Math 600 Biostatistics

Handout: Counting Rules

Basic Principle of Counting (mn)
- If one experiment has m possible outcomes and another one has n, then there are mn possible outcomes of the two
experiments.
Examples:
1. Define the sample space of two coins being tossed.
Answer: ______________
2. In how many ways can you answer 10 multiple-choice questions if each question has 5 choices?
Answer: ______________
3. How many 7-digit landline phone numbers are possible of 0 and 1 are not allowed to be the first digit?
Answer: ______________
4. Find the probability of getting a perfect score in a 5-item true/false test assuming all the items were answered
by guessing.
Answer: ______________
Factorial Function (n!)
- the number of ways that n elements may be arranged
n! = (n) (n -1) (n - 2) 2 1, where n is a nonnegative integer.
Note that 0! = 1
Examples:
1. How many ways may the letters ABCD be arranged?
Answer: ______________
2. How many ways may 45 students be arranged in a classroom?
Answer: ______________
3. The rock group B4 has 8 songs to be released on a compact disc. In how many different ways can the
songs be arranged on the disc?
Answer: ______________

Linear Permutation (nPr)

- the number of ways that n elements taken r at a time may be arranged in a line
n Pr

n!
, such that n r
n r !

Examples:
1. How many ways may the two letters from A,B,C, and D be arranged?
Answer: ______________
2. How many ways can four different prizes be given to four of nine people if no person receives more than one
prize?
Answer: ______________
3. Five books with same thickness are about to put in a shelf with a space good for three books only. How many
ways can these books be arranged?
Answer: ______________
4. There are fifteen varsity players in a basketball team. How many ways can a coach choose five members if
one has to be center, forward, etc.
Answer: ______________

Circular Permutation
- the number of ways that n elements taken r at a time may be arranged in a circle is (n - 1)!
Examples:
1. How many ways may the letters from A, B, C, and D be arranged in a circle? Answer: ______________
2. How many ways may 7 people be seated in a round table?
Answer: ______________
Combination (nCr)
- the number of ways that n elements taken r at a time may be combined
n Cr

n
n!
or
, such that n r
r r! n r !

Examples:
1. Evaluate:
a) 7C3

8
b)
5

= ______________

= _____________

References: Anton, Howard et.al. (1992). Applied Finite Mathematics 5th ed. Saunders C?ollege Publishing. USA.
Chua, Simon (1999) et. al. 21st Century Mathematics III. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. Philippines
Kuzma, Jan W. and Stephen E. Bohnenblust (2005). Basic Statistics for Health Sciences 5th ed. McGraw-Hill. Philippines.
Monzon-Ybaez, Lydia. Basic Statistics. Phoenix Publishing, Philippines.

2. How many ways a group be formed with 5 members each in a class of 35 students?
Answer: ______________
3. In a lotto game with 42 balls, taken 6 at a time, how many distinct tickets are possible to be produced?
Answer: ______________
Permutation with Alike Objects
- the number of ways that n objects of which n1 are alike of one kind, n2 are alike of another kind, and so forth is

n!
n1! n2 ! n3 !...n k !
Examples:
1. How many ways can you arrange the letters in STAT?

Answer: _____________

EXERCISES:
1. The chairs in an auditorium are to be labeled with a letter and a positive integer not exceeding 100. What is the
largest possible number of chairs that can be labeled differently?
Answer: ______________
2. A medical researcher classifies humans according to one of three skin colors, one of eight blood types, and one of
two sexes. Determine how many classes are possible.
Answer: ______________
3. How many ways may 12 books be divided equally among four students?
Answer: ______________
4. (Exercise 5.8 (Kuzma and Bohnenblust, p.88) In how many ways can a roster of four club officers be selected from
10 nominees so that the first one selected will be president; the second as vice-president; the third as secretary; and
the fourth as treasurer?
Answer: ______________
5. A testing program to determine the pollutants present in river water involves selecting one of three filtering
processes, then one of five precipitation procedures, and then one of two evaporation methods. How many testing
programs are possible?
Answer: ______________
6. How many 5-card hands can be dealt from a deck of 52 cards?
Answer: ______________
7. How many ways can 10 students be seated in a row of 6 chairs?
Answer: ______________
8. Suppose there are three roads from Manila to Pasay, 2 roads to Pasay to Las Pinas and 4 roads from Las Pinas to
Cavite. How many different ways can you travel from Manila to Cavite by way of Pasay and Las Pinas?
Answer: ______________
9. Find the number of ways that seven charms may be arranged on a bracelet.
Answer: ______________
10. How many different 7-card hands with 4 aces can be dealt from a deck of 52 cards? Answer: ______________
11. How many different B-I-N-G-O cards are possible to produce if B, I, G, and O have 5 boxes while N has 4 boxes
from 15 different numbers on each (repetitions not allowed)?
Answer: ______________
12. A class has 20 students and has to form four groups with five members each. How many groupings are
possible to produce?
Answer: ______________
13. In a car plate number, find the probability of
a) having 7 as the last number.
Answers: ______________
b) having one 8 on the plate.
______________
14. A bag contains four marbles of which two are red, one is white, and one is blue. A second bag also contains four
marbles but in this bag, one is red, one is white, and two are blue. When one marble is drawn from each bag,
find the probability that:
a) both are the same color.
Answers: ______________
b) at least one is white.
______________
c) they are different colors.
______________
d) neither is blue.
______________
b
15. If a { -2, 0, 2, 4}, b {1, 3, 5 } and (a,b) is an ordered pair. What is the probability that a > 0?
Answer: ______________
16. Two points are randomly chosen from any corner of a square. Find the probability that those two points will form a
diagonal.
Answer: ______________

References: Anton, Howard et.al. (1992). Applied Finite Mathematics 5th ed. Saunders C?ollege Publishing. USA.
Chua, Simon (1999) et. al. 21st Century Mathematics III. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. Philippines
Kuzma, Jan W. and Stephen E. Bohnenblust (2005). Basic Statistics for Health Sciences 5th ed. McGraw-Hill. Philippines.
Monzon-Ybaez, Lydia. Basic Statistics. Phoenix Publishing, Philippines.