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The counting principles

Product rule, sum rule, permutations, combinations, and when each applies.

Independent choices multiply; exclusive alternatives add. Ordered selections are permutations, unordered are combinations. Picture it: a tree diagram, each level a choice, each leaf an outcome. Think it: every counting formula is a bijection with something easy to count.

Kushanda muenzaniso · 5 choose 2

Discrete-Math · Counting

5 choose 2

5,\ 2

Step by step

  1. \binom{5}{2} = \frac{5!}{2!\,(5-2)!}

    Unordered selections: n! / (k! (n−k)!).

  2. = \frac{120}{2 \times 6} = 10

Kuratidza mhinduro
\binom{5}{2} = 10

Zvino iwe Choose a problem, or type or draw your own. Every step, a picture, the answer hidden until you ask.

Tenga yako yemahara

Mubhadharo wakasununguka unowedzera mazita ezvidzidzo, zvinyorwa zvezvidzidzo zvawakati wazvigadzirira, zvidzidzo zvawave uchizvigadzirisa, uye mudzidzisi waungabvunza nezvechidzidzo ichi. Maths inowanikwa kune vese, vasiri vadzidzi kana vadzidzi. Kuwana mazita ezvidzidzo zvinodiwa kunogona kuitwa pawebsite ye Maths.

Kutanga Kupinda

Mazita anoshandiswa pano

Tinya chero chiratidzo kuti uone chirevo chakazara, vhidhiyo, uye kuti chii chinoreva chero chiratidzo.

Maitiro: The counting principles

  1. Decide whether order matters (permutation) or not (combination).
  2. Decide whether repetition is allowed.
  3. Break the count into independent stages (multiply) or exclusive cases (add).
  4. Sanity-check with a tiny case you can list by hand.

Mabvunzo vanhu vanobvunza

Permutation or combination?

Ask whether order matters. A lock code is a permutation (order matters); a hand of cards is a combination (it does not).

What is a graph in this sense?

Dots (vertices) joined by lines (edges), not a plot. Road maps, social networks and molecules are graphs; questions like "is there a route" and "how few colours" are graph theory.

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Pigeonhole principle and inclusion, exclusionBinomial coefficients and Pascal's triangleRecurrences and generating functionsGraphs: vertices, edges, degreesPaths, cycles, trees, Euler and HamiltonColouring and planar graphs