Q.If ${}^{n}C_9 = {}^{n}C_8$, find ${}^{n}C_{17}$.

The Intuition: Two Ways to Choose

Imagine you have a group of 10 friends, and you need to pick 3 of them to form a committee. One way to think about this is: you are choosing the 3 people who will be on the committee. But there is another, equally valid way to think about it: you are rejecting the 7 people who will not be on the committee.

Choosing 3 to include is the same decision as choosing 7 to exclude. Every time you pick a set of 3, you automatically determine the set of 7 who are left out. There is a perfect one-to-one match between the two choices.

This is the heart of the symmetry property: the number of ways to choose $k$ items from $n$ is exactly the same as the number of ways to choose $n-k$ items from $n$.

The Precise Statement

Where $\binom{n}{k}$ (read "n choose k") is the number of combinations — the number of distinct subsets of size $k$ you can pick from a set of $n$ distinct objects.

This holds for any non-negative integers $n$ and $k$ where $0 \leq k \leq n$.

Why It Works (The Algebraic Proof)

The formula for combinations is:

Now compute $\binom{n}{n-k}$:

The denominator is just $k!(n-k)!$ written in a different order. Since multiplication is commutative, the two expressions are identical.

Special Cases That Make Sense

• $k = 0$: $\binom{n}{0} = 1$ (there is exactly one way to choose nothing). By symmetry, $\binom{n}{n} = 1$ (one way to choose everything). Both make sense — you either take nothing or take all.

• $k = 1$: $\binom{n}{1} = n$. Symmetry gives $\binom{n}{n-1} = n$. Choosing 1 person to include is the same as choosing $n-1$ people to exclude — there are $n$ choices in either case.

• $k = n/2$ (when $n$ is even): Here $k = n-k$, so the symmetry says $\binom{n}{n/2} = \binom{n}{n/2}$. It is trivially true, but it tells you that the middle binomial coefficient is the largest one — the symmetry is about a central peak.

A Common Mistake to Avoid

Quick Check

If $\binom{12}{5} = 792$, what is $\binom{12}{7}$?

Answer: $\binom{12}{7} = 792$, because $7 = 12 - 5$.

No calculation needed — just the symmetry property.

The Combinations Symmetry Property is a standard result taught alongside the NCERT Class 11 Permutations and Combinations chapter, and it frequently appears in "combinations formula and properties" or "nCr = nC(n-r) proof" searches by CBSE and JEE aspirants. Recognising this identity quickly is a common time-saving trick tested in Class 11/12 mathematics important questions and competitive exam MCQs.