Statistics 117

Assignment 1.

I. PROVING. Suppose n is a positive integer. Prove the following equation:

2n
2n 2n = n
( )
( n ) ( n1) n+1

II. Answer the following problems:

1. A 6-sided die is tossed 100 times and the number of dots is recorded at each toss. Suppose an
outcome of this process is represented by an ordered 100-tuple, where the ith coordinate is the
number of dots on the ith toss.

a) How many possible outcomes are there?

ANSWER: 6100

There are 100 stages, and 6 possible outcomes, so by the basic principle of counting
100
the number of possible outcomes will be 6 .
b) How many outcomes are there where the number of dots on each one of the first 10
tosses is less than 5 while the number of dots on each of the last 10 tosses is greater than
4?

ANSWER: ( 4 10 ) ( 680 ) ( 610 )

Let: U = {1,2,3,4,5,6}

For the first 10 tosses, there are only 4 elements in the set that meets the condition
of being less than 5, that is the set containing {1,2,3,4}. Similarly for the last 10
tosses, there are only 2 elements in the set which satisfies the condition of being
greater than 4, that is the set containing {5,6}. For the remaining (80) stages, there
are 6 possible outcomes. So by the principle of counting, we arrive at the answer.
2. Suppose a 4-digit numbers will be formed from the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, where each digit can
be used only once. Determine the number of 4-digit numbers that can be formed under each of
the following conditions:

a) no restriction

ANSWER: ( 8 )4

We simply use the formula for permutation.

b) the 4-digit number is greater than 3000
 ANSWER: (6)(7)(6)(5)

For the first number/stage there is a restriction, in which x must be a number

greater than or equal to 3. In this case, there are only 6 elements satisfying the
condition. For all the succeeding stages, there are 8 possible outcomes; however,
since one is already chosen for the first stage, the second stage will now only have 7
possible outcomes left. There will be 6 and 5 possible outcomes, for the third and
last stage, respectively.

3. A six-person committee composed of Alice, Ben, Connie, Dolph, Egbert, and Francisco is to
select a chairperson, secretary, and treasurer among themselves. Naturally, a person cannot be
assigned more than one position.

a) How many selections exclude Connie?

ANSWER: ( 5 )3

Since Connie is excluded, n will only be 5. There are 3 positions. Then, we simply
use the formula for permutations.
b) How many selections are there in which neither Ben nor Francisco is an officer?

ANSWER: ( 4 )3

Since Ben and Francisco are excluded, n will only be 5. There are 3 positions. Then,
we simply use the formula for permutations.
c) How many selections are there in which Alice is chairperson and Ben is not an officer?
ANSWER: (1)(4)(3)

The chairperson is restricted to only Alice, therefore there is only one possible
outcome for the first stage. For the second stage, a person can only be assigned to a
position once, and Ben is excluded, there are only 4 possible outcomes left. For the
same reasons, third stage there will be 3 possible outcomes left. By basic principle
of counting, we arrive at the answer.
d) How many selections are there in which Alice is chairperson and Ben is secretary?

ANSWER: ( 4 )1 or 4!

Since the positions for the chairperson and secretary have already been assigned to
Alice and Ben respectively, there is only one position left. A person cannot be
assigned to more than one position, therefore there are only 4 persons left with no
position. We simply use the formula for permutations.
4. Suppose a club consists of 10 freshmen, 35 sophomores, 20 juniors and 15 seniors.
a) How many ways can they form a special committee consisting of 5 freshmen, 10
sophomores, 10 juniors and 5 seniors?

ANSWER: (10 )(35)(20 )(15 )

5 10 10 5
b) How many ways can they distribute the members of this club into 4 committees in such a
way that each committee has the same number of members?
80
ANSWER: 20 ! 20 ! 20 ! 20 !
c) How many ways can they distribute the members of this club into 4 committees in such a
way that the two committees both have 15 members consisting of freshmen and juniors only,
while the other two committees both have 25 members consisting of sophomores and
seniors only?

ANSWER: ( 15!3015 ! )( 25!5025 ! )