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This module covers Permutations and Combinations

Some counting rules

Instead of writing out all possible outcomes for an experiment, we can quickly find the total number of possible outcomes. We have already discussed that when tossing a coin twice, there are two trials which result in 4 different outcomes (S = {HH, HT, TH, TT}). We can use a tree diagram to represent this in the figure below.

Tree diagram representing toss of coin twice

For tossing the coin 3 times, we get 8 possible outcomes S = { HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTT }. The tree diagram is displayed below.

Tree diagram representing three tosses of coin

From the tree diagram we can see that the number of outcomes increases by a factor of 2 with each trial.

A die is rolled twice.

  1. How many possible outcomes are there?
  2. Write out the sample space.

  1. There are 6 possible outcomes for the first role and 6 possible outcomes for the second role.

    6 6 possible outcomes

  2. The figure below is a visual aid of the possible outcomes. For example, you could get “1” on the first roll and “2” on the second roll. This is a different outcome fromgetting “2” on the first roll and “1” on the second roll.
    Visual aid for rolls of two dice
    sample space for two dice

The multiplicative rule

A quick way to get the total number of possible outcomes without writing out the sample space or creating a visual aid is to multiply the number of possible outcomes for each trial.

When tossing a coin twice, there are two possible outcomes for each trial (H,T) regardless of whether the coin is weighted or not. If we multiply the two outcomes for the first trial and the two outcomes for the second trial we get 2 2 4 possible outcomes. S = { HH, HT, TH, TT }.

When tossing a coin three times, there are two possible outcomes for each trial (H,T) and we end up with 8 possible outcomes. From the tree diagram we saw that we get S = { HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTT }.

2 2 2 8

We can extend this concept to tossing a coin 4 times where there are 16 possible outcomes. We will leave it up to you to write out the sample space.

2 2 2 2 16

Try it

You are going to toss a coin and roll a die.

  1. Calculate the number of possible outcomes if you toss the coin once and roll the die once.
  2. Calculate the number of possible outcomes if you toss the coin twice and roll the die once.
  3. Calculate the number of possible outcomes if you toss the coin twice and roll the die twice.
  1. There are 2 possible outcomes for tossing the die and 6 possible outcomes for rolling the die. 2 6 12
  2. 2 2 6 24
  3. 2 2 6 6 72

Suppose we wish to arrange four pictures in a row along a wall. How many different outcomes are possible?

There are four pictures that can be selected for the first position on the wall. If we choose one picture to hang first, we are now left with three choices of pictures for the next position on the wall. Using the multiplicative rule, there are 4 3 12 possible arrangements of pictures for the first two positions on the wall. If we continue with this procedure, we now only have two pictures to choose from for the third position and the last picture goes in the last position. As a result, there are 24 possible arrangements of the pictures in a row along a wall.

Practice Key Terms 3

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Source:  OpenStax, Introduction to statistics i - stat 213 - university of calgary - ver2015revb. OpenStax CNX. Oct 21, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11874/1.3
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