Monday, November 18, 2013

How many ways can the letters A, B, C and D be arranged if the first letter should be a consonant with repetitions?

There are four letters given. These are A, B, C and D.
And there are four positions that have to be filled up.
___    ___    ___    ___ 
 
The first position must be filled up with consonant only, which are B, C and D. So there are only three consonants that we can pick from for the first position.
ul3     ___    ___    ___ 
Since repetition is allowed, the second position can be filled by A, B, C or D. So there are four possible letters than can occupy the second position.
ul3    ul4     ___    ___     
Also, the third and fourth position, can be filled by A, B, C or D. So there are four possible letters that can be place in the third and fourth position.
ul3    ul4    ul4    ul4
And, multiply them together.
ul3 * ul4 * ul4 * ul4 = 192
 
Therefore, if the first letter should be a constant and repetition is allowed, there 192 ways that A, B, C and D can be arranged.

No comments:

Post a Comment