• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

Permutations help (1 Viewer)

clintmyster

Prophet 9 FTW
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
1,067
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2015
Someone help me with these questions please..really stumping me..thanks!

1. The first ten letters of the alphaet are to be placed in a line, find the number of arrangements possible if:

a) the A and B are together and the C, D and F are not.
b) The A and B are together, the C and D are together and the H and J are not together

2. Eight people, David, Anne, Mike, Mandy, Sue, Adam, John and Emma, enter a picture theatre and decide to sit in the back row. How many different seating arrangements are there if:

a) David and Anne are to sit together and John and Sue are not to sit together
 

foram

Awesome Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
1,015
Location
Beyond Godlike
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
1. The first ten letters of the alphaet are to be placed in a line, find the number of arrangements possible if:

a) the A and B are together and the C, D and F are not.

9!x2!-7!x3!

b) The A and B are together, the C and D are together and the H and J are not together

8!x2!x2!-7!x2!

2. Eight people, David, Anne, Mike, Mandy, Sue, Adam, John and Emma, enter a picture theatre and decide to sit in the back row. How many different seating arrangements are there if:

a) David and Anne are to sit together and John and Sue are not to sit together.

7!x2!-6!x2!

I don't know if i'm right or not... i've never done these types before. :D
 

lolokay

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
1,015
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
I would have thought it would be
1a) 9!2! - 7!3!2!

1b) 8!2!2! - 7!2!2!2!

2) 7!2! - 6!2!2!
 

clintmyster

Prophet 9 FTW
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
1,067
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2015
its extn? i wasnt sure so i just posted here..as for the answers..what ive been given is

1a) 302400
b) 120960

2a) 7200

just need the working to understand how to get there!
 

clintmyster

Prophet 9 FTW
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
1,067
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2015
i hope it doesnt..got a 3u test on wed and like they expect us to learn permutations and combinations by ourselves =[ its part of the yr12 3unit book as well!
 

lolokay

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
1,015
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
2 of my answers were correct.
You are finding the permutations of the single members + included groups, subtracting the permutations of single members + included groups + excluded groups.

For the first one, 1a - does it mean any 2 of C, D and F cannot be together? I assumed it meant only all 3 cannot be together. I'll figure out how to do it with that as a condition in a sec

EDIT:

1a) is 6!2!7!/4!

1b) is also 6!2!2!7!/5!

2. is also 5!2!6!/4!



These are because: let each thing and each pair of things each considered a group (things that have a condition that they cannot be next to another thing are not a group). Let m.k be number of things per group. The number of ways to order the groups, n, is n! * m.1! * m.2! .. m.n! (you only need to bother with groups > 1). Now, the number of ways to sort the things, x, that are not included, ie had a condition that they could not be next to another thing, is (n+1)!/(n+1-x)!, so multiply this by the number of ways to order the groups.

That probably was really hard to understand, and I don't know what the proper name for 'things' is


EDITEDIT:
Further explanation:
n is the number of 'groups'. m is the things per group. k is the group number (doesn't matter which group is numbered which; just imagine them in a row and assign each a number from 1 - n. Basically, it means that for every group of two, eg "A and B have to be together", you multiply by 2!).
x is the number of things that arent groups.
ways of sorting is (n+1)!/(n+1-x)! because, there are n-1 places in between the groups, + 2 on the ends, for the first to go = n + 1; substitute n+1 for n, and x for k in formula for permutations of k things from n, = n!/(n-k)!
 
Last edited:

clintmyster

Prophet 9 FTW
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
1,067
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2015
lolokay said:
2 of my answers were correct.
You are finding the permutations of the single members + included groups, subtracting the permutations of single members + included groups + excluded groups.

For the first one, 1a - does it mean any 2 of C, D and F cannot be together? I assumed it meant only all 3 cannot be together. I'll figure out how to do it with that as a condition in a sec

EDIT:

1a) is 6!2!7!/4!
could you expand on your working to help me out a bit? like why each factorial is the case?
 

lolokay

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
1,015
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
I added it to my post. let me know if it makes sense/if not then where
 

clintmyster

Prophet 9 FTW
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
1,067
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2015
lolokay said:
I added it to my post. let me know if it makes sense/if not then where
your whole explanation is a bit complex for me..can it be any more simpler?
 

lolokay

Active Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
1,015
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
clintmyster said:
your whole explanation is a bit complex for me..can it be any more simpler?
lol, I thought it would be, it's pretty poorly written..

for 1a, firstly ignore the C,D,F. The number of ways to arrange the remaining 7 letters is 6!2! (as the A and B are together, so treated like one letter, but can be arranged 2! ways).

Now, there are 7 places where the C,D and F can go (in between each of ther other letters, and on the ends). Only one can go in each place as those letters cannot be next to each other.

The way of arranging the C, D and F is therefore 7*6*5 = 7!/4!

So there are 6!2!7!/4! ways altogether

EDIT: got the numbers wrong
 
Last edited:

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top