UNIT 7 PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS

Structure Page No.

7.1 Introduction 55
Objectives
7.2 Elementary Counting Techniques 55
7.3 Permutations 58
7.4 Combinations 62
7.5 Binomial Theorem 64
7.6 Summary 67
7.7 Solutions/Answers 67

7.1 INTRODUCTION

The other day, everyone in our organisation was given electronic mail(e-mail) accounts.
To access the accounts, we were given user names and asked to select passwords. The
mails cannot accessed without the password and this was a security measure to prevent
unauthorised persons from reading our mails. The system administrator(the person in
charge of computers) told us that we should use passwords with at least 8 characters
and they must consist of both numbers and letters. She further told us that, since there
are 2821109907456 possibilities, it will be difficult to find out the password even using
a computer. How did she arrive at the figure of 2821109907456? Surely not by writing
down all the different possibilities! As we will see in this unit, this figure can be
calculated using a simple principle in mathematics called ‘The Multiplication
Principle’. We will study the Multiplication principle in Sec. 7.2.
In Sec. 7.3, we will discuss permutations. Permutations count the number of ways of
arranging things. For example, problems like ‘In how many ways can you seat the
boys in a class?’ are problems involving permutations. Here, the order in which the
boys are seated is important. In Sec. 7.4, we will discuss combinations. Combinations
count the number of ways we can combine things. Questions like ‘In how many ways
can I buy 3 fiction and 6 travel books out of 10 fiction books and 4 travel books
available?’ come under combinations. Here the books you choose is important, not the
order in which you choose them.
Finally, in the last section, as an application of combinations, we will discuss the
Binomial theorem and some of its applications.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to
• apply the multiplication principle;
• calculate the number of ways of arranging r out of n objects;
• calculate the number of ways of selecting r out of n objects when the order of selection
is not important;

• apply the binomial theorem to expand powers of binomials;

• apply the binomial theorem to calculate approximate values of powers.

7.2 ELEMENTARY COUNTING TECHNIQUES

The other day I wanted to travel from Bangalore to Allahabad by train. But, when I
consulted the railway timetable, I was surprised to find that there is no direct train 55
Algebra between these two cities. After making enquiries, I found out that I could go up to Itarsi
and change a train for Allahabad from there. Suppose there were three trains available
on a certain day from Bangalore to Itarsi and from there, I can catch 2 trains to reach
Allahabad. I can travel by any of the three trains from Bangalore to Itarsi and by any of
the two trains from Itarsi to Allahabad. In how many ways can I travel from Bangalore
to Allahabad? Pause for a minute and see if you can find the answer before you read the
next paragraph.
How did you try to find the answer? Did you consider all the possibilities from
Bangalore to Itarsi and from Itarsi to Allahabad? If you could not, don’t worry, we will
find the answer now. Let us denote the three trains from Bangalore to Itarsi by B1 , B2
and B3 and the two trains from Itarsi to Allahabad by I1 , I2 . We will make a tree
diagram to list the possibilities(See Figure 1.). As you can see from the diagram, there
Bangalore

B1 B2 B3

Itarsi

Allahabad B 1 I1 B 1 I2 B 2 I1 B 2 I2 B 3 I1 B 3 I2

Fig. 1: Number of ways of travelling from Bangalore to Itarsi

are 6 ways of travelling from Bangalore to Allahabad. For each of the 3 ways of
travelling from Bangalore to Itarsi, there are two ways of travelling from Itarsi to
Allahabad. For example, if I travel by B1 from Bangalore to Itarsi, I can complete the
next leg of the journey by I1 , or by I2 . There are three ways of travelling from
Bangalore to Itarsi and corresponding to each of these ways, there are two ways of
travelling from Itarsi to Allahabad.
Note here, that the job or task of travelling from Bangalore to Allahabad can be broken
down into two smaller jobs:

1) Travelling from Bangalore to Itarsi.

2) Travelling from Itarsi to Allahabad.

Note further, for each way of performing the first task, there are two ways of
performing the second task.
The general principle in operation in this example can be stated as follows:
Suppose a job can be broken down into 2 smaller jobs. Also, suppose the first job can
be performed in m ways, and after performing the first job, there are n ways of doing
56 the second job, then both the jobs together can be done in mn ways.
In fact, this principle holds for any number of jobs, not just 2. The general principle can Permutations and
be stated as follows: Combinations

Suppose a job can be broken down into k smaller jobs. Further,

suppose there are n1 ways of doing job 1, n2 ways of performing
job 2 after performing the job 1, n3 ways of performing job 3 after
(1)
performing jobs 1 and 2, and so on, after performing the (k − 1)
jobs there are nk ways of doing job k, then all the jobs together
can be done in n1 × n2 × · · · × nk ways.

Let us now look at an example where the principle in Eqn. (1) applies.
Example 1: Find the number of three digit numbers that are divisible by 5.
Solution: To choose the number we have to choose the units, tens and hundreds digits
of the number in such a way that the number is divisible by 5. Recall that units digit of
any number divisible by 5 is either 0 or 5. So, there are only 2 ways of choosing the
units digit. After choosing the units digit, we can choose any one of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8 or 9 as the tens digit. So, for each way of selecting the unit digits, the tens digit can be
chosen in 10 ways. What about the hundreds digit? This cannot be zero, if we want our
number to be a 3 digit number. So, for each way of selecting the units and tens digits
there are nine choices, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, for the hundreds digit. Using the
principle given in Eqn. (1), we see that there are 2 × 9 × 10 ways of selecting a 3 digit
number divisible by 5.
∗∗∗
Let us look at one more example.
Example 2: How many different passwords of 8 characters are possible if you are
allowed to use both the characters from the English alphabet and digits?
Solution: Note the following:

1) There are 8 smaller jobs, i.e. selecting each of the eight characters.

2) There are 26 characters in the English alphabet and there are 10 digits. Thus there
are 26+10 = 36 different choices for a character occupying the first position from
the left. Similarly, for each of the other characters occupying a particular position,
there are 36 ways of selecting it after selecting all the characters to the right of it.

3) Thus each of the eight characters can be chosen in 36 ways. So, all the 8 characters
of a password can be chosen in |36 × 36 × 36 8
{z × . . . × 36} = 36 ways. So, there
8 times
are 368 = 2821109907456 different possible passwords!

∗∗∗
Here are some exercises four you to check your understanding of the multiplication
Principle.

E1) Suppose you are redecorating your room by painting the walls and replacing the
curtains. If you like two colours for the walls, Yellow and Green, and curtains that
match any of these two colours are available in three designs. In how many ways
can you redecorate the room?

E2) Suppose a company has advertised for two posts. For the first post, there are 4
applicants and for the second post there are 6 applicants. In how many ways can
the posts be filled?

57
Algebra E3) Consider Example 2 above. Now, suppose we want that no character from the
English alphabet or digit should be repeated. How many passwords are available?

In this section, we saw how we can count the number of various jobs when they can be
broken down into smaller jobs. In the next section, we will use these ideas to count the
number of ways of arranging things.

7.3 PERMUTATIONS
Suppose 5 athletes from different countries are participating in an Olympic event. How
many different arrangements of the atheletes are possible? Of course, we assume here
that any country can occupy any position. This problem is a problem of permutation.
As we mentioned in the introduction,a permutation is an arrangement. In this section
we will see how to count the number of ways of arranging several objects. Let us begin
by discussing the problem of arranging the athletes that we mentioned just now.
Example 3: Suppose 5 athletes are taking part in a 100 meter race. In how many ways
can the contestants be arranged at the starting line?
Solution: Any of the 5 athletes can occupy the leftmost position. So, this can be done
in 5 ways. Any of the remaining 4 athletes can occupy the next position, the second
position. So, this can be done in 4 ways. Similarly, the athletes for the third, fourth and
fifth positions can be chosen in 3 ways, 2 ways and 1 way, respectively. So, the total
number of ways of arranging all the 5 athletes is 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120, by the
Multiplication principle.
∗∗∗
Example 4: Suppose you bought 5 different New year greeting cards for sending to 5
different friends. In how many ways can you do it?
Solution: Let us number the 5 cards as I, II, III, IV and V. The first card can be sent to
any of the five friends. This can be done in 5 ways. After this, 4 friends remain. The
second card can be sent to any of the four friends and this can be done in 4 ways.
Similarly, III, IV and V cards can be distributed in 3 ways, 2 ways and 1 way
respectively. So the total number of ways of distributing the five cards is
5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120.
∗∗∗
Remark: You are probably wondering why this problem comes under permutation
when this is about distribution rather then arrangement. If you represent the five
friends by 5 positions, then the problem of distributing the invitations is equivalent to
arranging the 5 invitations in the five positions.
In general, in how many ways can we arrange n objects? The ideas in the examples
above generalise easily to this situation. The first position can be filled in n ways,
second position can be filled in n − 1 ways, etc. the kth position in
n − (k − 1) = n − k + 1 ways. The last position, the nth position, can be filled in
n − n + 1 = 1 way. So, we have

The number of ways of arranging n objects in n positions is (2)

n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × · · · × 2 × 1.

The product n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × · · · × 1 occurs so often in mathematics, that a

notation is used for this. This is usually denoted by n! or n and read as ‘n factorial’. Let
us look at an example that will help us to familiarise ourselves with this notation.
Example 5: Evaluate the following:
1) 5! 2) 4! + 3! 3) 6!
2!
58
Solution: Permutations and
1) 5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1. Combinations

2) 4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24 .
3! = 3 × 2 × 1 = 6
∴ 4! + 3! = 24 + 6 = 30

3) 6! = 6×5×4×3×2×1
= 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 = 360.
2! 2×1

∗∗∗
Here is an exercise to test your understanding of the factorial notation.

E4) Evaluate the following:

6!
1) 6! 2) 5! + 2! 3) .
4!

Remark: Note that

10! = 10 × 9 × 8 × · · · × 2 × 1
= 10 × (9 × 8 × · · · × 2 × 1) = 10 × 9!
Of course, there is nothing special about the number 10. The relation n! = n × (n − 1)!
is valid for n ≥ 2. This is because, as in the case of 10, we have
n! = n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × · · · × 2 × 1
= n × ((n − 1) × (n − 2) × 2 × 1)
= n × (n − 1)!
It is not valid for n = 1 because 0! has not been defined! To extend the relation for
n = 1, we make a convention 0! = 1. As you will discover if you study mathematics
further, this is actually very useful in many other situations and is a very convenient
convention to make.
So far, the number of objects is the same as the number of places in which they are to
be arranged. What happens if there are n objects and r places with n > r? Let us now
take up an example of such a situation.
Example 6: Suppose 5 athletes are taking part in a 100 metres race in Olympics. Also,
suppose there are no clear favourites for any medal. In how many different ways can
the three medals be awarded?
Solution: Since there are no clear favourites, any of the athletes can win any medal.
The Gold medal can go to any of the 5 athletes. The Silver medal can go to any of the 4
remaining athletes. The Bronze medal can go to any of the three remaining athletes. So,
the medals can be awarded in 5 × 4 × 3 = 60 ways by the Multiplication principle.
∗∗∗
As before, the ideas used in the example above apply in a more general situation.
Suppose you have to arrange r objects out of n objects where n > r. In how many ways
can this be done? As before, the first position can be filled in n ways, the second in
(n − 1), ways, etc., the rth position can be filled in (n − (r − 1)) = (n − r + 1) ways.
So, the total number of ways in which we can arrange r objects out of n objects is
n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1).

We can arrange r out of n objects in (3)

n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × · · · × (n − r + 1) ways.

The product n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1) is denoted by P(n, r). 59

Algebra n!
Remark: Some times, it is convenient to use the formula P(n, r) = . It is
(n − r)!
easy to see why this formula is valid. We have
P(n, r) = n · (n − 1) · · · (n − (r − 1))
(n − r) · (n − (r + 1) · (n − (r + 2)) · · · 1
= n · (n − 1) · · · (n − (r − 1))
(n − r) · (n − (r + 1) · (n − (r + 2))
since the value of the fraction does not change when we multiply the numerator and
denominator by the same number.
n · (n − 1) · · · (n − (r − 1)) · (n − r) · (n − (r + 1) · (n − (r + 2)) · · · 1
=
(n − r) · (n − (r + 1)) · (n − (r + 2))
n!
=
(n − r)!
Let us now record the formulae for P(n,r) for future reference:

P(n, r) = n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1) (4a)
n!
P(n, r) = (4b)
(n − r)!

To understand how to apply the formula for P(n,r) given in Eqn. (4a), let us look at an
example.
Example 7: Suppose you have five different presents and you want to distribute them
to 3 children. In how many ways can you do it?
Solution: This is the number of ways of arranging 3 out of 5 objects. So, this can be
done in P(5,3) ways. Let us now apply Eqn. (4a). Here, n = 5, r = 3 and
n − r + 1 = 5 − 3 + 1 = 3. Hence, P(5, 3) = 5 × 4 × 3 = 60. So, the presents can be
distributed in 60 ways.
∗∗∗
Before you proceed further, do the following exercise to check whether you have
understood how to find the number of permutations of r out of n objects.

E5) Suppose 4 passengers enter a bus and 6 seats are vacant. In how many ways can
they occupy the seats?
E6) Suppose you have a suitcase with a combination lock that can be unlocked by
setting the three numbers of the combination correctly(The numbers can be 0, 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9). If you forget your combination, but remember that all the
digits are less than 5 and none of the digits are repeated, what is the maximum
number of combinations you may have to try till you get the correct combination?

There are several situations where we cannot apply the Multiplication principle or the
formula for number of permutations directly. In such cases, we may be able to apply
the Multiplication principle with another principle called the Addition Principle. We
will explain what the addition principle is through an example.
Example 8: In how many ways can you rearrange the letters of the word ‘PATRON ’ if
the two vowels should not be together?
Solution: In this case there is no straightforward way of dividing the task into smaller
tasks. However, we note that there are three different cases to discuss. The cases are
1) A occupies the first position.
2) A occupies the last position.
3) A occupies a position in between.
Notice here that no two of the three cases can occur at the same time. So, we can find
60 the number of ways in which each case can occur and add them up to find the total
number of ways of permuting the word with the condition that no two of the vowels are Permutations and
together. Let us discuss them one by one. Combinations
Case 1: Suppose A occupies the first place. Then, O cannot occupy the second place;
we have shown this in Figure 2(a) by putting a cross against the second position. O can

A
(a) Positions available for the letter O

A O
(b) Positions available for T, R, O, N if O occupies the third position

Fig. 2:

occupy one of the remaining 4 places. After we fill in O in one of the four positions, we
are left with only consonants P, T, R and N. They are allowed to occupy the position
next to O. For example, if O occupies the third position, P, T, R and N can occupy the
second, fourth, fifth or sixth positions. See Figure 2(b). So, the remaining 4 letters can
be arranged in the four places in 4! ways. Thus, we can choose a postion for O in four
ways and, after that, we can arrange the remaining 4 letters in 4! ways. So, the total
number of ways in which A can occupy the first position is 4 × 4! = 96.

A
(a) Positions available for the letter O

O A
(b) Positions available for T, R, O, N if O occupies the first position

Fig. 3:

Case 2 Suppose A occupies the last position. Again, arguing as in case 1, the number
of arrangements in this case is 96.

Case 3 Now, suppose A occupies a position in between. There are 4 possibilities in

this case. In this case, O cannot occupy any of the adjacent positions. For example, if A
occupies the third position, O cannot occupy the second or fourth positions.
See Figure 3(a). This figure shows a particular situation where A occupies the third
position. So, O can occupy any of the remaining 3 positions. After A and O are allotted
positions, there are 4 positions left. See Figure 3(b). This figure shows a particular
situation where A occupies the third position and O occupies the first position. The
remaining 4 letters can occupy any of the 4 positions in 4! ways. So, the total number
of ways in this case 4 × 3 × 24 = 288.
Taking all the three cases together, there are 96 + 96 + 288 = 480 ways in which this
can be done.
∗∗∗
Now, try this exercise to check if you have understood the discussion. in the above
example.
61
Algebra

E7) Five boys are to be allotted hostel rooms. Anand plays loud music in his room till
late hours of the night, so Shirish doesn’t want a room next to him. In how many
ways can you allot the rooms?

We conclude the section on permutations here. In the next section, we will take up
combinations, where we study the number of ways of selecting objects when the order
of selection does not matter.

7.4 COMBINATIONS

Let us start our discussion with a situation that involves combinations. Suppose your
uncle takes you to a ready made garments shop and tells you that you can buy any two
shirts from the shop. If the shirts are available in four colours, in how many ways can
you select the shirts? Will this be P(4,2)? To see why not, let us denote the shirts of the
four different colours by S1 , S2 , S3 and S4 . Notice here that the order of selecting the
shirts does not matter. So, the different ways of selecting two shirts is

1) {S1 , S2 } 2) {S1 , S3 } 3) {S1 , S4 } 4) {S2 , S3 }

(5)
5) {S2 , S4 } 6) {S3 , S4 }

So, there are 6 different ways and this is not equal to P(4, 2) = 12. Of course, here,
the number of choices is small, so we can easily write down the possibilities. We would
like to have a general formula that will enable us to solve problems involving larger
numbers, for example choosing 7 out of 10 objects.
What do we know already? We know that if the order of choosing shirts also matters,
the number of ways of choosing 2 shirts is P(4, 2) = 12 ways. So, we have
   
 Number of ways of selecting   Number of ways of selecting 
2 shirts out to four shirts = 2× 2 shirts out to four shirts (6)
   
if the order matters if the order does not matter

Is this number 2 in Eqn. (6) a coincidence or is it related to the fact that we are choosing
2 shirts?
Let us look at the various choices available to us when the order doesn’t matter.
Corresponding to the choice {S1 , S2 }, there are two different ways of selecting the
shirts when the order matters; we can choose S1 first or S2 first. Let us denote these
choices by (S1 , S2 ) and (S2 , S1 ). We have used round brackets instead of flower
brackets to show that the order matters here. Note here, that (S1 , S2 ) and (S2 , S1 ) are
the 2! = 2 permutations of {S1 , S2 }. Similarly, for each of the six choices for selecting
the shirts given in Eqn. (5) when the order doesn’t matter, we get two ways of selecting
the shirts when the order matters. This explains the factor 2 appearing in Eqn. (6). So,
our guess is that if the number of shirts is r, there will be a factor of r!.
In fact, this is true. We can argue as follows: For each way of choosing r objects out of
n objects, there are r! permutations of the objects we have chosen. So, for each way of
choosing r objects when order doesn’t matter, there are r! ways of selecting r objects
when order matters. So,
   
 Number of ways of selecting   Number of ways of selecting 
r objects out of n objects = r! × r objects out of n objects (7)
   
if the order matters if the order does not matter

62
Let us now fix up a notation for denoting the number of ways of selecting r objects out Permutations and
of n objects when the order of selection is immaterial. Let us denote this by C(n,r). Combinations
With this notation, from Eqn. (7) on the facing page, we have

P(n, r) = r! × C(n, r)

Dividing both sides of the equation above by r!, we get C stands for combination.

P(n, r)
C(n, r) =
r!
Using Eqn. (4b) on page 60, we get

n!
C(n, r) = (8)
(n − r)!r!

There is another formula for C(n,r) that is more useful from the point of view of
computation. Let us now derive this formula. We have,
P(n, r)
C(n, r) =
r!
n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1)
= using Eqn. (4a) on page 60.
r!
Thus, we have the following formula for C(n,r).

n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1)
C(n, r) = (9)
r!

Remark: Notice that, if we replace r by n − r in Eqn. (8), the formula remains

unchanged! If we replace r by n − r, we have
n!
C(n, n − r) =
(n − (n − r))! × (n − r)!
n! n!
= = = C(n, r)
r! × (n − r)! (n − r)!r!
Thus,

C(n, r) = C(n, n − r) (10)

This will be very useful when we have large values of r. For example, using the
formula, instead of evaluating C(6,4) which is 6×5×4×3
1×2×3×4 , we can evaluate
6×5
C(6, 6 − 4) = C(6, 2) which is 1×2 which is clearly an easier expression.
Let us now look at a few examples to understand how to apply the formula in Eqn. (9).
Example 9: In how many ways can you select 4 dresses for a trip if you have 6
dresses?
Solution: Here n = 6, r = 4 and n − r + 1 = 3. So,
3
6×5
C(6, 4) = C(6, 2)
1 × 2×
= 15
∗∗∗
Try a few similar exercises now to see if you can apply the formula in Eqn. (8).

E8) If you want to borrow 5 novels by your favourite author from your friend and your
friend has 7 novels, in how many different ways can you do so? 63
Algebra E9) In a pack of cards, in how many ways can you select three cards from the ♣
suit.(Note that there are 13 cards in each of the 4 suits, ♠, ♣, ♥ and ♦.)

Let us now look at a slightly more complicated example.

Example 10: In the annual day of a school function, the school was planning to have 3
plays, 3 group singing programmes and 4 recitals. However, the chief guest for the
function turned up late. So, to make up for the time lost, the school decided to hold
only 2 plays, 2 group singing programmes and 2 recitals. If all the programmes are
about 10 minutes long, in how many ways can these programmes be selected?
3×2
Solution: Two out of three plays can be selected in C(3, 2) = 1×2 = 3 ways. Two out
3×2
of three group singing programmes can be selected in C(3, 2) = 1×2 = 3 ways. Two
4×3
out of four recitals can be selected in C(4, 2) = 1×2 = 6 ways. So, by multiplication
principle, the total number of ways of selecting the programmes is 3 × 3 × 5 = 45.
∗∗∗
Here is an example for you to check for yourself if you have understood example 10.

E10) A question paper is in 3 parts. In the first part, there are 15 questions and the
candidate can answer any ten questions. In the second part, there are 5 questions
and the candidate can answer any three of them. In the third part there are 4
questions and the candidate can answer any two of them. In how many ways can
the student attempt the question paper?

We conclude our discussion of combinations here. As an application of combinations,

we will discuss Binomial theorem in the next section.

7.5 BINOMIAL THEOREM

In your earlier classes you may have learnt the identities for (a + b)2 , (a + b)3 , etc. As
an application of the counting techniques studied so far, we will study a generalisation
of these identities. We will also see some applications of the Binomial Theorem like
calculating approximate square roots and cube roots of numbers.
As you can see below, (a + b)2 and (a + b)3 can be computed by multiplication.
(a + b)2 = (a + b) · (a + b)
= a2 + ab + ab + b2
= a2 + 2ab + b2
(a + b)3 = (a + b) · (a + b)2 = (a + b) · (a2 + 2ab + b2 )
= a3 + 2a2 b + ab2 + a2 b + 2ab2 + b3
= a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3
Here, we have to simplify 4 terms if we use expansion for (a + b)3 . For (a + b)4 , we
will have to simplify 8 terms if we use the expansion for (a + b)3 . Here, we have made
use of the expansions for the smaller powers. If we do not use the expansions for
smaller powers, we will need to simplify 24 = 16 terms. In general, we need to
simplify 2n terms if we do not use the expansion for smaller powers. Let us see if we
can use the counting techniques that we have learnt so far. Let us apply them to
evaluate (a + b)4 . For this let us analyse what are the possible terms we can get.

(a + b)4 = (a + b) · (a + b) · (a + b) · (a + b) (11)
| {z } | {z } | {z } | {z }
1st term 2nd term 3rd term 4th term
64
1) Choose a from all the four terms of the product in Eqn. (11) on the facing page. Permutations and
This automatically means that we are not choosing b from any of the terms. There Combinations
is only one way of doing this. This choice will give us the term a4 .
2) Choose a from three of the four terms of the product in Eqn. (11) on the preceding
page and b from the fourth term left. (For example, we can choose a from the first,
third and the fourth term and b from the third term.) This will give us a3 b. But,
there are C(4,3) ways of choosing the three terms from the four terms. So, this will
gives the term C(4,3)a3 b = 4a3 b.
3) Choose a from any two of the four terms and b from the remaining two terms.
There are C(4,2) ways of choosing two of the four terms. So, this will give the
term C(4, 2)a2 = 6a2 b2
4) Choose a from any one of the four terms and b from any of the 3 remaining three
terms in Eqn. (11) on the facing page. The number of ways of choosing 1 out of 4
terms is C(4,1). This will give us the term ab3 .
5) Choose a from none of the terms, in other words, we choose b from all the four
terms. This can be done in only one way and this gives the term b4 .
Adding all the five terms we get,

(a + b)4 = a4 + C(4, 1)a3 b + C(4, 2)a2 b2 + C(4, 3)ab3 + b4

Let us now analyse the expansion of (a + b)n .

(a + b)n = (a + b) · (a + b) · · · (a + b) (12)
| {z }
n times

Suppose we select a from k terms and b from n − k terms in Eqn. (12). The k terms
which we select a can be chosen in C(n,k) ways. So, there are C(n,k) terms of the type
ak bn−k . Thus, we have

(a + b)n = an + C(n, n − 1)an−1 b + C(n, n − 2)an−2 b2 + · · ·

(13)
+ C(n, 1)abn−1 + bn

Let us now see how to apply the theorem by looking at some examples.
Omar Khayyam
Example 11: Expand the following using Binomial Theorem: (1048AD–1131AD)
1) (x + 2)5 The Binomial Theorem for
2) (x + 2y)5 natural numbers is due to
Omar Khayyam, a Persian
3) (3a + 2b)4 Poet and Mathematician.
Solution:
1) From Eqn. (13) we have
(a + b)5 = a5 + C(5, 4)a4 b + C(5, 3)a3 b2 + C(5, 2)a2 b3 + C(5, 1)ab4 + b5
= a5 + 5a4 b + 10a3 b2 + 10a2 b3 + 5ab4 + b5 (14)
Substituting x for a and 2 for b in Eqn. (14), we have
(x + 2)5 = x5 + 5x4 (2) + 10x3 (2)2 + 10x2 (2)3 + 5x(2)4 + 25
= x5 + 10x4 + 40x3 + 80x2 + 80x + 32
2) We have
(a + b)4 = a4 + C(4, 3)a3 b + C(4, 2)a2 b2 + C(4, 1)ab3 + b4
= a4 + 4a3 b + 6a2 b2 + 4ab3 + b4 (15)
Substituting x for a and 2y for b, we get,
(x + 2y)4 = x4 + 4x3 (2y) + 6x2 (2y)2 + 4x(2y)3 + (2y)4
= x4 + 8x3 y + 24x2 y2 + 32xy3 + 16y4
3) Substituting 3a for a and 2b for b in Eqn. (15), we get

(3a + 2b)4 = (3a)4 + 4(3a)3 (2b) + 6(3a)2 (2b)2 + 4(3a)(2b)3 + (2b)4 65

Algebra = 81a4 + 216a3 b + 216a2 b2 + 96ab3 + 16b4
∗∗∗
Here are some exercises for you to give you practice in applying the Binomial Theorem.

E11) Expand the following using Binomial Theorem:

1) (x + 3)6
2) (2x + 3y)5
 
1 4
3) xy + 2
x

Let us now look at some applications of the Binomial Theorem. However, for the
applications we have in mind, we need a more general version of this theorem.
Theorem 1(General Version): We have
α(α − 1) 2 α(α − 1)(α − 2) 3
(1 + x)α = 1 + αx + x + x + ··· (16)
( 2! 3!
x if x ≥ 0
|x| = where |x| < 1 and α is a real number.
−x if x < 0
The proof of this general version is beyond the scope of this course. Notice that:
1) This expansion is infinite. So, what is the meaning of the equality sign
in Eqn. (16)? Well, it means that if we take more and more terms of the series, the
value comes closer and closer to the value of the left hand side. This will become
more clear when we solve some examples. A rigorous discussion of infinite series
is beyond the scope of this course.
1) |x| has to be less than 1. Otherwise, we cannot use this expansion because, in this
case, the value of the right hand side goes on increasing in magnitude as we add
more and more terms. For this reason, we cannot assign a meaningful value to the
right hand side.
Sir Isaac Newton
Let us now use Eqn. (16) for finding approximate values.
1643–1727
The Binomial Theorem Example 12: Find the cube root of the following number up to three decimal places.
for rational indices is due 1) 1.02. 2) 0.89
to Sir Isaac Newton, an
English Mathematician. Solution:
1) We have (1.02)1/3 = (1 + .02)1/3 . Here, |.02| < 1. So, we can use Theorem 1.
Here α = 31 .
1 1


1/3 1 3 3 −1
(1 + .02) = 1 + (0.02) + (0.02)2 + · · · (17)
3 2
We have to find the value correct to 3 decimal places. Since the value of the fourth
decimal place could affect the third decimal place when we round off the fourth
digit, we have to calculate the first, second and third terms. We have
3(3
1 1
−1)
2 (0.02)2 = .0004
9 = .00004. Since fourth digit is 0, we can omit this term.
1/3
(1.03) = 1 + .0067
= 1.007 (Correct to three decimal places)
2) Here 0.89 = 1 − (0.11) = 1 + (−0.11). Also, | − 0.11|

= 0.11 < 1.
1 1
1 −1
(1 − 0.11)1/3 = 1 + (−0.11) + 3 3 (−0.11)2
3
1 2

1 1
3 3 −1 3 −2
+ (−0.11)3
6
1 1
= 1 − 0.11 − (0.0121) − 0.0001 = 0.9619
3 9
66 ∗∗∗
Check if you have understood the computation of approximate values by trying the Permutations and
following exercise. Combinations

E12) Find the approximate value of the following:

1) 1.111/3 2) 0.911/2

We have now reached the end of the Unit. We will summarise our discussion in this
Unit in the next section.

7.6 SUMMARY
In this Unit, We discussed the
1) Multiplication Principle:
If a job can broken down into k smaller jobs, if there are n1 ways of doing job
1, there are n2 ways of performing job 2 after performing the job 1, there are
n3 ways of performing job 3 after performing jobs 1 and 2, and so on, after
performing the (k − 1) jobs there are nk ways of doing job k, then all the jobs
together can be done in n1 × n2 × · · · × nk ways.
2) formulae for number of permutations of r out of n objects:

P(n, r) = n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1)
n!
P(n, r) =
(n − r)!
3) formula for the number of combination of r out of n objects:

n × (n − 1) × · · · × (n − r + 1)
C(n, r) =
r!
4) Binomial theorem for positive integral powers:

(a + b)n = an + C(n, n − 1)an−1 b + C(n, n − 2)an−2 b2 + · · ·

+ C(n, 1)abn−1 + bn

5) Binomial Theorem for real powers:

α(α−1) 2 α(α−1)(α−2) 3
(1 + x)α = 1 + αx + 2! x + 3! x + ···

7.7 SOLUTIONS/ANSWERS

E1) The colour of the walls can be chosen in 2 ways. The colour of the curtain can be
chosen in three ways. So, using multiplication principle, the number of ways of
redecorating the room is 2 × 3 = 6.
E2) The first post can be filled in 4 ways and the second post can be filled in 6 ways.
So, using Eqn. (1) on page 57, both the posts can be filled in 4 × 6 ways.
E3) In this case, the first character can be chosen in 36 ways. The second character
can be chosen in 35 ways because we cannot choose the character that we have
chosen for the first position. Similarly, we can select the third character in 34
ways since we have to avoid the characters that we have chosen for the first two
positions. In a similar way, we can choose the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and
eighth characters in 33, 32, 31 and 30 ways respectively. So, the number of ways
of choosing a password in this case is 36 × 35 × 34 × 33 × 32 × 31 × 30 × 29. 67
Algebra E4) 1) 6! = 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 720.
2) 5! + 2! = (5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) + (2 × 1) = 122.
6×5×4×3×2×1
3) = 30.
4×3×2×1

E5) You can look at the problem as follows: Instead of arranging the passengers, you
can distribute the seats to the passengers. Since there are 6 seats and 4 passengers,
you can distribute them in P(6, 4) = 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 = 360 ways.
E6) Let us find out how many combinations are possible subject to the conditions that
all the three digits are distinct and less than 5. Here there are 6 digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
and 5 which are to be distributed to 3 places. This can be done in
P(6, 3) = 6 × 5 × 4 = 120 ways. So, you may have to try at least 120 different
combinations. This is of course the worst possible. If you are lucky, you may get
the correct number the first time itself!
E7) As before there are three different cases. Shirish occupies the first room, fifth
room or one of the other three remaining rooms. The possibilities in these cases
are 18, 18 and 36 ways respectively. So, the total number of ways is 72.
E8) This is the number of ways of choosing 5 objects from 7 objects and the order of
selecting the novels does not matter. So, the number of ways is C(7,5). Since
C(7,5) is the same as C(7,2) by Eqn. (10) on page 63, we can calculate C(7,2). We
apply Eqn. (9) on page 63 with n = 7, r = 2 and n − r + 1 = 6. We have
C(7, 2) = 7×6
1×2 = 21.
5
13×12×11×10
E9) This can be done in C(13, 4) = = 215 ways.
1×2×3×4
3 7
15×14×13×12×11
E10) The first part can be answered in C(15, 10) = C(15, 5) = = 231
1×2×3×4×5
5×4
ways. The second part can be answered in C(5, 3) = C(5, 2) = 1×2 = 10 ways.
4×3
The third part can be answered in C(4, 2) = 1×2 = 6 ways. So, the question
paper can be answered in 231 × 10 × 6 = 13860 ways.
E11) 1) We have
(a + b)6 = a6 + C(6, 1)a5 b + C(6, 2)a4 b2 + C(6, 3)a3 b3
+C(6, 4)a2 b4 + C(6, 5)ab5 + b6
= a6 + 6a5 b + 15a4 b2 + 20a3 b3 + 15a2 b4
+6ab5 + b6 (18)
Substituting x for a and 3 for b in Eqn. (18), we get
(x + 3)6 = x6 + 6x5 (3) + 15x4 (3)2 + 20x3 (3)3 + 15x2 (3)4
+6x(3)5 + 36
= x6 + 18x5 + 135x4 + 540x3
+1215x2 + 1458x + 729
2) Substituting 2x for a and 5y for b in Eqn. (14) on page 65, we get
(2x + 3y)5 = (2x)5 + 5(2x)4 (3y) + 10(2x)3 (3y)2
+10(2x)2 (3y)3 + 5(2x)(3y)4 + (3y)5
= 32x5 + 240x4 y + 720x3 y2 + 1080x2 y3
+810xy4 + 243y5
3) Substituting xy for a and x12 for b in Eqn. (15) on page 65 we get,
     2
1 4 4 3 1 2 1
xy + 2 = (xy) + 4(xy) 2
+ 6(xy)
x x x2
 3  4
1 1
+4(xy) 2
+
x x2
y2 y 1
= x4 y4 + 4xy3 + 6 2 + 4 5 + 8
68 x x x
E12) i) We have 1.11 = 1 + 0.11. Therefore, Permutations and
1 2 Combinations
1 · −3
(1.11)1/3 = (1 + 0.11)1/3 = 1 + (0.11) + 3 (0.11)2
3 2!
1 2 5 1
· −3 · −3 · − 23 · − 53 · − 83
+3 (0.11)3 − 3 (0.11)4 · · ·
3! 4!
1 1
= 1 + 0.0367 − (0.0121) + 5 4 (.001331)
9 3
1·2·5·8
− 4 (0.0014641) + · · ·
3 · 4!
= 1 + 0.0367 − 0.0013 + .0001 − .0001 = 1.035
ii) We have 0.91 = 1 − 0.09. Therefore,
1
1 · − 12 1
· − 12 · − 23
(0.91)1/2 (1 − 0.09)1/2 = 1 + (−0.09) + 2 (−0.09)2 + 2 (−0.09)3
2 2! 3!
1
· − 12 · − 32 · − 52
−2 (0.09)4
4!
0.0081 .0007
= 1 − 0.045 − − − ···
8 24
= 1 − 0.045 − 0.0010 − 0.0001 = 0.9539

69