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Mathematics · Class 12 Science

Ch 5Permutations and Combinations — Class 12 Mathematics, concept-first.

Suppose you have a suitcase secured by a number lock with 4 wheels, each showing the digits 0 through 9. The lock opens only when the four wheels are set to one specific sequence, with no digit repeated. You have forgotten this sequence — except you remember that the first digit is 7.

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Key concepts

Hover a concept to preview it and jump to its most relevant Q&A.

Chapter contents

The NCERT structure, section by section. Open a section to see its questions, then read the concept-first solution.

6.1

Introduction

Suppose you have a suitcase secured by a number lock with 4 wheels, each showing the digits 0 through 9.

6.2

Fundamental Principle of Counting

10 Q

Consider a simple wardrobe problem. Mohan has 3 pants and 2 shirts. How many different pant-shirt combinations can he wear?

6.3

Permutations

When you arrange objects in a specific order, each distinct ordering is called a permutation. The key point is that order matters.

6.3.1

Permutations When All the Objects Are Distinct

When we talk about permutations, we are asking: In how many ways can we arrange a given set of objects? The simplest case — and the one that builds the foundation for everything else — is when every o…

6.3.2

Factorial Notation

9 Q

The product of the first natural numbers is given a compact symbol: , read as "n factorial".

6.3.3

Derivation of the Formula for nPr

The earlier formula for the number of permutations of different objects taken at a time was a product of decreasing factors:

6.3.4

Permutations When All the Objects Are Not Distinct Objects

19 Q

Until now, every permutation problem we solved assumed that all objects being arranged were different from one another.

+Worked Examplesi8 questions
  1. Example 9Find the number of permutations of the letters of the word ALLAHABAD.Free
  2. Example 10How many 4-digit numbers can be formed by using the digits 1 to 9 if repetition of digits is not allowed?Free
  3. Example 11How many numbers lying between 100 and 1000 can be formed with the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, if the repetition of the digits is not allowed?Free
  4. Example 12Find the value of $n$ such that (i) ${}^{n}P_5 = 42\, {}^{n}P_3$, $n > 4$ (ii) $\dfrac{{}^{n}P_4}{{}^{n-1}P_4} = \dfrac{5}{3}$, $n > 4$Preview
  5. Example 13Find $r$, if $5\, {}^{4}P_r = 6\, {}^{5}P_{r-1}$.Preview
  6. Example 14Find the number of different 8-letter arrangements that can be made from the letters of the word DAUGHTER so that (i) all vowels occur toget…Preview
  7. Example 15In how many ways can 4 red, 3 yellow and 2 green discs be arranged in a row if the discs of the same colour are indistinguishable?Preview
  8. Example 16Find the number of arrangements of the letters of the word INDEPENDENCE. In how many of these arrangements, (i) do the words start with P (i…Preview
+Exercise 6.3i11 questions
  1. Q1How many 3-digit numbers can be formed by using the digits 1 to 9 if no digit is repeated?Free
  2. Q2How many 4-digit numbers are there with no digit repeated?Free
  3. Q3How many 3-digit even numbers can be made using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, if no digit is repeated?Free
  4. Q4Find the number of 4-digit numbers that can be formed using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 if no digit is repeated. How many of these will be even…Preview
  5. Q5From a committee of 8 persons, in how many ways can we choose a chairman and a vice chairman assuming one person can not hold more than one…Preview
  6. Q6Find $n$ if ${}^{n-1}P_3 : {}^{n}P_4 = 1 : 9$.Preview
  7. Q7Find $r$ if (i) ${}^{5}P_r = 2\, {}^{6}P_{r-1}$ (ii) ${}^{5}P_r = {}^{6}P_{r-1}$.Preview
  8. Q8How many words, with or without meaning, can be formed using all the letters of the word EQUATION, using each letter exactly once?Preview
  9. Q9How many words, with or without meaning can be made from the letters of the word MONDAY, assuming that no letter is repeated, if (i) 4 lette…Preview
  10. Q10In how many of the distinct permutations of the letters in MISSISSIPPI do the four I's not come together?Preview
  11. Q11In how many ways can the letters of the word PERMUTATIONS be arranged if the (i) words start with P and end with S, (ii) vowels are all toge…Preview
6.4

Combinations

12 Q

When you pick a team, the order in which you name the players does not matter. A team of X and Y is the same as a team of Y and X.

Miscellaneous Examples

Miscellaneous Exercise on Chapter 6

+Miscellaneous Exercisei11 questions
  1. Q1How many words, with or without meaning, each of 2 vowels and 3 consonants can be formed from the letters of the word DAUGHTER?Free
  2. Q2How many words, with or without meaning, can be formed using all the letters of the word EQUATION at a time so that the vowels and consonant…Free
  3. Q3A committee of 7 has to be formed from 9 boys and 4 girls. In how many ways can this be done when the committee consists of: (i) exactly 3 g…Free
  4. Q4If the different permutations of all the letters of the word EXAMINATION are listed as in a dictionary, how many words are there in this lis…Preview
  5. Q5How many 6-digit numbers can be formed from the digits 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 which are divisible by 10 and no digit is repeated?Preview
  6. Q6The English alphabet has 5 vowels and 21 consonants. How many words with two different vowels and 2 different consonants can be formed from…Preview
  7. Q7In an examination, a question paper consists of 12 questions divided into two parts i.e., Part I and Part II, containing 5 and 7 questions,…Preview
  8. Q8Determine the number of 5-card combinations out of a deck of 52 cards if each selection of 5 cards has exactly one king.Preview
  9. Q9It is required to seat 5 men and 4 women in a row so that the women occupy the even places. How many such arrangements are possible?Preview
  10. Q10From a class of 25 students, 10 are to be chosen for an excursion party. There are 3 students who decide that either all of them will join o…Preview
  11. Q11In how many ways can the letters of the word ASSASSINATION be arranged so that all the S's are together?Preview

Summary

- The fundamental principle of counting (multiplication rule): if one event can occur in ways and another independent event in ways, the two together can occur in ways.

Exemplar Problems

Higher-order thinking / exemplar-style practice problems.

+Show 64 questions64 questions
  1. Q1Eight chairs are numbered $1$ to $8$. Two women and $3$ men wish to occupy one chair each. First the women choose the chairs from amongst th…Free
  2. Q2If the letters of the word RACHIT are arranged in all possible ways as listed in dictionary. Then what is the rank of the word RACHIT?Free
  3. Q3A candidate is required to answer $7$ questions out of $12$ questions, which are divided into two groups, each containing $6$ questions. He…Free
  4. Q4Out of $18$ points in a plane, no three are in the same line except five points which are collinear. Find the number of lines that can be fo…Preview
  5. Q5We wish to select $6$ persons from $8$, but if the person A is chosen, then B must be chosen. In how many ways can selections be made?Preview
  6. Q6How many committee of five persons with a chairperson can be selected from $12$ persons.Preview
  7. Q7How many automobile license plates can be made if each plate contains two different letters followed by three different digits?Preview
  8. Q8A bag contains $5$ black and $6$ red balls. Determine the number of ways in which $2$ black and $3$ red balls can be selected from the lot.Preview
  9. Q9Find the number of permutations of $n$ distinct things taken $r$ together, in which $3$ particular things must occur together.Preview
  10. Q10Find the number of different words that can be formed from the letters of the word 'TRIANGLE' so that no vowels are together.Preview
  11. Q11Find the number of positive integers greater than $6000$ and less than $7000$ which are divisible by $5$, provided that no digit is to be re…Preview
  12. Q12There are $10$ persons named $P_1, P_2, P_3, \ldots P_{10}$. Out of $10$ persons, $5$ persons are to be arranged in a line such that in each…Preview
  13. Q13There are $10$ lamps in a hall. Each one of them can be switched on independently. Find the number of ways in which the hall can be illumina…Preview
  14. Q14A box contains two white, three black and four red balls. In how many ways can three balls be drawn from the box, if atleast one black ball…Preview
  15. Q15If ${}^{n}C_{r-1} = 36$, ${}^{n}C_{r} = 84$ and ${}^{n}C_{r+1} = 126$, then find ${}^{r}C_{2}$.Preview
  16. Q16Find the number of integers greater than $7000$ that can be formed with the digits $3, 5, 7, 8$ and $9$ where no digits are repeated.Preview
  17. Q17If $20$ lines are drawn in a plane such that no two of them are parallel and no three are concurrent, in how many points will they intersect…Preview
  18. Q18In a certain city, all telephone numbers have six digits, the first two digits always being $41$ or $42$ or $46$ or $62$ or $64$. How many t…Preview
  19. Q19In an examination, a student has to answer $4$ questions out of $5$ questions; questions $1$ and $2$ are however compulsory. Determine the n…Preview
  20. Q20A convex polygon has $44$ diagonals. Find the number of its sides.Preview
  21. Q21$18$ mice were placed in two experimental groups and one control group, with all groups equally large. In how many ways can the mice be plac…Preview
  22. Q22A bag contains six white marbles and five red marbles. Find the number of ways in which four marbles can be drawn from the bag if (a) they c…Preview
  23. Q23In how many ways can a football team of $11$ players be selected from $16$ players? How many of them will (i) include $2$ particular players…Preview
  24. Q24A sports team of $11$ students is to be constituted, choosing at least $5$ from Class XI and atleast $5$ from Class XII. If there are $20$ s…Preview
  25. Q25A group consists of $4$ girls and $7$ boys. In how many ways can a team of $5$ members be selected if the team has (i) no girls (ii) at leas…Preview
  26. Q26If ${}^{n}C_{12} = {}^{n}C_{8}$, then $n$ is equal to (A) $20$ (B) $12$ (C) $6$ (D) $30$Preview
  27. Q27The number of possible outcomes when a coin is tossed $6$ times is (A) $36$ (B) $64$ (C) $12$ (D) $32$Preview
  28. Q28The number of different four digit numbers that can be formed with the digits $2, 3, 4, 7$ and using each digit only once is (A) $120$ (B) $…Preview
  29. Q29The sum of the digits in unit place of all the numbers formed with the help of $3, 4, 5$ and $6$ taken all at a time is (A) $432$ (B) $108$…Preview
  30. Q30Total number of words formed by $2$ vowels and $3$ consonants taken from $4$ vowels and $5$ consonants is equal to (A) $60$ (B) $120$ (C) $7…Preview
  31. Q31A five digit number divisible by $3$ is to be formed using the numbers $0, 1, 2, 3, 4$ and $5$ without repetitions. The total number of ways…Preview
  32. Q32Every body in a room shakes hands with everybody else. The total number of hand shakes is $66$. The total number of persons in the room is (…Preview
  33. Q33The number of triangles that are formed by choosing the vertices from a set of $12$ points, seven of which lie on the same line is (A) $105$…Preview
  34. Q34The number of parallelograms that can be formed from a set of four parallel lines intersecting another set of three parallel lines is (A) $6…Preview
  35. Q35The number of ways in which a team of eleven players can be selected from $22$ players always including $2$ of them and excluding $4$ of the…Preview
  36. Q36The number of $5$-digit telephone numbers having atleast one of their digits repeated is (A) $90{,}000$ (B) $10{,}000$ (C) $30{,}240$ (D) $6…Preview
  37. Q37The number of ways in which we can choose a committee from four men and six women so that the committee includes at least two men and exactl…Preview
  38. Q38The total number of $9$ digit numbers which have all different digits is (A) $10!$ (B) $9!$ (C) $9 \times 9!$ (D) $10 \times 10!$Preview
  39. Q39The number of words which can be formed out of the letters of the word ARTICLE, so that vowels occupy the even place is (A) $1440$ (B) $144$…Preview
  40. Q40Given $5$ different green dyes, four different blue dyes and three different red dyes, the number of combinations of dyes which can be chose…Preview
  41. Q41If ${}^{n}P_{r} = 840$, ${}^{n}C_{r} = 35$, then $r =$ ______.Preview
  42. Q42${}^{15}C_{8} + {}^{15}C_{9} - {}^{15}C_{6} - {}^{15}C_{7} =$ ______.Preview
  43. Q43The number of permutations of $n$ different objects, taken $r$ at a line, when repetitions are allowed, is ______.Preview
  44. Q44The number of different words that can be formed from the letters of the word INTERMEDIATE such that two vowels never come together is _____…Preview
  45. Q45Three balls are drawn from a bag containing $5$ red, $4$ white and $3$ black balls. The number of ways in which this can be done if at least…Preview
  46. Q46The number of six-digit numbers, all digits of which are odd is ______.Preview
  47. Q47In a football championship, $153$ matches were played. Every two teams played one match with each other. The number of teams, participating…Preview
  48. Q48The total number of ways in which six '$+$' and four '$-$' signs can be arranged in a line such that no two signs '$-$' occur together is __…Preview
  49. Q49A committee of $6$ is to be chosen from $10$ men and $7$ women so as to contain atleast $3$ men and $2$ women. In how many different ways ca…Preview
  50. Q50A box contains $2$ white balls, $3$ black balls and $4$ red balls. The number of ways three balls be drawn from the box if at least one blac…Preview
  51. Q51There are $12$ points in a plane of which $5$ points are collinear, then the number of lines obtained by joining these points in pairs is ${…Preview
  52. Q52Three letters can be posted in five letterboxes in $3^5$ ways.Preview
  53. Q53In the permutations of $n$ things, $r$ taken together, the number of permutations in which $m$ particular things occur together is ${}^{n-m}…Preview
  54. Q54In a steamer there are stalls for $12$ animals, and there are horses, cows and calves (not less than $12$ each) ready to be shipped. They ca…Preview
  55. Q55If some or all of $n$ objects are taken at a time, the number of combinations is $2^{n} - 1$.Preview
  56. Q56There will be only $24$ selections containing at least one red ball out of a bag containing $4$ red and $5$ black balls. It is being given t…Preview
  57. Q57Eighteen guests are to be seated, half on each side of a long table. Four particular guests desire to sit on one particular side and three o…Preview
  58. Q58A candidate is required to answer $7$ questions out of $12$ questions which are divided into two groups, each containing $6$ questions. He i…Preview
  59. Q59To fill $12$ vacancies there are $25$ candidates of which $5$ are from scheduled castes. If $3$ of the vacancies are reserved for scheduled…Preview
  60. Q60There are $3$ books on Mathematics, $4$ on Physics and $5$ on English. How many different collections can be made such that each collection…Preview
  61. Q61Five boys and five girls form a line. Find the number of ways of making the seating arrangement under the following condition. Match each it…Preview
  62. Q62There are $10$ professors and $20$ lecturers out of whom a committee of $2$ professors and $3$ lecturer is to be formed. Match each item in…Preview
  63. Q63Using the digits $1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7$, a number of $4$ different digits is formed. Find. Match each item in Column $C_1$ with its correct a…Preview
  64. Q64How many words (with or without dictionary meaning) can be made from the letters of the word MONDAY, assuming that no letter is repeated, if…Preview