PERMUTATIONS & COMBINATIONS

1. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF COUNTING

Multiplication Principle : If an operation can be performed in ‘m’ different ways; following which a second
operation can be performed in ‘n’ different ways, then the two operations in succession can be performed in
m × n ways. This can be extended to any finite number of operations.
Addition Principle : If an operation can be performed in ‘m’ different ways and another operation, which is
independent of the first operation, can be performed in ‘n’ different ways. Then either of the two operations can
be performed in (m + n) ways. This can be extended to any finite number of mutually exlusive operations.

2. FACTORIALS
If n is a natural number then the product of all natural numbers upto n is called factorial n and it is denoted by
n ! or n .

3. PERMUTATION
Each of the different arrangements which can be made by taking some or all of a number of given things is called
a permutation.

4. COUNTING FORMULAE FOR PERMUTATIONS

(I) Without Repetition :
(i) The number of permutations of n different things, taking r at a time is denoted by nPr or P(n, r)
(ii) The number of arrangements of n different objects taken all at a time is nPn = n !

(II) With Repetition :

(i) The number of permutations of n things taken all at a time when p are alike of one kind, q are alike of
second kind and r are alike of a third kind and the rest n – (p + q + r) are all different is
n!
p! q! r!
(ii) The number of permutations of n different things taken r at a time when each thing may be repeated
any number of times is nr.
(III) Number of permutations under certain conditions :
 The number of permutation of n different things taken all together when r particular things are to be
placed at some r given places
= n–rPn–r = n  r
 The number of permutations of n different things taken r at a time when m particular things are to be
placed at m given places = n–mPr–m. (m < r)
 Number of permutations of n different things, taken r at a time, when a particular thing is to be always
included in each arrangement, is.
r . n – 1P r – 1
 Number of permutation of n different things, taken r at a time, when a particular thing is never taken in
n–1
each arrangement is Pr
 Number of permutations of n different things, taken all at a time, when m specified things always come
together is m ! × (n – m + 1)!

[1]
[2] Permutations and Combinations

 Number of permutations of n different things, taken all at a time, when m specified things never come
together is n ! – ( m ! × (n – m + 1) !)
(IV) Circular Permutations :
(i) Arrangement around a circular table :
The number of circular permutations of n different things taken all at a time is (n – 1) !, if clockwise and
anticlockwise orders are taken as different.
(ii) Arrangement of beads or flowers (all different) around a circular necklace or garland :
1
The number of circular permutations of n different things taken all at a time is (n –1) !, if clockwise
2
and anticlockwise orders are taken as not different.
(iii) Number of circular permutations of n different things taken r at a time :
 Case I : If clockwise and anticlockwise orders are taken as different, then the required number
of circular permutations = (nPr)/r.
 Case II : If clockwise and anticlockwise n
orders are taken as not different, then the required
number of circular permutations = ( Pr)/(2r).
(iv) Restricted Circular Permutations
When there is a restriction in a circular permutation then first of all we shall perform the restricted part
of the operation and then perform the remaining part treating it similar to a linear permutation.

5. COMBINATION
Each of the different groups or selections which can be made by some or all of a number of given things without
reference to the order of the things in each group is called a combination.

6. COUNTING FORMULAE FOR COMBINATION

(I) Selections of objects without repetition
n
The number of combinations of n differnt things taken r at a time is denoted by nCr or C (n, r) or  
r
(II) Selections of objects with repetition :
The total number of selections of r things from n differents things when each thing may be repeated any
number of times is n + r–1Cr
(III) Restricted Selections / Arrangements :
(i) The number of combinations of n different things taken r at a time,
n–k
 when k particular objects occur is Cr – k.
n–k
 If k particular objects never occur is Cr.
(ii) The number of arrangements of n distinct objects taken r at a time so that k particular object are
n–k
 always included = Cr–k . r !
n–k
 never included = Cr .r !
(iii) The number of combinations of n objects, of which p are indentical, taken r at a time is
n–p
 Cr + n–pCr–1 + n–pCr–2 + ......... + n–pC0 if r < p.
n–p
 Cr + n–pCr–1 + n–pCr–2 + ......... + n–pCr–p if r > p.
(IV) Selections from distinct objects :
 The number of ways of selecting one or more out of n different things
n
C1 + nC2 + nC3 +......+ nCn = 2n – 1.
 The number of ways of selecting zero or more out of n different things
n
C0 + nC1 + nC2 + nC3 +......+ nCn = 2n .
Permutations and Combinations [3]

(V) Selections from identical objects

 The number of combination of n identical things taking r(r < n) at a time is 1.
 The number of ways of selecting r things out of n alike things is n + 1 (where r = 0, 1, 2, ....., n).
 The number of ways in which a selection of atleast one thing can be made from (p+q) things of which
p all are alike and q all are alike = (p +1) (q+1)–1
 The number of ways to select some or all out of (p + q + r) things where p are alike of first kind, q are
alike of second kind and r are alike of third kind is
= (p + 1) (q + 1) (r + 1) – 1
(VI) Selection when both identical and distinct objects are present :
If out of (p + q + r + t) things, p are alike of one kind, q are alike of second kind, r are alike of third kind and
t are different, then the total number of combinations is
(p + 1) (q + 1) (r + 1) 2t – 1

7. DIVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF OBJECTS

The number of ways in which (m + n) different things can be divided into two groups which contain m and
n things respectively is
m n (m  n)!
Cm n Cn  , mn
m! n!
Particular cases :
When m = n, then total number of combination is
( 2m) !
 (m ! )2
when order of groups is considered.

( 2m) !
 2 ! (m ! ) 2
when order of groups is not considered.

 The number of ways in which (m + n + p) different things can be divided into three groups which
contain m, n and p things respectively is
mnp np (m  n  p)!
Cm . Cn . p Cp  , mnp
m! n ! p !
 Suppose mn distinct objects are to be divided into m groups, each containing n objects and the order of
 mn !
groups is not important, then the number of ways of doing this is given by m! n! m
 
 mn !
 If, lower, the order of groups is important then the number of ways is given by m
 n!
Particular cases :
When m = n = p, then total number of combination is
(3m) !
 (m !)3
when order of groups is considered.

(3m) !
 3 ! (m !)3
when order of groups is not considered.

 Total number of ways to divide n identical things among r persons when there is no restriction is
n + r–1
Cr–1
 Total number of ways to divide n identical things among r persons so that each gets atleast one is
n–1
Cr–1
[4] Permutations and Combinations

8. DEARRANGEMENT THEOREM
Any change in the given order of the thing is called a Dearrangement.
(i) If n items are arranged in a row, then the number of ways in which they can be rearranged so that no one of
them occupies the place assigned to it is
 1 1 1 1 1
n! 1      ....  (1)n 
 1! 2! 3! 4 ! n! 
(ii) If n things are arranged at n places then the number of ways to rearrange such that exactly r things are at
right places is
n!  1 1 1 1 n r 1 
1      ....  (1) 
r !  1! 2! 3 ! 4! (n  r ) ! 

9. SUM OF NUMBERS
(i) For given n different digits a1, a2, a3 ......., an the sum of the digits in the unit place of all numbers fromed (if
numbers are not repeated) is
(a1 + a2 + a3 + ...... + an) (n – 1)!
i.e. (sum of the digits) (n – 1) !

(ii) Sum of the total numbers which can be formed with given n different digits a1, a2, a3 ....... an is
(a1 + a2 + a3 + ..... + an) (n – 1) ! . (111 ......... n times) (If nos. are not repeated)

10. IMPORTANT RESULTS ABOUT POINTS

If there are n points in a plane of which m(< n) are collinear, then
n m
 Total number of different straight lines obtained by joining these n points is C2 – C2 + 1
n m
 Total number of different triangles formed by joining these n points is C3 – C3
n(n  3)
 Number of diagonals in polygon of n sides is nC2 – n i.e.
2
 If m parallel lines in a plane are intersected by a family of other n parallel lines, then total number of
parallelograms so formed is mC2 × nC2 .

11. SOLUTION OF EQUATION

x1  x 2  x 3  ...  x r  n
 The number of non-negative integral solutions of
x1  x 2  x 3  ...  x r  n ...(1)
= the number of ways of distributing n identical objects among r groups  n  r 1 Cr 1
 The number of positive integral solutions of equation (1)
 n  r Cr 1

12. EXPONENT OF PRIME p IN n!

Exponent of a prime p in n! is denoted by Ep (n!) and is given by
n  n   n  n
E p  n!      2    3   ....   k 
p p  p  p 
where pk  n  p k 1 and [.] denotes the greatest integer function.