ok so we have 12 smarties that are all different. Theres 3 people that each get 3 smarties. This means that there will be 3 smarties left each splits. How many different ways are there to split the smarties up. please show your work =)
2007-06-14 07:32:30 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
The answer depends on whether or not we consider order to be important. If person A gets pink, white, and yellow smarties, is that considered to be the same outcome as if they got yellow, white, and pink smarties? I'm going to assume it is the same outcome.
The number of ways to choose 9 objects out of 12 unique objects, when order matters, is 79,833,600. However, once each of the three people has their three smarties, we must consider that the order of those THREE smarties does not matter. So we divide by 3! for each of the three people.
The answer is then
79,833,600 / (3!)^3
= 79,833,600 / (6)^3
= 79,833,600 / 216
= 369,600
2007-06-14 07:42:06 · answer #1 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
12 P 3 = 1320
it is a permutation problem.
2007-06-14 07:37:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Gee I'm soooo anxious to do somebody's homework for free, after that person calls me a "nerd".
2007-06-14 07:36:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
one for each
2007-06-14 07:48:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋