Combinations &

Permutations
Essentials: Permutations & Combinations
(So that’s how we determine the number of possible samples!)

 Definitions: Permutation; Factorial; Combination.

 What a Factorial is and how to use it.

 Ability to determine the number of permutations or

combinations resulting from a stated situation.

 Extras here: Tree diagrams & the multiplication rule.

Factorials
 The Factorial of a number is the multiplication of that
number by every smaller number down to 1.

 The Factorial Notation is n!, where n represents the

number and the “!” indicates the factorial process.

 Note the following: By definition 0! = 1

 Example: 8! = 8 * 7 *6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 *1 = 40,320
Permutations
 A Permutation is an arrangement of n objects
in a specific order using r objects at a time.

n!
n Pr 
(n  r )!
Permutations: Examples
 Example: A news program n!
has time to present 2 of four n Pr 
available news stories. How (n  r )!
many ways can the evening
4!
n P2 
news be set up?
(4  2)!
4 * 3 * 2 *1
4 P2 
Checking the process:
If we let A, B, C, D represent the four
shows, then the possible show
2 *1
orders would be:
AB BA CA DA 24
4 P2   12
AC BC CB DB
AD BD CD DC
2
Twelve (12) possible presentations
where order matters.
Combinations
 A combination is the selection of r objects
from n objects without regard to order.

n!
n Cr 
(n  r )! r!
 Combinations: Examples
 Example: A news program has time n!
to present 2 of four available news n Cr 
(n  r )! r!
stories. How many different sets
of stories can be presented on 4!
the evening news? n C2 
(4  2)!2!
Checking the process:
If we let A, B, C, D represent the four
4 * 3 * 2 *1
n C2 
shows, then the possible show orders
would be:
AB BA CA DA 2 *1* 2 *1
AC BC CB DB
AD BD CD DC
However, AB and BA represent the 24
n C2  6
presentation of the same two stories. If
order does not matter, one of these two
may be deleted. Repeating the process
4
results in: AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD,

Six (6) different presentations where order

does not matter.
 Tree Diagrams
 Example:
 What are the possible
 A Tree Diagram results of flipping a coin
systematically lists all twice?
possible ways a sequence
of events can occur. H
H Results:
 Advantage: Visual display of T HH
sequential events. HT
 Disadvantage: Only H TH
T TT
practical where the number
T
of choices are small.
Multiplication Rule (events independent)
 In a sequence of n events in which the first event has
k1 possibilities, the second event k2, etc. (to kn), the
total number of possibilities is k1* k2* …* kn-1* kn.
 Example 1:
 What are the possible results of flipping a coin twice?
 Answer: 2 * 2 = 4
 The Multiplication Rule replaces tree diagrams of
any size. Consider the tree diagram that would
result from the following example.
 Example 2:
 What are the dinner possibilities if there are 10 beverages, 6
appetizers, 11 entrees, and 8 desserts?
 Answer: 10 * 6 * 11 * 8 = 5,280 dinner possibilities.