Discrete Structures: Assignment # 10 (Solution) Due: Friday 28th Jun 2019

Problem 1
How many ways are there for 10 women and six men to stand in a line so that no two men stand next to each other? [Hint: First position the women and then
consider possible positions for the men.]
Solution:
P (10, 10) = the number of permutations of women,
P (11, 6) = the number of permutations of men, i.e. there are 11 spots where a man could stand next to a women.
The total number of possible orderings is,
11!
𝑃 (10, 10) 𝑥 𝑃 (11, 6) = 10! . ( ) = 1,207,084,032,000
5!

Problem 2
How many ways are there for a horse race with four horses to finish if ties are possible? [Note: Any number of the four horses may tie.)
Solution: There are 8 possible general situations:

Case 1(4 horses tie for 1st place) - This can be done in 1 way.
Case 2 (3 horses tie for 1st place and 1 comes in 2nd place) – This can be done C (4, 3) or 4 ways
Case 3 (2 horses tie for 1st place and 2 tie for 2nd place) – This can be done in C (4, 2) or 6 ways
Case 4 (2 horses tie for 1st place, 1 horse comes in 2nd and 1 comes in 3rd) – This can be done in 2 times C (4, 2) or 12 ways
Case 5 (1 horse comes in 1st and 3 horses tie for 2nd place) - This can be in C (4, 1) or 4 ways
Case 6 (1 horse comes in 1st, 2 tie for 2nd place, and 1 comes in 3rd place) – This can be done in C (3, 2) times C (4, 1) or 12 ways
Case 7 (1 horse comes in 1st, 1 comes in 2nd, and 2 tie for 3rd place) – This can be done in C (4, 1) times C (3, 1) or 12 ways
Case 8 (1 horse comes in 1st, 1 comes in 2nd, 1 comes in 3rd, and 1 comes in 4 th) – This can be done in P (4, 4) or 24 ways

Total = 1 + 4 + 6 + 12 + 4 + 12 + 12 + 24 = 75
Problem 3
a) What is the coefficient of x101y99 in the expansion of (2x − 3y)200.
𝟐𝟎𝟎!
Solution: 𝑪 (𝟐𝟎𝟎, 𝟏𝟎𝟏) . 𝟐𝟏𝟎𝟏 . (−𝟑)𝟗𝟗 = . 𝟐𝟏𝟎𝟏 . −𝟑𝟗𝟗
𝟏𝟎𝟏!𝟗𝟗!
b) What is the coefficient of x9 in (2 − x)19
𝟏𝟗!
Solution: 𝑪 (𝟏𝟗, 𝟗) . 𝟐𝟏𝟎 . (−𝒙)𝟗 = . 𝟐𝟏𝟎 . (−𝟏)𝟗
𝟏𝟎𝟏!𝟗!

c) Give a formula for the coefficient of xk in the expansion of (10x + 20/x)100, where k is zero i.e. it is just a constant
𝟏𝟎𝟎!
Solution: 𝑪 (𝟏𝟎𝟎, 𝟓𝟎) . 𝟏𝟎𝒙𝟓𝟎 . (𝟐𝟎/𝒙)𝟓𝟎 = . 𝟏𝟎𝟓𝟎 . 𝟐𝟎𝟓𝟎
𝟓𝟎𝟏!𝟓𝟎!

Problem 4
Give a combinatorial proof of the following identities. No algebra at all, write a counting story for the left hand side and prove that if the same story has to be
told in a different perspective, it will yield the right hand side.
a) Pascal’s Identity C(n, r) = C(n-1, r) + C(n-1, r-1)
Solution: .

b) Write the proof of the following identity?

Solution:

c) C(n, r) = C(n, n-r)

Solution:
 d) C(2n, 2) = C(n, 2) + C(n, 2) + n²
Solution:

e) C(n, k) = C(n-2, k) + 2 C(n-2, k-1) + C(n-2, k-2)

Solution:

Problem 5
Give a combinatorial proof that: 1. 2.

[Hint: Count in two ways the number of ways to select a committee and to then select a leader of the committee.]
[Hint: Count in two ways the number of ways to select a committee, with n members from a group of n mathematics professors and n computer science
professors, such that the chairperson of the committee is a mathematics professor.]
Solution:
Part (1)

Part (2)

Problem 6
a) How many non-negative integer solutions are there of the equation: x + y + z + w = 15?
Solution:

b) How many solutions are there to the equation:

𝒙𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑 + 𝒙𝟒 + 𝒙𝟓 = 𝟐𝟓 such that 𝒙𝟏 ≥ 𝟏, 𝒙𝟐 ≥ 𝟓, 𝒙𝟑 ≥ 𝟏𝟓.
Solution:

2
Keeping 𝑥1 = 1, 𝑥2 = 5, 𝑥3 = 15, aside, we are left with 25 − 1 − 5 − 15 = 4.
8!
So new equation is 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 + 𝑥4 + 𝑥5 = 4, which has 𝐶(4 + 5 − 1, 4) = 𝐶(8, 4) = = 70 possible solutions
4!4!

c) How many non-negative integer solutions are there of the equation: x + y + z + w = 15, such that 𝒘 = 𝟓, 𝒛 ≥ 𝟓?
Solution:
Keeping 𝑤 = 5 (fixed amount) aside, we are left with 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 10, 𝑧 ≥ 5. Let us solve this.
Now keep 𝑧 = 5 (at least) aside, we are left with 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 5 (Note, 𝑥 is still in the equation)
7!
So new equation has 𝐶(5 + 3 − 1, 5) = 𝐶(7, 5) = = 21 possible solutions.
5!2!

Problem 7
a) How many possible passwords can be formed from the letters: ASSISTANT_TITAN
Solution:
Total letters are 15.
A occurs 3 times
S occurs 3 times
T occurs 4 times
N occurs 2 times
I occurs 2 times
15!
Total possible passwords =
4!3!3!2!2!
b) How many different strings can be made from the letters in MISSISSIPPI, using all the letters?
Solution:
Total letters are 11
M occurs 1 times
S occurs 4 times
P occurs 2 times
I occurs 4 times
11!
Total possible strings =
1!4!4!2!
c) How many different strings can be made from the letters in ABRACADABRA, using all the letters?
Solution:
Total letters are 11.
A occurs 5 times
B occurs 2 times
C occurs 1 times
D occurs 1 times
R occurs 2 times
11!
Total strings =
5!2!1!1!2!

Problem 8
A toy shop has 15 airplanes, 15 buses, 17 trains, and 20 bikes in the stock.
(a) How many ways are there for a person to take 15 toys home if all the airplanes are identical, all the buses are identical, all the trains are identical and
all the bikes are identical?
18!
Solution: 𝐶(15 + 4 − 1,15) = 𝐶 (18, 15) =
3!15!
(b) How many ways are there for a person to take 15 toys home if all the airplanes are distinct, all the buses are distinct, all the trains are distinct and all
the bikes are distinct?
Solution: Total objects (15 + 15 + 17 + 20 = 67)
67!
Total ways = 𝐶 (67, 15) =
15!52!

(c) How many ways are there for a person to take 25 toys home if all the airplanes are identical, all the buses are identical, all the trains are identical and
all the bikes are identical?
Solution: We have to choose 25 toys, while the equation becomes:
Airplanes + buses + trains + bikes = 25, with airplanes ≤ 15, buses ≤ 15, trains ≤ 17, bikes ≤ 20.
Let us represent all types of toys with variables 𝑤, 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 for simplicity.
𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 25, 𝑤 ≤ 15, 𝑥 ≤ 15, 𝑦 ≤ 17, 𝑧 ≤ 20
We can solve it using principle of inclusion-exclusion as done in the class.

Total solutions without any conditions are:

28! 28.27.26
𝐶(25 + 4 − 1,25) = 𝐶(28,25) = = = 3276
3! 25! 3.2
3
Now the solutions which are not possible (taking compliment of all conditions one-by-one):
A. 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 25, 𝑤 > 15
Keeping at least 𝑤 = 16 aside, ⇒ 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 9
12! 12.11.10
𝐶(9 + 4 − 1, 9) = 𝐶(12, 9) = = = 220 solutions.
3!9! 3.2
B. 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 25, 𝑥 > 15
Keeping at least 𝑥 = 16 aside, ⇒ 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 9
12! 12.11.10
𝐶(9 + 4 − 1, 9) = 𝐶(12, 9) = = = 220 solutions.
3!9! 3.2
C. 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 25, 𝑦 > 17
Keeping at least 𝑦 = 18 aside, ⇒ 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 7
10! 10.9.8
𝐶(7 + 4 − 1, 7) = 𝐶(10, 7) = = = 120 solutions.
3!7! 3.2
D. 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 25, 𝑧 > 20
Keeping at least 𝑧 = 21 aside, ⇒ 𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 4
7! 7.6.5
𝐶(4 + 4 − 1, 4) = 𝐶(7, 4) = = = 35 solutions.
3!4! 3.2

Now we need to take 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵, 𝐴 ∩ 𝐶, 𝐴 ∩ 𝐷, 𝐵 ∩ 𝐶, 𝐵 ∩ 𝐷, 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷 ,these have been double counted so we need to subtract these.

𝐴 ∩ 𝐵:
𝑤 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 25, 𝑤 > 15, 𝑥 > 15
This means, we should keep 16+16 = 32 toys aside, before picking up other combination oftoys. But it is not possible, as we have to pick
maximum 25 toys. So no such solutions possible.

So same argument applies to all other pair-wise intersections as well. Similarly for all triple-intersections and quad-intersections.

So finally, net solutions are:

Total solution without conditions – not allowed solutions = 3276 – 220 – 220 – 120 – 35 = 2681 possible solutions.