Introduction to Combinatory and Graph Theory

Chapter 1: Elementary Counting Principles

Introduction

Combinatory, the study of arrangement of objects, is an important branch of discrete mathematics. It

seeks to answer counting problems without enumerating all possible cases. Combinatorial analysis is
concerned with the methods and principles of counting the number of possible outcomes of some
events without listing them. Enumeration, the counting of objects with certain properties, is an
important part of combinatorics. Counting objects is important in order to analyze algorithms and
compute discrete probabilities. Counting problems arise throughout mathematics, statistics and
computer science. In short combinatorics is called mathematics of enumeration.
For example:

How many two digit even numbers are there that are greater than 58?

How many four digit password can we create using numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4?

We can solve the above problems using counting rules. The basic rules of counting can solve a
tremendous variety of problems in mathematics and computer science.
We will see an efficient way of counting large masses of statistical data. The techniques we develop
in this section will enable us to count:
 The number of ways to perform different tasks
 The number of samples space of an experiment
 The number possible outcomes of an event.
Some key terminologies:
Experiment
An experiment is any process or activity that generates well defined outcomes. For instance, tossing a
coin, rolling a die, play a football match, choosing a prime number less than 100, etc. can be taken as
experiments.
Outcome
An outcome is a particular result of an experiment. For example, getting either head or tail is a
possible outcome of the experiment tossing a coin. Winning, loosing or tie/draw is the possible

1
outcomes of the experiment playing a football match, and getting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 are possible
outcomes of the rolling a die experiment.
Event
Event (E) is a set of desired outcomes of an experiment. It is a specific collection of basic outcomes,
that is, a set containing one or more of the basic outcomes from the sample space. For example, in the
rolling a die experiment, an even number occurs or head occurs when we toss a coin can be taken as
an event.
Sample Space
A sample space (S) is the set of all possible outcomes of an experiment. The sample space of an
experiment is usually illustrated either by a list or some type of diagram- Venn diagrams and tree
diagrams.
The following example shows an illustration of an experiment, outcomes, events and sample space.
Example
Tossing/Flipping a coin twice-------------------- Experiment
Heads or Tails -------------------------------------Outcomes
------------------------------------4 Events
* +---------------------------------- Sample Space
Exercise
Identify the experiment, outcomes, events and sample space for the following questions.
1. Sitting for an exam -----------------------------
Scoring ----------------------------
* + ----------------------------------
Scoring and above ---------------------------
Scoring and above ---------------------------
Scoring or below ----------------------------
2. Football game ------------------------------------------
Win, Lose, Tie/Draw -----------------------------------
* +-------------------------------------------------
Not winning (L, D) -------------------------------------
Not losing (W, D) --------------------------------------

2
Combined Events
We can combine events to form new events using set operations such as union, intersection, etc.
Let and be two events:
 is the event that either or occurs (or both)
 is the event that both and occurs.
 the complement of event , is the event that occurs if does not occur.
Mutually exclusive events/ Disjoint Events
Two events and are called mutually exclusive if they are disjoint. In other words, mutually
exclusive events cannot occur simultaneously and therefore can have no intersection.
That is . In the toss of a single coin, the events of heads and tails are mutually exclusive.
The person tossing the coin gets either a head or a tail but never both.
Exercise
Experiment: Toss a die and observe the number that appears on the top. Then find
a. The sample space S
b. The event that an even number occurs
c. The event that an odd number occurs
d. The event that a prime number occurs.
Notation: The number of outcomes of event E is denoted by ( ) or | |.
1.1 Basic counting principle

It depends on two elementary rules.

 Addition Rule and

 Multiplication Rule

Addition (Sum) Rule

Let 𝐸 and 𝐸 be two mutually exclusive events and let 𝐸 describes the situation where either event 𝐸
or event 𝐸 Suppose
Example: will occur. Theare
there number
maleofand event 𝐸
timesfemale will occurteaching
instructors can be given bymathematics
discrete the expression:
in AAU.
In how many ways can a |𝐸|
student|𝐸choose
| + |𝐸a |discrete instructor in order to take the course?

3
Example: Suppose there are 4 male and 3 female instructors teaching discrete mathematics in AAU.
In how many ways can a student choose a discrete instructor in order to take the course?

Solution: The student faced with two tasks and he/she is forced to choose either male or female
instructors.

Given | | and | | . Thus, by addition rule, the student can perform the task in

| | | |+| | + ways.

Example: If there are boys and girls in a class, there are + ways of selecting
student (either a boy or a girl) as class representative.

Example: If is the task of choosing a positive composite number less than and is the task of
choosing a positive odd number less than in how many ways either event or event can be
accomplished.

Solution: The task can be performed in ( ) ways since * + and the task can
be performed in ( ) ways, since * +. However, or cannot be
accomplished in | | + | | + ways. This is because the number is both a composite and an
odd number less than Note that the two tasks are not mutually exclusive.

Exercise: In how many ways a number can be choose from 1 to 22 such that

a. If it is a multiple of 3 or 8.
b. If it is a multiple of 4 or 7.

The addition rule can be extended beyond two tasks as long as no pair of tasks can occur
simultaneously.

Generalized Addition Rule

Suppose tasks 𝐸 𝐸 … 𝐸𝑘 can be performed in 𝑛 𝑛 … 𝑛𝑘 ways respectively. If no two of the

tasks can be performed at the same time, then the number of ways in which anyone of the tasks 𝐸
𝑘
or 𝐸 … 𝐸𝑘 can be performed is: 𝑖= 𝐸𝑖 |𝐸 | + |𝐸 | + ⋯ + |𝐸𝑛 | 𝑛 + 𝑛 + ⋯ + 𝑛𝑘

4
We can give another formulation in terms of sets. Let … be pairwise disjoint sets.

Then | … | | |+| |+⋯ +| |

Example: One can reach city from city by sea, air and road. Suppose that there are ways by
sea, ways by air and ways by road. Then by (AP), the total number of ways from to by sea, air
or road is + +

Exercise: In how many ways we can select a number from 1 to 34 which is a multiple of 5, 7 or 11?

Multiplication Rule

Suppose a procedure 𝐸 can be accomplished with two disjoint subtasks. If there are 𝑚 ways of doing
the first task and 𝑛 ways of doing the second task, then there are 𝑚𝑛 ways of doing the overall
procedure.

Example: How many two digit even numbers are there those are greater than

Solution: One way is counting them as shown below.

and count them as

Is there another method? The digits in the units place can be any one of the five digits this
because the numbers are even. The digits in the place is because the number is greater
than

Example: Suppose there are three towns A, B and C. If there are roads from town to town and
roads from town to town , in how many ways a person travel from town to town via

5
 Solution: Let‟s count the number of different routes we can take in travelling from A to C. We have
two choices of route from A to B. For each of these we choose, when we reach B we have three
choices of route from B to C. So the total number of routes from A to C is 2 × 3.

Example: Find the number of routes from A to C if there are 3 roads from A to B and 4 from B to C.

Solution: There are 3 choices of route from A to B. For each of these, there are 4 choices from B to
C. So there are 3 × 4 = 12 choices of route from A to C.

Exercise: Suppose there are 3 roads from A to B, 4 roads from B to C and 3 roads from C to another
town, D. How many possible routes are there?

Solution: As above, there are 12 choices of route from A to C. For each of these, there are 3 choices
from C to D. So there are 12×3 (i.e. 3×4×3) choices of route from A to D.

Exercise: How many two digit numbers can be formed using the numbers and so that

a. No number is repeated?
b. Number is repeated?

Generalized Product Rule

If a task consists of 𝑘 separate sub -tasks 𝐸 𝐸 … 𝐸𝑘 . If the sub-tasks 𝐸 𝐸 … 𝐸𝑘 can be performed in

𝑛 𝑛 … 𝑛𝑘 ways respectively, then the entire task can be performed in

|𝐸 | |𝐸 | … |𝐸𝑛 | 𝑛 𝑛 … 𝑛𝑘 ways.

Example: How many four-digit must positive integers both start and end in even digits?

Solution: The first digit must come from the 4-element set * +, whereas the last digit must
come from the 5-element set * + The second and the third digits must come from the 10-
element set * … +. Therefore, the total number of such positive integers is

Example: A license plate has 3 letters followed by three numbers. How many different license plates
are there?

6
 Solution: There are 26 choices for each letter and 10 choices for each digit. You can use the
fundamental counting principle to find the number of different plates.

Number of plates = 26 x 26 x 26 x 10 x 10 x 10 = 17,576,000

 The number of different license plates is 17,576,000.

Example: A license plate has 3 letters followed by three numbers. Every letter and number must now
be unique. How many different license plates are there?

Solution: If you cannot repeat digits there are still 10 choices for the first digit, but then only 9
remaining choices for the second digit and only 8 remaining choices for the third digit. Similarly,
there are 26 choices for the first letter, 25 choices for the second letter, and 24 choices for the third
letter. You can use the fundamental counting principle to find the number of different plates.

Number of plates = 10 x 9 x 8 x 26 x 25 x 24 = 11,232,000

 The number of different license plates is 11,232,000.

Example: Find the number of positive divisors of inclusive of and itself.

Solution: We first note that the number has a unique prime factorization, namely,

It thus follows that a positive integer is a divisor of if and only if is

of the form , where such that and
Accordingly, the number of positive divisors of is the number of ways to form the triples
( ) where * + * + * + , which by(MP) is equal to

Remark: BY applying (MP) in a similar way, one obtains the following general result.

𝑘1 𝑘2
In general, if a natural number 𝑛 has as its prime factorization, 𝑛 𝑝 𝑝 … 𝑝𝑟 𝑘𝑟 where the 𝑝𝑖 𝑠 are
distinct primes and the 𝑘𝑖 𝑠 are positive integers, then the number of positive divisors of 𝑛 is given by:
𝑟
(𝑘 + )(𝑘 + ) … (𝑘𝑟 + ) 𝑖= (𝑘𝑖 + )

Exercise: Find the number of factors of

7
 Summary of Addition and Product Rules

Exercise: Suppose a college has Chinese books, English books and French books. Then find

a. The number of ways a student can choose just one of the books.
b. The number of ways a student can choose one of each kind of languages.
c. The number of ways a student can choose two books of different languages.

Factorial

The product of the first consecutive positive integers is called n-factorial denoted by and defined
as:

𝑛 … (𝑛 − ) 𝑛 𝑛 (𝑛 − ) … or

𝑛 𝑛(𝑛 − )

If 𝑛 , then we define

Example:

Permutation and Combination

Many counting problems can be solved by finding the number of ways to arrange a specified number
of distinct elements of a set of a particular size, where the order of the elements matter and does not
matter.

Example: How many ways are there of placing and in a row?

There are six ways namely, and .

8
 Exercise: How many different committees of three students can be formed from a group of five
students?

Permutation

An arrangement of a set of objects in a given order is called permutation of the objects (taken all at
a time). The fundamental counting principle can be used to determine the number of permutations of
n objects. For instance, you can find the number of ways you can arrange the letters A, B, and C by
multiplying. There are 3 choices for the first letter, 2 choices for the second letter, and 1 choice for
the third letter, so there are 3 x 2 x 1 = 6 ways to arrange the letters.

Permutations of n objects taken r at a time

An arrangement of any 𝑟 𝑛 objects in a given order is called an r- permutation or a permutation of 𝑛

objects taken 𝑟 at a time.

Notation: The number of permutation of 𝑛 objects taken 𝑟 at a time denoted by

𝑛
𝑃(𝑛 𝑟) 𝑛𝑃𝑟 𝑛𝑃𝑟 or 𝑃 𝑟
.

Example: Consider the set of letters and

1. … are permutation of letters(taken all at a time).

2. … are permutations of letters taken at a time(3-permutation).
3. … are permutations of the letters taken at a time(2-permutation).

Now let‟s work out a general formula for the number of arrangements of different objects taken at
a time. Here there are boxes to fill.

The first can be filled in n ways.

The second can be filled in (n − 1) ways.

The third can be filled in (n − 2) ways.

···

The rth box can be filled in n − (r − 1) = (n − r + 1) ways.

9
 So the total number of arrangements is

( − ) ( − )… ( − + )

( − )( − ) … ( − + )( − ) …
( − )

( )

Here we multiplied top and bottom by( − ) ( − − ) … . We denote this

as .

Therefore, the number of permutations of 𝑟 objects taken from a group of 𝑛 distinct objects is denoted by 𝑛𝑃𝑟
and is given by:

𝑛
𝑛𝑃𝑟 (𝑛 𝑟)

Remark: One can show that there are exactly permutations of the distinct objects. In fact, we
can use the Generalized Product Rule. There are possible outcomes of experiment 1, − for the
second, etc.

Thus, the number of permutations of distinct objects is:

( − ) …

permutations of n objects.

Example: Evaluate a) ( ) b) ( )

Solution: a) ( ) ( )

b) ( ) ( )

Exercise: Solve for in each of the following.

a) ( ) b) ( )

10
 Solution: a) ( )
( )
, by definition

( )( )
( )

( − ) −

− −

( + )( − )

− or .

But − is rejected since * + Thus, the value of

b) Exercise

Example: You are considering 10 different colleges. Before you decide to apply to the colleges, you
want to visit some or all of them. In how many orders can you visit (a) 6 of the colleges and (b) all 10
colleges?

Solution: a. the number of permutations of 10 objects taken 6 at a time is:

( )

b. the number of permutations of 10 objects taken 10 at a time is:

( )

Example: There are boys and girls in a gathering. In how many ways can they be arranged in a
row so that

a. the girls form a single block(i.e. there is no boy between any two of the girls)?
b. the two end-positions are occupied by boys and no girls are adjacent?

Solution: a) Since the girls must be together, we can treat them as a single entity. The number of
ways to arrange boys together with this entity is ( + ) As the girls can permute among
themselves within the entity in Ways, then the total number of ways is, by (MP),

11
 c) We first consider the arrangements of boys and then those of girls. There are Ways to
arrange the boys. Fix an arbitrary one of the arrangements. Since the end-positions are
occupied by boys, there are only spaces between the boys are available for the girls
and .

has choices. Since no two girls are adjacent, has choices and has Thus by (MP), the
number of such arrangements is

Permutations with objects repeated

The number of permutations of 𝑛 different objects taken 𝑟 at a time, when each object can be repeated any
number of times in an arrangement is: 𝑛 𝑛 … 𝑛 𝑛𝑟

Example: A multiple-choice test has questions with four possible answers for each question.
How many different sets of answers are possible?

Solution: There are … different possible answers.

Exercise: In how many ways can three awards be given to artist, when each artist is eligible for all
a wards?

So far you have been finding permutations of distinct objects. If some of the objects are repeated,
then some of the permutations are not distinguishable.

For instance, of the six ways to order the letters M, O, and M:

MOM OMM MMO

MOM OMM MMO

12
 Only three are distinguishable without bold: MOM, OMM, and MMO. In this case, the number of

permutations is , not

Permutation with repetition

Consider a collection of 𝑛 objects, in which 𝑛 are of type , 𝑛 are of type … and 𝑛𝑟 are of type 𝑟
where 𝑛 + 𝑛 + ⋯ + 𝑛𝑟 𝑛 The number of different permutations of the collection of objects, denoted
by 𝑃(𝑛; 𝑛 𝑛 … 𝑛𝑟 ), is given by

𝑛
𝑛 𝑛 … 𝑛𝑟

EXAMPLE: Finding Permutations with Repetition

Find the number of distinguishable permutations of the letters in (a) OHIO and (b) MISSISSIPPI.

Solution: a. OHIO has 4 letters of which O is repeated 2 times. So, the number of distinguishable

permutations is

b. MISSISSIPPI has 11 letters of which I is repeated 4 times, S is repeated 4 times, and P is

repeated 2 times. So, the number of distinguishable permutations is

Exercise: (permutations without repetition) find the number of distinguishable permutations of the
letters in the word:

a. HI e. PENCIL
b. JET f. FLORIDA
c. IOWA g. MAGNETIC
d. TEXAS h. GOLDFINCH

Exercise: (permutations with repetition) find the number of distinguishable permutations of the
letters in the word:

13
 a. DAD e. ALGEBRA
b. PUPPY f. ALABAMA
c. OREGON g. MISSOURI
d. LETTER h. CONNECTICUT

Exercise: How many distinct arrangement we can perform using green, 3 yellow and 2 red balls.

CIRCULAR PERMUTATIONS

You have learned that represents the number of ways that n objects can be placed in a linear order,
where it matters which object is placed first. There are permutations which require arranging objects
in a circle so it does not matter which object is placed first. Circular permutation (arrangement) is an
arrangement of distinct objects on a circle. Two circular arrangements are the same if each element
has the same „clockwise adjacent‟ element. In other words, two circular permutations are identical if
any one of them can be obtained by a rotation of the other.

Consider the problem of arranging distinct objects around a circle. Then the three
arrangements of : are different in a line, but are identical around a circle.

To calculate the number of ways in which n objects can be arranged in a circle, we arbitrarily fix the
position of one object, so the remaining (n-1) objects can be arranged as if they were on a straight line
in ( − ) ways.

Therefore, the number of permutation of 𝑛 objects around a circle, taken altogether, is given by:

𝑄𝑛𝑛 (𝑛 − )

Exercise: In how many ways can boys and girls be seated around a table?

Example: At a dinner party 6 boys and 6 girls sit at a round table. In how many ways can they sit if:

a. there are no restrictions

Solution: The number of ways is ( − )

b. boys and girls alternate

14
Solution: A girl must follow a boy and vice versa. First the boys arranged in ( − ) ways.
Then the girls must fill up spaces, one between each two adjacent boys. Since there are spaces
for girls to fill, there are ways to arrange the girls. The total number of such arrangement is their
product .

Exercise: How many ways are there to arrange boys and girls around a table such that no two
boys are next to each other?

Solution: The boys can first be seated in ( − ) ways. The girls can then be seated in the
spaces between two boys in Ways. Thus the number of such arrangements is ( − ) .

Exercise: How many ways can 8 people sit around a circular table if

a. there are no restrictions

Solution: The number of ways is ( − )

b. Alice and Bob must sit next to each other

Solution: Treat Alice and Bob as a single entity and then arrange “people” in a circle. There are
two ways to combine Alice and Bob (Alice on the left or Bob on the left) and ways to arrange
people in a circle giving a total of

c. Alice and Bob won‟t sit next to each other

Solution: Simply subtract the number of ways the 8 people can be seated with Alice and Bob
adjacent which we computed in problem from the total number of ways 8 people can sit around a
circular table without any restriction to get − ( − )

Combination

A combination of elements taken at a time is any selection of of the elements where order does
not matter. Such a selection is called an r-combination; it is simply a subset with elements.

It is denoted by ( )

Example: List all combinations of the objects taken objects at a time.

15
Solution: There are combinations of the objects taken at a time:
and .

Any combination of objects taken at a time determines permutations of the objects in the
combination. Thus the formula for combinations of n objects taken r at a time can be found by first
looking at the permutations of n objects taken r at a time and then dividing by the number of
permutations of r objects taken r at a time.

( ) ( )

( )
( ) ( )

The number of combinations of 𝑛 elements taken 𝑟 at a time, where 𝑟 𝑛, is given by

𝑛
𝐶(𝑛 𝑟) 𝑟 (𝑛 𝑟)

Note: The difference between a permutation and a combination of a set of objects is that: A
permutation is an arrangement of certain objects and thus the ordering of objects is important,
whereas a combination is just a set of objects and thus the ordering of objects is immaterial.

Example: In how many ways can a committee of five be chosen from a group of members of an
association?

Solution:

( )
( − )

Example: A farmer buys cows, pigs, and hens from a man who has cows, pigs and hens.
Find the number of choices that the farmer has.

Solution:

Exercise: A class has male students and female students. How many ways can the class select
a committee of people if the committee has to include males and females?

16
Solution:

Exercise: In how many ways can players be chosen from a group of players if

a. the players are selected at random Ans.

b. a particular player must be included Ans.

c. a certain player must be excluded Ans.

Exercise: In how many ways a committee of be formed from a group of people consisting of
teachers and students if

a. There is no restriction in the selection?

Solution: The number of ways is ( )

b. The committee must include exactly teachers?

Solution: We first select teachers from and then ( − ) students from

 The number of ways is

c. The committee must include at least teachers?

Solution: There are two cases: either teachers or teachers are in the committee. In the first case,
the number of ways is while in the second case, the number of ways is

Thus by (AP), the desired number of ways is +

d. A particular teacher and a particular student cannot both in the committee?

Solution: Let be the particular teacher and be the particular student. First find a committee of
which includes both and . This can be formed by taking both and from the
remaining people. Thus the number of ways to form a committee of including is
.

17
  The number of ways to form a committee of which does not include both and is
− −

Complementary Combinations

Two combinations and are said to be complementary combinations if +

 Two complementary combinations are equal. That is,

Example:

Example: Prove that

+ where with

( ) ( )
Proof: + ( )( )
+ ( )

( ) ( )( )
( )
+ ( )

( ) ( )( )
( )( )

( )( )
( )( ) ( )

Exercise: Decide whether each of the following problems involves a permutation or a combination
and then work out the answer.

a. How many 4 digit numbers can be made from the digits 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 if no repetition of
digits is allowed.
b. A student has to answer 8 out of 10 questions in an exam. How many different choices has
she?
c. How many different car number plates can be made if each plate contains 3 different letters
followed by 3 distinct digits?
d. How many ways are there of playing a game of lotto requiring you to select 6 correct numbers
out of 44?

18
 The Binomial Theorem

The quantities are called binomial coefficients in the expansion of positive integer powers
of ( + ) , where

Example: ( + ) + +

( + ) + + +

( + ) + + + +

The binomial Theorem: If 𝑛 and 𝑟 are non-negative integers, where 𝑟 𝑛, then

𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
(𝑥 + 𝑦)𝑛 ( ) 𝑥𝑛 + ( ) 𝑥𝑛 𝑦 + ( ) 𝑥𝑛 𝑦 + ⋯ ( ) 𝑥𝑦 𝑛 + ( ) 𝑦𝑛
𝑛− 𝑛
𝑛
𝑛
∑ ( ) 𝑥𝑛 𝑟 𝑦𝑟
𝑟
𝑟=

Special cases of the binomial theorem

1. If , then

( + ) ( )+( ) + ( ) +⋯ ( ) + ( )
−
2. If , then

( ) ( )+( )+ ( )+⋯ +( )+ ( ) ∑( )
−
=

3. If and − , then

( ) − ( ) + ( ) − ( ) + … + (− ) ( ) ∑(− ) ( )
=

Example: Find the expansion of ( + ) .

Solution: Using binomial theorem:

( + ) ( ) +( ) + ( ) +( ) + ( ) + ( )

+ + + + +

19
Example: Find the expansion of ( + ) .

Solution: Using binomial theorem:

( + ) ( ) +( ) ( )+ ( ) ( ) +( ) ( ) + ( )( )

+ ( )+ ( )+ ( ) + ( )

+ + + +

Exercise: Expand ( + )

Ans. ( + ) + + + + + +

Exercise: Expand ( − )

Example: What is the coefficient of in the expansion of ( + )

Solution: Using binomial theorem: ( + ) ∑ =

Then the coefficient of in the expansion of ( + ) is . In our case and

hence the coefficient is

Example: What is the coefficient of in the expansion of ( − )

Solution: Using binomial theorem: ( − ) ∑ = ( ) (− )

Then the coefficient of in the expansion of ( − ) is ( ) (− ) . In our case

and hence the coefficient is ( ) (− )

The Pascal’s Triangle

The binomial coefficients can be in a triangular form from top to bottom and left to right in
increasing order of the values of and respectively, as shown in the figure below. This diagram is
called the Pascal triangle, after the renowned French mathematician Blaise Pascal.

20
 ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

The principle of Inclusion and Exclusion (PIE)

Recall the addition principle (AP): if … are pairwise disjoint finite sets, then (
… ) ∑= ( ). Can we find a formula for ( … ) in the case where
the given sets are not necessarily disjoint? The answer is provided by the inclusion-exclusion
formula, which we discuss now. The inclusion-exclusion formula extends the sum rule to a rule for
computing ( … ) in the case where the sets need not be pairwise disjoint.
How do we calculate ( ) for arbitrary finite sets and if ? If , then
in the counting of ( ) and ( ), the elements in are counted exactly twice.

21
The Inclusion-Exclusion Formula

1. 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵) 𝑛(𝐴) + 𝑛(𝐵) − 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵)

We can extend the formula to any finite 𝑛 sets, 𝑛 ≥

For instance, if 𝐴 𝐵 and 𝐶 are three finite sets, then

2. 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵 𝐶) 𝑛(𝐴) + 𝑛(𝐵) + 𝑛(𝐶) − (𝐴 𝐵) − (𝐴 𝐶)𝑛 − (𝐵 𝐶) + 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵 𝐶)

Consider 𝐴 𝐵 and C any finite sets and 𝑈 a universal set. If 𝑛(𝑈) 𝑁, then

a. 𝑛(𝐴𝑐 𝐵𝑐 ) 𝑁 − 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵) 𝑁 − 𝑛(𝐴) − 𝑛(𝐵) + 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵)

b. 𝑛(𝐴𝑐 𝐵𝑐 𝐶𝑐) 𝑁 − 𝑛(𝐴 𝐵 𝐶)

where 𝐴𝑐 denotes the complement of set 𝐴

Example: Let * … +. Find the number of integers in which are divisible by or .

Remark: Before solving the problem, consider the following observations.

1. For each , the number of integers in which are divisible by (or multiples of n) is given

by ⌊ ⌋

2. For each , the greatest integer in is denoted by ⌊ ⌋ and defined as

⌊ ⌋ {

For instance, ⌊ ⌋ ⌊ ⌋
⌊− ⌋ − ⌊ ⌋
3. For , is divisible by both and if and only if is divisible by the LCM of
and .

Bearing these in mind, we will find a solution to the problem.

Solution: For each , let * +. Thus our aim is to find ( ).

To apply (PIE), we first need to perform the following computations.

22
By observation (1), ( ) ⌊ ⌋ ( ) ⌊ ⌋

By observations (1) and (3), ( ) ( ) ⌊ ⌋ Now, by (PIE),

( ) ( )+ ( )− ( )

+ −

Example: Let * … +. Find number of integers in which are divisible by or

Solution: Let be the set of numbers in that are divible by . Then

( ) ⌊ ⌋ ( ) ⌊ ⌋ ( ) ⌊ ⌋

By observations (1) and (3), ( ) ( ) ⌊ ⌋

( ) ( ) ⌊ ⌋

( ) ( ) ⌊ ⌋ and ( ) ( ) ⌊ ⌋

Now, by (PIE),
( )
( )+ ( )+ ( )− ( ) − ( ) − ( )
+ ( )

+ + − − − +

Exercise: How many integers are there in which are divisible by none of

Solution: Given ( ) ( ) and our aim is to find where is the

unuversal set. Now from above example we have ( ) Then

( )− ( ) −

23
 Exercise: Suppose that in a group of students; taking mathematics, taking computer
science, taking information science, taking mathematics and computer science, taking
maths and information science, taking computer science and information science and taking all.

a. How many students are taking at least one subject. Ans. 97

b. How many of them taking none of the subjects. Ans. 3
c. Generalizing the pattern in the preceding example, we arrive at the following formula, known
as the inclusion-exclusion formula.

Inclusion-Exclusion Formula: Suppose 𝑛 > and 𝐴 𝐴 … 𝐴𝑛 are any finite sets. Then

|𝐴 𝐴 … 𝐴𝑛 | ∑𝑛𝑖= (− )𝑘 ∑⬚≤𝑖1 ≤𝑖2 …𝑖𝑘≤𝑛 𝐴𝑖1 𝐴 𝑖2 … 𝐴𝑖𝑘

Example: If , the inclusion - exclusion formula for | | is

| |+| |+ | |+| |− | |− | |− | |− | |−
| |− | |+| |+ | |+| |+
| |− | |
Exercise: A natural number greater than and not exceeding must be prime or divisible by
or . Then find
a. The number of primes not exceeding .
b. The number of natural numbers not exceeding and which are either prime or even.

The Pigeonhole Principle (PP)

If 𝑛 pigeonholes are occupied by 𝑛 + or more pigeons then at least one pigeonhole is occupied by more
than one pigeon. In other words, if 𝑛 is a positive integer and 𝑛 + or more objects are placed into 𝑛 boxes,
then there is at least one box containing two or more of the objects.

Proof: If no boxes contain two or more objects, then each box contains or objects. This implies
that the total number of objects put into boxes is at most , and that is a contradiction (since we
assumed that we had + objects.)
Example: Suppose that a flock of pigeons flies into a set of pigeonholes to rest. Then at least
one of these pigeonholes must have at least two pigeons in it.
Example: If a mathematics department consists of instructors, then at least two of the instructors
(pigeons) were born in the same month (pigeonholes).

24
Example: Among any group of people, there must be at least of the same sex.
Example: In any group of English words, there must be at least two that begin with the same
letter.
Exercise: How many students must be in a class to be sure that at least two students receive the same
score on the final exam, if the exam is graded on a scale to points?

The Generalized Pigeonhole Principle

𝑁
If 𝑁 objects are placed into 𝑘 boxes, then there is at least one box containing at least ⌈𝐾⌉ objects.

Remark: 1. for each , the least integer in is denoted by ⌈ ⌉ and defined as

⌈ ⌉ {

For instance, ⌊ ⌋ ⌊ ⌋
⌊− ⌋ − ⌊ ⌋

2. the smallest integer satisfying the equation ⌈ ⌉ is ( − )+

Example: Among any group of 7 people, there must be at least of the same sex.

Exercise: Among people at least how many people were born in the same month.

Solution: Since there are months as boxes then at least ⌈ ⌉ people were born in the same
month.

Exercise: What is the minimum number of students required in a discrete class to be sure that at least
six will receive the same grade, if there are five possible grades, and

Solution: Let be the minimum number of students such that ⌈ ⌉ Then the smallest such
integer is ( − )+ Thus, is the minimum number of students needed to ensure
that at least six students will receive the same grade.

Exercise: What is the minimum number of students, each of whom comes from one of the regions
of Ethiopia, who must be enrolled in Addis Ababa University to guarantee that there are at least 100
who come from the same state?
Exercise: Find the minimum number of students in a class to be sure that three of them are born in
the same month?

25