Counting Principles and Probability: Digital Lesson
Counting Principles and Probability: Digital Lesson
Counting Principles and Probability: Digital Lesson
Counting Principles
and Probability
The Fundamental Counting Principle states that
if one event can occur m ways and a second event
can occur n ways, the number of ways the two
events can occur in sequence is m • n.
Start
1 Coin
st
Tossed
Heads Tails 2 ways to flip the coin.
2nd Coin
Tossed
Heads Tails Heads Tails 2 ways to flip the coin.
# of # of # of
main dishes side dishes desserts
4 2 5 = 40
3! = 3 • 2 • 1
= 6 permutations
“factorial”
5 • 4 • 3 = 60 ways
P P 5! 5 4 3 2 1 60
n r 5 3
2! 2 1
STATS
The T’s
S’s are not distinguishable.
Example continues.
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 7
The number of distinguishable permutations of
the n objects is
n!
n1 ! n2 ! n3 ! nk !
where n = n1 + n2 + n3 + . . . + nk.
C C 4! 4 3 2 1 6
n r 4 2
2!2! 2 1 2 1
3
C C 10! 10 9 8 7 6! 210
n r 10 6
4!6! 4 3 2 1 6!
5 P3
10 C6