MODULE NO.

2
COUNTING SAMPLE POINTS
 UNION - INTERSECTION COUNTING FORMULA
Let and be the events, then the number of elements in the
union of these two events is defined by:

Example 1. An investment club has 205 members, 148 of whom

invest in either stocks or bonds. Suppose 96 invest in stocks and
75 invest in bonds. How many invest in both stocks and bonds?
Solution:
Determine members who invested in both stocks and bonds.
For
 where
→ members who invested in stocks
→ members who invested in bonds
→ members who invested in either stocks or bonds
→ members who invested in both stocks and bonds
Hence

members

THE MULTIPLICATION PRINCIPLE

Suppose events are to be performed in order in such a way that
each event is independent of the others. If event can be performed
in ways, event in ways, event in ways, and so on, then the total
number of ways N of performing all k events is given by the product;
Example1. A word is an ordered list of letters. (a) How many 3 letter
words can be made using the letters of the alphabet? (b) How many
3 letter words can be made in which the second letter is a vowel?
Solution:
a. determine ; the number of 3 letter word formed
Let ; hence
For

b. determine ; number of 3 letter words formed

Let ; hence
For

Example 2. (a) How many 3 digit sequences can be made from the digits 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9? (b) How many 3 digit sequences are there in which the first digit is
not zero? (c) How many 3 digit sequences are there in which the first digit is not
zero and there are no 6’s?
Solution:
a. determine ; number of 3 digit sequences formed

For
b. determine ; number of 3 digit sequences formed
Let {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}; hence
For

sequences

c. determine ; number of 3 digit sequences formed

Let {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9}; hence
Let {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9}; hence
For

sequences
 PERMUTATION
A permutation is a rearrangement of objects in which the order
of selection is important.

T.1: The number of permutations of distinct objects taken all

together is
; ( read as factorial )
T.2: The number of permutations of distinct objects taken at a
time is given by
nPr
T.3: The number of permutations of distinct objects arranged
in a circle is
 T.4: The number of distinct permutations of objects of which
are of one kind, of a second kind, . . . , of a kind is

T.5: The number of ways of partitioning a set of objects into

cells with elements in the first cell, elements in the second cell, . .
. , elements in the cell is

where

A tree diagram is a configuration that can be used to represent

pictorially the number of permutations
 COMBINATION
A combination is any subset of size of distinct objects
where order does not matter.
T.6: The number of combinations of distinct objects
taken at a time is
n Cr
T.7: The number of combinations to simultaneously
select elements, from a set containing elements, elements
from a set containing elements, . . . , elements from a set
containing elements is
Example 1. How many 4 letter words in which no letter is
repeated can be made with the 26 letters of the alphabet?
Solution:
determine ; number of 4 letter words
For
P4
26

words
Example 2. A committee has 3 freshmen and 3
sophomores. In how many ways can they be seated so that
freshmen and sophomores take alternate seats?
Solution:
determine ; number of ways
Let:
number of freshmen
number of sophomores
number of patterns: and
For

ways
Example 3. How many distinct permutations can be made from
the letters of the word “statistics”?
Solution:
determine ; number of permutations
Let:
number of s
number of t
number of i
number of a
number of c

For

ways
Example 5. In a third-grade class there are 10 boys and 12 girls.
How many ways can you select 7 children so that 3 are boys and 4
are girls?
Solution:
determine ; number of ways
For
10C3 ∙ 12C4

ways

Example 6. From a group of 5 men and 3 women, how many

committees of 3 people are possible (a) with no restrictions, (b) with
two men and one woman, (c) with one man and two women if a
certain woman must be on the committee?
Solution:
a. determine ; number of committees
For
8C3

committees
b. determine ; number of committees
For
5C2 ∙ 3C1

committees
c. determine ; number of committees
For
5C1 ∙ 2C1

committees
Example 7. How many distinguishable sequences can be made from
the letters AAAABBBCC?
Solution:
determine ; number of sequences
For
9C4 ∙ 5C3 ∙ 2C2

sequences

EXERCISE NO. 2
1. A radio station is trying to decide whether to feature classical music
or rock. The station surveys 200 people and finds that 100 people
prefer rock music, and 35 prefer neither rock nor classical. music. How
many people prefer just classical music?
-2. A college investment club has 100 members. The students in the
club are polled, and it is found that 40 students read The Peoples
Journal and 55 read Bulletin Today. If 15 students read neither paper,
how many read both papers?
3. A group of faculty members at a small college operate a carpool to
three kinds of activities; baseball games, opera, and the theater.
Suppose there are 86 families in the carpool and that in a given month
11 families attend none of the activities
33 families go to baseball games
35 families go to opera
39 families go to theater
14 families go to just baseball games
17 families go to just the theater
15 families go to just the opera
 a. How many families go to all three activities?
b. How many families go to baseball games and the opera but not the theater?
c. How many families go to at least two activities?
4. A local radio station conducts a survey in which each person in a certain group is asked whether they have a dog, a cat, or a
bird (sets respectively. Suppose that 300 people were surveyed and that
130 have cats
135 have dogs
80 have birds
57 have dogs and cats
45 have dogs and birds
27 have cats and birds
15 have all three kinds of pets
How many people have no pets?
5. A menu lists two soups, three meat dishes, and five desserts. How
many different meals are possible consisting of one soup, one meat
dish, and a dessert?
6. In a lottery, a contestant is asked to pick a letter of the alphabet and
3 numbers from 0 to 9. How many possible such combinations are
there?
7. A shipment of 12 television sets contains 3 defective sets. In how
many ways can a hotel purchase 4 of these sets and receive at least 2
of the defective sets?
8..Six cards are chosen from an ordinary 52-card deck. In how many
ways is it possible to get:
a. all black cards b. all 4 aces?
c. all face cards? d. no face cards?
9. How many bridge hands are possible containing five spades, three
diamonds, three clubs, and two hearts?
10. From three red, four green, and five yellow apples, how many
selections consisting of six apples are possible if two of each
color are to be selected?
11. A class of 25 children is to be split into 4 groups: group A is to
have 8 children, group B is to have 9, group C is to have 5, and
group D is to have 3. How many ways are there to do this?
12. A senate committee consists of 5 Democrats, 4 Republicans,
and 2 Independents. How many 5 person sub-committees can be
formed that contain at least 2 Democrats and one Republican?
13. In how many orders can three girls and two boys walk
through a doorway single file, given the following conditions?
a. There are no restrictions.
b. The boys go before the girls.
c. The girls go before the boys.
14. A shipment of twelve microwave ovens contains three
defective units. In how many ways can a vending company
purchase four of these units and receive (a) all good units, (b) two
good units, and (c) at least two good units?
15. Five cards are selected from an ordinary deck of 52 playing
cards. In how many ways can you get a full house? (A full house
consists of three of one kind and two of another; example:

16. Four people are to be selected at random from a group of four

couples. In how many ways can this be done, given the following
conditions?
a. There are no restrictions.
b. There is to be at least one couple in the group of four.
c. The selection must include one member from each couple.
17. A committee is comprised of 5 mathematicians, 2 historians, 7
economists, and 5 scientists. How many sub committees of 4 members can
be formed if the sub committee must contain:
a. at least one mathematician;
b. at least one member from each area;
c. at most 3 economists.
18. A license plate has 3 letters followed by 3 numbers.
a. How many different license plates are there if both letters and
numbers cannot be repeated?
b. How many different license plates are there if letters cannot be
repeated but numbers can?
c. How many different plates are there if both letters and numbers can
be repeated?
19. A basketball team has 5 guards, 6 forwards, and 2 centers. How many
different 5 player teams can be chosen if it is required to have:
a. exactly 2 guards, 2 forwards, and one center?
b. at least 2 guards?
20. a. How many 7 letter words, in which no letter is used more than
once, can you make from the letters of the alphabet? ( A word is just a
combination of letters; it need not have any meaning).
b. How many 7 letter words can you make if repeated letters are
allowed?
21. A deck of cards contains 7 red, 5 black, 8 orange, and 9 white cards.
a. How many different 4 card hands can be chosen from this deck?
b. How many different 4 card hands containing only white cards
are there?
c. How many different 4 card hands are there that contain only
black or white cards?
22. If the letters of the word volume are arranged in all possible ways,
find:
a. the number of words that ends in a vowel;
b. the number of words that start with a consonant and ends in a
vowel?
23. A high school wants to buy 6 minicomputers for its
computer laboratory from a local supplier. The supplier has 10
minicomputers in stock of which 4 are foreign made.
a. Find how many ways are there to buy 6
minicomputers from the supplier.
b. Find how many ways are there if the high school
wants 4 domestic and 2 foreign made computers.
24. A geology professor has 5 silicates, 7 pyrites, and 8
carbonates in a rock collection. He picks 6 rocks at random
for a student to analyze. Find the number of ways picking (a)
2 silicates, 1 pyrite, and 3 carbonates; (b) 3 silicates; (c) 2
silicates and 3 pyrites; (d) 3 pyrites and 2 carbonates; and (e)
4 carbonates.