Skip to content Skip to navigation Skip to collection information
Inside Collection: Advanced Algebra II: Teacher's Guide
Summary: A teacher's guide to permutations.
No in-class worksheet today—a day of lecture.
How many different three-digit numbers can we make using only the digits 1, 2, and 3? Answer: 27. Here they are, listed very systematically. (If possible, project this table onto a screen where everyone can see it and look at it for a moment, to see the pattern and how it is generated.)
| First Digit | Second Digit | Third Digit | Resulting Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 111 |
| 2 | 112 | ||
| 3 | 113 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 121 | |
| 2 | 122 | ||
| 3 | 123 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 131 | |
| 2 | 132 | ||
| 3 | 133 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 211 |
| 2 | 212 | ||
| 3 | 213 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 221 | |
| 2 | 222 | ||
| 3 | 223 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 231 | |
| 2 | 232 | ||
| 3 | 233 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 311 |
| 2 | 312 | ||
| 3 | 313 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 321 | |
| 2 | 322 | ||
| 3 | 323 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 331 | |
| 2 | 332 | ||
| 3 | 333 |
Effective, and not particularly difficult...but tedious. How could we have answered without the table? Well, of course, it’s the rule of multiplication again. There 3 possibilities for the first digit. For each of these, there are 3 possibilities for the second digit; and for each of these, 3 possibilities for the third digit.
Now, let’s ask a different problem: how many possible 3-digit numbers can be made using the digits 1, 2, and 3, if every digit is used only once? Once again, we can list them systematically—and it’s a lot easier this time. Once you have chosen the first two digits, the third digit is forced. There are only six possibilities.
| First Digit | Second Digit | Third Digit | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 123 |
| 3 | 2 | 132 | |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 213 |
| 3 | 1 | 231 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 312 |
| 2 | 1 | 321 |
I really do believe it is important to show them these tables before doing any calculations!!! There is no substitute for seeing everything laid out in an organized manner to get a feeling for the space.
Once again, however, once they have seen the table, we can ask the question: why 6? And once again, we can answer that question using the rule of multiplication. There are three possible numbers that can go in the first digit. Once you have chosen that digit, there are only two possible numbers that can go in the second digit. And once you have chosen that, there is only one number that can possibly go in the third.
Repeat the above problems, only with nine digits instead of three. First, how many different nine-digit numbers can be made using the digits 1–9? Second, how many different nine-digit numbers can be made if you use the digits 1–9, but use each digit only once? Obviously we don’t want to make these tables (even the second one is prohibitive!) but with the rule of multiplication, and our calculators, we can figure out how big the tables would be. Give them a couple of minutes on this.
The first is
The second is
Incidentally,
Question: How many different ways can five books be arranged on a shelf? Give them a minute, and see if they can figure out that it is the same problem we just did. 5 books can go in the first position; for each of these, 4 in the second position; and so on.
Question: How many three-digit numbers can be made using the digits 1–9?
If we are allowed to repeat digits, this is hopefully pretty easy by this point:
But what if we’re not? Is there any way we can write
If you have extra time, ask everyone in class to come up with two scenarios: one of the “the same thing can be used twice” (exponential) variety, and one of the “the same thing cannot be used twice” (factorial) variety.
“Homework: Permutations”
More about this module: Metadata | Downloads | Version History
This work is licensed by Kenny M. Felder under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.
Last edited by Jonathan Emmons on May 12, 2009 8:09 pm -0500.
"This is the "teacher's guide" book in Kenny Felder's "Advanced Algebra II" series. This text was created with a focus on 'doing' and 'understanding' algebra concepts rather than simply hearing […]"