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Lesson 4 - Counting Theory (Part 1)

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34 views

Lesson 4 - Counting Theory (Part 1)

Uploaded by

Lester Talledo
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COSC50: DISCRETE STRUCTURES I

LESSON 4: PART 1

COUNTING THEORY
TOPICS COVERED
Basic of Counting

Permutations

Combinations

Discrete Probability
objectives.
define basic counting principles and apply them in
some counting problems
apply permutation to solve counting problems
apply combination to solve counting problems
enumerate discrete probability techniques
define probability theory and apply them in proving
mathematical statements.
Counting seems so easy. It goes like 1, 2, 3, 4 …

In daily lives, many times one needs to find


out the number of all possible outcomes for a
series of events. For instance, in how many ways
can a panel of judges comprising of 6 men and
4 women be chosen from among 50 men and 38
women?
However, there are methods that can help
people count in ways like:

• How many ways to select a pizza and a drink if


there are 3 drinks ad 4 pizza flavor available?
• How many ways can a lotto number be
combined?

It is essential to understand the numbers of all


possible outcomes for a series of events.
For solving these problems, mathematical
theory of counting are used. Counting mainly
encompasses fundamental counting rule, the
permutation rule, and the combination rule.
The rule of sum (Addition Principle) and the rule
of product (Multiplication Principle) are stated as
below.

Rule of Sum - Statement:

If there are n choices for one action, and m choices for


another action and the two actions cannot be done at the
same time, then there are n + m ways to choose one of
these actions.
Rule of Product - Statement:

If there are n ways of doing something, and m ways of


doing another thing after that, then there are n × m
ways to perform both of these actions.
example:
Calvin wants to go to Milwaukee. He can choose from
33 bus services or 22 train services to head from
home to downtown Chicago. From there, he can
choose from 2 bus services or 3 train services to head
to Milwaukee. How many ways are there for Calvin to
get to Milwaukee?

check answer -->


How many ways are there for Calvin to get to
Milwaukee?

answers:
He has 3 + 2 = 5 ways to get to downtown Chicago.
(Rule of sum)
From there, he has 2 + 3 = 5 ways to get to
Milwaukee. (Rule of sum)
Hence, he has 5 x 5 = 25 ways to get to Milwaukee
in total. (Rule of product)
try it yourself!
There are 3 flights from California to France, and 2
flights from France to India. Sanjeet wants to fly from
California to France and then to India.
How many choices does he have for his flight plan?

Choose your answer before going to the next slide:

a) 3 b) 8 c) 2 d) 6
answer: 6!
By the rule of product, there are 3 (flights California
to France) x 2 (flights from France to India) = 6
choices he have for his flight plan from California to
India.

Why rule of product? Because Sanjeet will have to


take both flights to reach India.
try it yourself!
A restaurant offers 5 choices of appetizer, 10 choices
of the main course and 4 choices of dessert. A
customer can choose to eat just one course, or two
different courses, or all three courses. Assuming that
all food choices are available, how many different
possible meals does the restaurant offer?

Note: When you eat a course, you only pick one of the choices.
TRY IT YOURSELF BEFORE CHECKING THE
ANSWER AND THE SOLUTION.
The answer is 329.

A person who eats only an appetizer has 5 choices. A


person who eats only a main meal has 10 choices. A
person who eats only a dessert has 4 choices.

A person who eats an appetizer and a main meal has


5 × 10 = 50 choices. A person who eats an appetizer
and a dessert has 5 × 4 = 20 choices. A person who
eats a main meal and a dessert has 10 × 4 = 40
choices.
continued...
The answer is 329.
A person who eats all three courses has:
5 × 10 × 4 = 200 choices

So the total number of possible meals:


5 + 10 + 4 + 50 + 20 + 40 + 200 = 329
another example w/ tree diagram:
If I have 3 dresses and 4 pairs of jewelry, how many
outfits can I have?

answer:
Dresses and jewelries can be worn all at the same
time. So, in this case, we will use the rule of product.
Given that we have 3 dresses, and 4 pairs of jewelry, 3
x 4 = 12. So, there will be 12 outfits.

tree diagram -->


example:
How many bit strings of length seven are there?

answer:
It is important to analyze the problem. In this case,
the variables we need is a bit string. Bit strings
compose only of 1 or 0. The length must be 7. We
must have 7 seats which is all equivalent to 2. Why 2?
Because, the bit string is 1 and 0 only, and that is
equivalent to 2 bit strings.

solution: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 128
example:
How many different car license plates can be made if
each plate contains a sequence of three uppercase
English letters followed by three digits?

answer:
The problem requires a three uppercase English
letters. We have 26 letters in the English alphabet.
Also, it requires three digits. We have 10 digits (0-9).
Since we need three uppercase letters, we need
three seats equivalent to 26. We also need three
digits. So, there must be 3 seats equivalent to 10.
solution -->
answer: 17, 576, 000 car license plates
The problem requires a three uppercase English
letters. We have 26 letters in the English alphabet.
Also, it requires three digits. We have 10 digits (0-9).
Since we need three uppercase letters, we need three
seats equivalent to 26. We also need three digits. So,
there must be 3 seats equivalent to 10.

solution:
26 x 26 x 26 x 10 x 10 x 10 = 17, 576, 000
the rule of product
The rule of product states that if there are n ways of doing
something, and m ways of doing another thing after that,
then there are n × m ways to perform both of these
actions. In other words, when choosing an option for n and
an option for m, there are n × m different ways to do both
actions.

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