University of Gondar
College of Natural & Computational Sciences
Department of Mathematics
Discrete Mathematics & Combinatorics
Solved Practice Problems on Chapter-2
1. In how many ways can 6 men and 6 women be seated in a row?
(a) if any person may seat next to any other? Ans. 12!
Solution. There are 12 persons in total. The number of ways they can be seated
is 12!.
(b) if men and women must occupy alternate seats? Ans. 2· 6!· 6! ways
Solution. If the men occupy the odd places, they can be seated in 6! ways and
the women seat in 6! ways on the even places and if the men seat on the even
places, then the women take the odd places in 6! ways. Totally, there are 2· 6!·
6! ways.
2. Four different mathematics books, five different computer science books and two
different operating system books are to be arranged in a shelf. How many different
arrangements are possible if
(a) the books in each particular subject must all be together? Ans. 4! 5! 2! 3!
(b) only the mathematics books must be together? Ans. 8! 4!
3. Suppose T1 is the task of selecting a prime number less than 10 and T2 is of selecting
an even number less than 10. In how many ways the task T1 or T2 can be performed?
Ans. 7
Solution. T1 can be performed in 4 ways ({2, 3, 5, 7}), and T2 can be performed in 4
ways ({2, 4, 6, 8}). But, since number 2 is both prime and an even number less than
10, the taske T1 or T2 can be performed in 4 + 4 − 1 = 7 ways.
4. Suppose we wish to construct sequence of four symbols in which the first two are
English letters and the next two are single digit numbers. How many different
sequence of symbols can be constructed if
(a) no letter or digit can be repeated? Ans. 58, 500
Solution. 26·25·10·9= 58,500.
(b) repetition of letters & digits is allowed? Ans. 67,600.
Solution. 26·26·10·10= 67,600.
5. Suppose a restaurant sells 6 South Ethiopian dishes, 4 North Ethiopian dishes, 3
hot beverages and 2 cold beverages. For breakfast a student wishes to buy 1 South
Ethiopian dish and 1 hot beverage or 1 North Ethiopian dish and 1 cold beverage.
In how many ways he (she) can buy his (her) breakfast? Ans. 26
Solution. Let T1 be the task of choosing the first option and T2 be the task of
choosing the second option. Task T1 can be done in 6 · 3 = 18 ways and task T2 can
be done in 4 · 2 = 8 ways. Thus, task T1 or T2 can be done ins 18 + 8 = 26 ways.
6. There are 20 married couples in a party. Find the number of ways of choosing one
woman and one man from the party such that the two not married to each other?
Ans. 380
1
Solution. There are 20 women and 20 men in the party. So, there are 20 · 20 =
400 ways to choose one woman and one man. There are 20 married couples, so
there are 20 ways to choose a married couple. To get the number of ways to choose
a woman and a man who are not married to each other, subtract the number of
married couples from the total number of ways: 400-20 = 380.
7. Find the number of 3-digit even numbers with no repeated digits. Ans. 328
Solution. Starting from the unit digit, there are 5 choices ({0, 2, 4, 6, 8}) and a zero
is impossible in the hundredth digit. Hence, the choice of the hundredth place digit
is dependent on the choice of the unit place digit. Task T1 is choosing a zero in the
unit place will leave 9 choices for the hundredth place and 8 choices for the tenth
place. This can be done in 1 · 9 · 8 = 72 ways. Task T2 is choosing a digit other than
zero in the unit place ({2, 4, 6, 8}). This will leave 8 digits for hundredth place and
8 digits for tenth place. This task can be done in 4 · 8 · 8 = 256. So, the number of
3-digit even numbers with no repeated digits is doing either tasks. 72 + 256 = 328
8. How many committees of five with a given chair person can be selected from 12
persons? Ans. 3960
Solution. The chair person can be chosen in 12 ways, and following this the other four
on the committee can be chosen in C(11, 4) ways. Therefore, the possible number
11!
of such committee is 12 · C(11, 4) = 12 · = 12 × 330 = 3960
7!4!
9. Find the number of committees of 5 that can be selected from 7 men and 5 women
if the committee is to consist of at least 1 man and 1 woman? Ans. 770
Solution. From the 12 persons there are C(12, 5) possible committees of 5 persons.
Among this there are C(7, 5) possible committees consisting of only 5 men and there
is C(5, 5) = 1 possible committee consisting of 5 women. Accordingly, the number
of committees consisting of at least 1 man and a woman is
12! 7!
C(12, 5) − C(7, 5) − C(5, 5) = − − 1 = 792 − 21 − 1 = 770
7! 5! 2! 5!
10. A drawer contains 10 red socks and 12 blue socks. You reach into the drawer without
looking. What is the minimum number of socks you must pull out to guarantee that
you have
(a) a matching pair? Ans. 3
(b) two matching pairs? Ans. 7
