PERMUTATION AND COMBINATION

Permutation and combination are the ways to select certain objects from a group of objects
to form subsets with or without replacement. It defines the various ways to arrange a certain
group of data. When we select the data or objects from a certain group, it is said to be
permutations, whereas the order in which they are represented is called combination.
Permutation
Permutation relates to the act of arranging all the members of a set into some sequence
or order. In other words, if the set is already ordered, then the rearranging of its elements is
called the process of permuting. Permutations occur, in more or less prominent ways, in
almost every area of mathematics. They often arise when different orderings on certain finite
sets are considered.

Permutation Formula

A permutation is the choice of r things from a set of n things without replacement and where
the order matters.
n
Pr = (n!) / (n-r)!
For example, the permutation of set A={1,6} is 2, such as {1,6}, {6,1}. As you can see, there
are no other ways to arrange the elements of set A.

Types of Permutation

Permutation can be classified in three different categories:

 Permutation of n different objects (when repetition is not allowed)

 Repetition, where repetition is allowed
 Permutation when the objects are not distinct (Permutation of multi sets)
Let us understand all the cases of permutation in details.

Permutation of n different objects

If n is a positive integer and r is a whole number, such that r < n, then P(n, r) represents the
number of all possible arrangements or permutations of n distinct objects taken r at a time. In
the case of permutation without repetition, the number of available choices will be reduced
each time. It can also be represented as: nPr.

P(n, r) = n(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)……..upto r factors

P(n, r) = n(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)……..(n – r +1)

⇒P(n,r)=n!(n−r)!

Here, “nPr” represents the “n” objects to be selected from “r” objects without repetition, in
which the order matters.

Example: How many 3 letter words with or without meaning can be formed out of the
letters of the word SWING when repetition of letters is not allowed?

Solution: Here n = 5, as the word SWING has 5 letters. Since we have to frame 3 letter
words with or without meaning and without repetition, therefore total permutations possible
are:

⇒P(n,r)=5!(5−3)!=5×4×3×2×12×1=60

Permutation when repetition is allowed

We can easily calculate the permutation with repetition. The permutation with repetition of
objects can be written using the exponent form.
When the number of object is “n,” and we have “r” to be the selection of object, then;
Choosing an object can be in n different ways (each time).
Thus, the permutation of objects when repetition is allowed will be equal to,

n × n × n × ……(r times) = nr

This is the permutation formula to compute the number of permutations feasible for the
choice of “r” items from the “n” objects when repetition is allowed.

Example: How many 3 letter words with or without meaning can be formed out of the
letters of the word SMOKE when repetition of words is allowed?

Solution:

The number of objects, in this case, is 5, as the word SMOKE has 5 alphabets.
and r = 3, as 3-letter word has to be chosen.
Thus, the permutation will be:
Permutation (when repetition is allowed) = 53 = 125

Permutation of multi-sets

Permutation of n different objects when P1 objects among ‘n’ objects are similar, P2 objects
of the second kind are similar, P3 objects of the third kind are similar ……… and so on,
Pk objects of the kth kind are similar and the remaining of all are of a different kind,

Thus it forms a multiset, where the permutation is given as: n!/ p1!p2!p3…pn!
Combination
The combination is a way of selecting items from a collection, such that (unlike
permutations) the order of selection does not matter. In smaller cases, it is possible to
count the number of combinations. Combination refers to the combination of n things taken k
at a time without repetition. To refer to combinations in which repetition is allowed, the terms
k-selection or k-combination with repetition are often used.
Combination Formula

A combination is the choice of r things from a set of n things without replacement and where
order does not matter.

Combinations are selections made by taking some or all of a number of objects, irrespective
of their arrangements. The number of combinations of n different things taken r at a time,
denoted by nCr and it is given by,
n
Cr = n! / r!(n−r)!
n
Cr = n!___ , where 0 ≤ r ≤ n. This forms the general combination formula
r! (n−r)!
Example:
It is required to seat 5 men and 4 women in a row so that the women occupy the even
places. How many such arrangements are possible?
We are given that there are 5 men and 4 women.
i.e. there are 9 positions.
The even positions are: 2nd, 4th, 6th and the 8th places
These four places can be occupied by 4 women in P(4, 4) ways = 4!
= 4 . 3. 2. 1

= 24 ways
The remaining 5 positions can be occupied by 5 men in P(5, 5) = 5!
= 5.4.3.2.1
= 120 ways
Therefore, by the Fundamental Counting Principle,

Total number of ways of seating arrangements = 24 x 120

= 2880.
Combinations as Selections

Suppose we have a set of 6 letters { A,B,C,D,E,F}. In how many ways can we select a group
of 3 letters from this set? Suppose we find the number of arrangements of 3 letters possible
from those 6 letters. That number would be 6P33. Consider the permutations that contain the
letters A, B, and C. These are 3! = 6 ways, namely ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, and CBA.
Now, what we want is the number of combinations and not the number of arrangements. In
other words, the 6 permutations listed above would correspond to a single combination.
Differently put, the order of things is not important; only the group/combination matters now
in our selection. This means that the total number of combinations of 3 letters from the set of
6 letters available to us would be 6P3 / 3! ways, since each combination is counted 3! times
in the list of permutations. Thus, if we denote the number of combinations of 6 things taken 3
at a time by 6C3, we have:
6
C3 = 6P3 / 3. This is also said as 6 choose 3.

A few important results on combinations are as follows:

 The number of ways of selecting n objects out of n objects is:

 n
Cn = n!_____ = n!___ = 1
n!(n−n)! n!0!
 The number of ways of selecting 0 objects out of n objects is:

nC0=n!0!(n−0)!=n!0!n!=1nC0=n!0!(n−0)!=n!0!n!=1
n
Co = n!_____ = n!___ = 1
0!(n−0)! 0!n!
 The number of ways of selecting 1 object out of n objects is:

n
C1 = n!____ = n×(n−1)!__ = n
1!(n−1)! (n−1)!
n
 Cr = nCn-r
n
 C r + n C r-1 = n+1C r

Application Combinations Formula:

We calculate combinations using the combinations formula, and by using factorials and in
terms of permutations. In general, suppose we have n things available to us, and we want to
find the number of ways in which we can select r things out of these n things. We first find
the number of all the permutations of these n things taken r at a time. That number would be n
Pr . Now, in this list of nPr permutations, each combination will be counted r! times since r
things can be permuted amongst themselves in r! ways. Thus, the total number of
permutations and combinations of these n things, taken r at a time, denoted by n Cr. will be:
n n
Cr = Pr = n!___
r r!(n−r)!

Relationship between Permutations and Combinations

Permutation and combination formulas and concepts have a lot of similarities. Suppose that
you have n different objects. You have to determine the number of unique r-selections
(selections that contain r objects) which can be made from this group of n objects. Think of a
group of n people – you have to find the number of unique sub-groups of size r, which can be
created from this group.
The number of permutations of size r will be nPrnPr. In the list of nPrnPr permutations, each
unique selection will be counted r! times, because the objects in an r-selection can be
permuted amongst themselves in r!r! ways. Thus, the number of unique combinations
can be nPrr!nPrr!.
n
Cr= n Pr/ r!= n!/ (n−r)r! = n!/ r!(n−r)
Examples on Combinations

Example 1: Consider the word EDUCATION. This has 9 distinct letters. How many 3-letter
permutations (words) can be formed using the letters of this word? We now know how to
answer questions like this; the answer in this particular case will be 9P39P3

Consider the following 3-letter permutations formed using the letters A, E, T from
EDUCATION:

AET , ATE, EAT, ETA, TAE, TEA

These 6 different arrangements correspond to the same selection of letters, which is {A, E,
T}. Thus, in the list of all 3-letter permutations, we will find that each unique
Combination corresponds to 6 different arrangements. To find the number of unique 3-letter
selections, we divide the number of 3-letter permutations by 6.

9
Hence, the number of 3-letter selections will be P3 / 6 = 60480/ 6 = 10,080.

Example 2: Out of a group of 5 people, a pair needs to be formed. The number of possible
combinations can be calculated as follows.
5
C2 = 5! = 5! = _ 120 = 10
2!(5−2) ! 2!3! 2×6

Example 3:The number of 4-letter Combinations which can be made from the letters of the
word DRIVEN is
6
C4 = 6! = 6! = 720 = 15
4!(6−4)! 4!2! 24×2

Important Notes

 Whenever you read the phrase “number of combinations”, think of the phrase “number of
selections”. When you are selecting objects, the order of the objects does not matter. For
example, XYZ and XZY are different arrangements but have the same selection.
 The number of combinations of n distinct objects, taken r at a time (where r is less than
n), is n Cr = n Pr = n!___
r r!(n−r)!
 This result above is derived from the fact that in the list of all permutations of size r, each
unique selection is counted r! times.
 Out of n objects, the number of ways of combinations 0 or n objects is 1; and the number
of ways of selecting 1 object or (n - 1) object is n.
 Out of n objects, the number of ways of selecting 2 objects is nC2 = n(n−1) / 2 .

Difference between Permutation and Combination

 Permutation Combination

Arranging people, digits, numbers, alphabets, letters,

Selection of menu, food, clothes, subjects, team.
and colours

Picking a team captain, pitcher and shortstop from a

Picking three team members from a group.
group.

Picking two favourite colours, in order, from a colour

Picking two colours from a colour brochure.
brochure.

Picking first, second and third place winners. Picking three winners.

Differences between Permutation and Combination

Uses of Permutation and Combination

A permutation is used for the list of data (where the order of the data matters) and the
combination is used for a group of data (where the order of data doesn’t matter).