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NCERT Exemplar · Q10

Q.Find the number of different words that can be formed from the letters of the word 'TRIANGLE' so that no vowels are together.

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The key idea is to first arrange the consonants, then place the vowels in the gaps between them. For the word 'TRIANGLE', this gives 14,400 different words where no two vowels are together.

We have the word TRIANGLE. Let's first identify what we're working with. The letters are: T, R, I, A, N, G, L, E. That's 8 distinct letters — no repetitions, which simplifies things.

The vowels in English are A, E, I, O, U. Here, the vowels are I, A, E — three of them. The consonants are the remaining five: T, R, N, G, L.

The condition "no vowels are together" means that in any valid arrangement, between any two vowels there must be at least one consonant. This is a classic "gap method" problem.


Why the gap method works

If we try to arrange all 8 letters directly while checking for adjacent vowels, it's messy. Instead, we separate the problem into two clean stages:

  1. Arrange the consonants first — this creates spaces (gaps) around and between them.
  2. Then choose some of those gaps to place the vowels, one vowel per gap. This guarantees no two vowels touch.

Since all letters are distinct, each arrangement of consonants and each choice of gaps multiplies the possibilities.


Step-by-step solution

1. Arrange the 5 consonants (T, R, N, G, L).

These are 5 distinct letters. The number of ways to arrange them in a row is simply the number of permutations of 5 distinct items:

5!=5×4×3×2×1=1205! = 5 \times 4 \times 3 \times 2 \times 1 = 120

So there are 120 possible sequences of consonants.

2. Identify the gaps where vowels can go.

Once the 5 consonants are placed in a line, they create spaces where vowels can be inserted. For example, if the consonants are arranged as _ C _ C _ C _ C _ C _, each underscore is a potential gap.

How many gaps? With 5 consonants, there are:

  • 1 gap before the first consonant
  • 1 gap between each pair of consecutive consonants (that's 4 gaps)
  • 1 gap after the last consonant

Total gaps = 5+1=65 + 1 = 6.

Note

This "gaps = consonants + 1" rule works for any linear arrangement. Always count the ends.

3. Choose 3 gaps out of these 6 to place the vowels.

We have 3 distinct vowels (I, A, E) to place, and we need to put exactly one vowel in each chosen gap. Since the vowels are distinct, the order in which we assign them to the chosen gaps matters.

First, choose which 3 gaps (out of 6) will receive a vowel. The number of ways to choose 3 gaps is:

(63)=20\binom{6}{3} = 20 …

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