8 balls how to arrange for adjoining?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the arrangement of red and white balls, specifically focusing on the conditions of adjacency among the red balls. The problem involves combinatorial reasoning within the context of arranging 3 red balls and 5 white balls in a linear format.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore different methods to calculate the arrangements of red balls, questioning how to find the number of arrangements directly without using complementary counting (i.e., total arrangements minus non-adjacent arrangements).

Discussion Status

There are multiple lines of reasoning being explored, including configurations for both all red balls being adjacent and scenarios where only some are adjacent. Some participants have offered partial insights into the arrangement process, while others express confusion about the underlying combinatorial principles.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working under the constraints of a homework assignment, which may limit the information they can use or the methods they can apply. There is a noted emphasis on understanding the arrangement of balls in specific configurations and the implications of adjacency.

Helly123
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Homework Statement



16_Mat_A_1.6.png

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution


the answer for no adjoining
_W_W_W_W_W_
for 3 red balls, there are 6 positions
so ## 6C_3 = 20##
i'm curious, on other way to find arrangement?

for adjoining = all arrangement - adjoining
all arrangement = 3 red can get to any positions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ while white at the rest
i'm curious on other way to find arrangement?
so ## 8C_3 = 56 ##
adjoining = 56 - 20 = 36

i'm curious on how to find adjoining directly without ' all arrangement - adjoining ' ?
 
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Helly123 said:

Homework Statement



View attachment 206649

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution


the answer for no adjoining
_W_W_W_W_W_
for 3 red balls, there are 6 positions
so ## 6C_3 = 20##
i'm curious, on other way to find arrangement?

for adjoining = all arrangement - adjoining
all arrangement = 3 red can get to any positions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ while white at the rest
i'm curious on other way to find arrangement?
so ## 8C_3 = 56 ##
adjoining = 56 - 20 = 36

i'm curious on how to find adjoining directly without ' all arrangement - adjoining ' ?

Place the three red balls in a line with spaces between them; now you have 4 spaces (two between the outer and central reds and one at each end, outside). Your have 5 white balls that must be put into the 4 spaces, and two of those spaces must contain at least one white ball. The number of remaining possibilities is very limited.
 
Helly123 said:

Homework Statement



View attachment 206649

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution


the answer for no adjoining
_W_W_W_W_W_
for 3 red balls, there are 6 positions
so ## 6C_3 = 20##
i'm curious, on other way to find arrangement?

for adjoining = all arrangement - adjoining
all arrangement = 3 red can get to any positions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ while white at the rest
i'm curious on other way to find arrangement?
so ## 8C_3 = 56 ##
adjoining = 56 - 20 = 36

i'm curious on how to find adjoining directly without ' (all arrangement) - (non-adjoining) ' ?
Two possibilities for adjoining the red balls:
  1. All three Reds are adjoining.
  2. Two Reds are adjoining. The third Red is not adjoining.
For either one, use the _W_W_W_W_W_ configuration.
.
 
Ray Vickson said:
Place the three red balls in a line with spaces between them; now you have 4 spaces (two between the outer and central reds and one at each end, outside). Your have 5 white balls that must be put into the 4 spaces, and two of those spaces must contain at least one white ball. The number of remaining possibilities is very limited.
I've seen someone do it, but I don't really get it
_R _ _ R _ R_

(why 4 spaces?)
R _ _ R _ R_

W must on at 2 of them
R_W R W R _ ( like this? )
left 3 W, what am I supposed to do?
 
SammyS said:
Two possibilities for adjoining the red balls:
  1. All three Reds are adjoining.
  2. Two Reds are adjoining. The third Red is not adjoining.
For either one, use the _W_W_W_W_W_ configuration.
.
yes, I've tried it
for all Reds adjoining
RRR go together at one of the place at _W_W_W_W_W_ ?
## 6C_1##

for RR and R go to 2 places at _W_W_W_W_W_
## 6C_2 ##

how am I supposed to do?
 
Helly123 said:
I've seen someone do it, but I don't really get it
_R _ _ R _ R_

(why 4 spaces?)
R _ _ R _ R_

W must on at 2 of them
R_W R W R _ ( like this? )
left 3 W, what am I supposed to do?

I answered only for the case of NO adjoining reds.

To answer your question: look at your first diagram, which I have re-drawn: ____R____R____R____ (making each space wide enough to hold 5 balls). How many spaces ( ____ ) do you see?

The two middle spaces must each have at least one W; that leaves 3W's to go into the 4 spaces.

Now you are supposed to figure out how many possibilities there are. Look up "combinations" on-line if your book does not do it. (You have already been told about this in the other thread about counting chords.)

I cannot offer more help without doing the whole question for you.
 
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Helly123 said:
...

for RR and R go to 2 places at _W_W_W_W_W_
## 6C_2 ##

how am I supposed to do?
How many ways can you place RR ?
For each of those, how many ways can you place R ?
 
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Ray Vickson said:
I answered only for the case of NO adjoining reds.

To answer your question: look at your first diagram, which I have re-drawn: ____R____R____R____ (making each space wide enough to hold 5 balls). How many spaces ( ____ ) do you see?

The two middle spaces must each have at least one W; that leaves 3W's to go into the 4 spaces.
So i get :
If 3 W left can get to 4 positions
_R_R_R_

1st : all 3 go to same position _R_R_RWWW
So 4 arrangements

And then 2 W and 1W go to different position so we use permutation because we take the account of order, 4P2 = 12
R_RWWRW

And then 3 W go to 3 different position
WRWRW_
So 4C3 = 4

All arrangents : 4+4+12 = 20
 
SammyS said:
How many ways can you place RR ?
For each of those, how many ways can you place R ?

So 3R go to _W_W_W_W_W_

For RRR adjoining can go to 6 positions
6 arrangements

For RR and R go to different places
6P2 = 30 arrangements

So total arrangements = 36
 
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Helly123 said:
So i get :
If 3 W left can get to 4 positions
_R_R_R_

1st : all 3 go to same position _R_R_RWWW
So 4 arrangements

And then 2 W and 1W go to different position so we use permutation because we take the account of order, 4P2 = 12
R_RWWRW

And then 3 W go to 3 different position
WRWRW_
So 4C3 = 4

All arrangents : 4+4+12 = 20

Right, or you can just quote standard results (available in lots of places on-line). You want to place ##k = 3## identical balls into ##n = 4## non-identical boxes (with no restrictions on the number of balls in any of the boxes), and the number of different ways of doing that is known to be ##C_k^{n+k-1} = C^6_3 = 20##, as you already obtained.
 
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