arranged as in a
dictionary, what are the 25th & 49th words? [Ans : GAAIN, NAAGI]
22. 6 men & 4 ladies are to dine at a round table. In how many ways can they sit so
that no two ladies are together? [Ans : 43200]
23. In how many ways 11 members of a committee sit at a round table so that the
secretary & the joint secretary are always the neighbours of the president?
[Ans : 80640]
24. A boy has 3 pockets & 6 marbles. In how many ways can he put the marbles
in his pockets? [Ans : 729]
25. How many natural numbers less than 10000 can be formed from the digits
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 when a digit may be repeated any number of times. [ Ans : 1295]

(D) COMBINATIONS

1. Evaluate 7
𝐶 3, 20
𝐶 18 , 45
𝐶 44 . [Ans : 35, 190, 45]
2. If 𝐶 8 = 𝐶 9, then find 𝐶 3.
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
[Ans : 680]
3. Prove that 𝐶 r + 𝐶 r-1 =𝑛 𝑛 𝑛+1
𝐶r .
4. Evaluate: 40
𝐶3 + 40
𝐶4 + 41
𝐶5 + 42
𝐶6 . [Ans : 𝐶 6]
43

5. If 𝑛
𝐶4 , 𝑛
𝐶5 , 𝑛
𝐶 6 are in A.P., then find n. [Ans : 7, 14]
6. If 𝑛
𝐶r : 𝑛
𝐶 r+1 ∶ 𝑛
𝐶 r+2 = 1 : 2 : 3 , find n & r. [Ans : 14, 4]
7. In how many ways can a team of 11 be selected out of 16 players? [Ans : 4368]
8. From a class if 25 boys, 10 are to be chosen for an excursion party. 3 boys
decide that either all of them will join or none of them will join. In how many
ways can 10 boys be chosen? [Ans : 817190]
9. In how many ways can a committee of 3 ladies and 4 gentlemen be appointed
from a group of 8 ladies & 7 gentlemen? What will be the number of ways if Mrs.
X refuses to serve in a committee in which Mr. Y is a member? [Ans: 1960, 1540]
10. A committee of 5 is to be selected from 6 boys & 5 girls. Find the number of
ways can it be done at least 1 boy & at least 1 girl is to be selected. [Ans : 455]
11. In how many ways 5 red balls & 8 white balls are arranged in a row so that no
two red balls are together. [Ans : 126]
12. A man has 7 friends. In how many ways can he invite one or more to a party?
[Ans : 127]
13. How many words, each of 3 vowels & 2 consonants can be formed from the
letters of the word INVOLUTE? [Ans : 2880]
14. Find the number of diagonals that can be drawn by joining the angular points of
an octagon. [Ans: 20]
15. A polygon has 44 diagonals. Find the number of its sides. [Ans: 11]
16. How many (i) triangles (ii) straight lines can be formed by joining 12 points, 7 of
which are collinear? [Ans: 185, 46]
17. What is the number of ways of choosing 4 cards from a pack of 52 playing cards
if:
(a) 4 cards are of same suit?
(b) 4 cards belong to 4 different suits?
(c) 4 cards are face cards?
(d) 4 cards are of the same colour?
(e) 2 red & 2 black cards? [Ans: (a) 2860 (b) (13)4 (c) 495 (d) 29900 (e) 105625]
18. A student has to answer 10 questions, choosing at least 4 from each of Part A &
Part B. There are 6 questions in Part A and 7 in Part B. In how many ways can he
choose 10 questions? [Ans: 266]
19. There are 10 persons in a party and each two of them shake hands with each
other, how many handshakes happen in the party? [Ans: 45]
20. How many words containing 4 consonants & 3 vowels can be formed from 6
consonants & 5 vowels? [Ans: 756000]