Permutations and Combinations

What's the Difference?     In English we use the word "combination" loosely, without thinking if the order of things is important. In other words:

	"My fruit salad is a combination of apples, grapes and bananas" We don't care what order the fruits are in, they could also be "bananas, grapes and apples" or "grapes, apples and bananas", its the same fruit salad.
	"The combination to the safe was 472". Now we do care about the order. "724" would not work, nor would "247". It has to be exactly 4-7-2.

So, in Mathematics we use more precise language:

	If the order doesn't matter, it is a Combination.
	If the order does matter it is a Permutation.

So, we should really call this a "Permutation Lock"!

In other words:

A Permutation is an ordered Combination.

To help you to remember, think "Permutation ... Position"

Permutations

There are basically two types of permutation:

• Repetition is Allowed: such as the lock above. It could be "333".
• No Repetition: for example the first three people in a running race. You can't be first and second.

 1. Permutations with Repetition

These are the easiest to calculate.

When you have n things to choose from ... you have n choices each time!

When choosing r of them, the permutations are:

n × n × ... (r times)

(In other words, there are n possibilities for the first choice, THEN there are n possibilites for the second choice, and so on, multplying each time.)

Which is easier to write down using an exponent of r:

n × n × ... (r times) = n^r

Example: in the lock above, there are 10 numbers to choose from (0,1,..9) and you choose 3 of them:

10 × 10 × ... (3 times) = 10³ = 1,000 permutations

So, the formula is simply:

nr

where n is the number of things to choose from, and you choose r of them (Repetition allowed, order matters)

2. Permutations without Repetition

In this case, you have to reduce the number of available choices each time.

For example, what order could 16 pool balls be in?

After choosing, say, number "14" you can't choose it again

So, your first choice would have 16 possibilites, and your next choice would then have 15 possibilities, then 14, 13, etc. And the total permutations would be:16 × 15 × 14 × 13 × ... = 20,922,789,888,000 But maybe you don't want to choose them all, just 3 of them, so that would be only: 16 × 15 × 14 = 3,360

In other words, there are 3,360 different ways that 3 pool balls could be selected out of 16 balls.

But how do we write that mathematically? Answer: we use the "factorial function"

	The factorial function (symbol: !) just means to multiply a series of descending natural numbers. Examples: 4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24 7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5,040 1! = 1
Note: it is generally agreed that 0! = 1. It may seem funny that multiplying no numbers together gets you 1, but it helps simplify a lot of equations.

So, if you wanted to select all of the billiard balls the permutations would be:

16! = 20,922,789,888,000

But if you wanted to select just 3, then you have to stop the multiplying after 14. How do you do that? There is a neat trick ... you divide by 13! ...

16 × 15 × 14 × 13 × 12 ...		= 16 × 15 × 14 = 3,360
13 × 12 ...

Do you see? 16! / 13! = 16 × 15 × 14

The formula is written:

where n is the number of things to choose from, and you choose r of them (No repetition, order matters)

Examples:

Our "order of 3 out of 16 pool balls example" would be:

16!	=	16!	=	20,922,789,888,000	= 3,360
(16-3)!		13!		6,227,020,800

(which is just the same as: 16 × 15 × 14 = 3,360)

How many ways can first and second place be awarded to 10 people?

10!	=	10!	=	3,628,800	= 90
(10-2)!		8!		40,320

(which is just the same as: 10 × 9 = 90)

Notation

Instead of writing the whole formula, people use different notations such as these:

Example: P(10,2) = 90