Carcass wrote:
Quantity A |
Quantity B |
The number of distinct combinations that can be made by arranging all of the letters in the word \(square\) |
The number of distinct combinations that can be made by arranging all of the letters in the word \(circle\) |
A)The quantity in Column A is greater.
B)The quantity in Column B is greater.
C)The two quantities are equal.
D)The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
QUANTITY A: The number of distinct combinations that can be made by arranging all of the letters in the word \(square\)
In SQUARE, we have 6
unique letters.
We can arrange and unique objects in n! ways.
So, we can arrange 6 unique letters in 6! ways (=
720 ways).
QUANTITY B: The number of distinct combinations that can be made by arranging all of the letters in the word \(circle\)
In CIRCLE, we have 6 letters, including
2 identical C's.
-----ASIDE------
When we want to arrange a group of items in which some of the items are identical, we can use something called the MISSISSIPPI rule. It goes like this:
If there are n objects where A of them are alike, another B of them are alike, another C of them are alike, and so on, then the total number of possible arrangements = n!/[(A!)(B!)(C!)....] So, for example, we can calculate the number of arrangements of the letters in MISSISSIPPI as follows:
There are
11 letters in total
There are
4 identical I's
There are
4 identical S's
There are
2 identical P's
So, the total number of possible arrangements =
11!/[(
4!)(
4!)(
2!)]
-------------------
Similarly, we can calculate the number of arrangements of the letters in CIRCLE as follows:
There are
6 letters in total
There are
2 identical C's
So, the total number of possible arrangements =
6!/
2! = 720/2 =
360Answer: A