# Color Permutations In Row Of 6 Red, 3 Blue, 3 Green Flower Pots ?

1. Sep 24, 2014

### morrobay

With 6 red, 3 blue and 3 green flower pots, how many color permutations in row of 12 are there ?
Its not 12! or n!/(n-r)!

2. Sep 24, 2014

### Number Nine

Why not try choosing in which places to put the red pots, then choosing which of the remaining places will have blue pots, etc...

3. Sep 24, 2014

### morrobay

I am looking for the formula for this question . It would take a long time to physically determine the answer !
For example 12! ( the number of permutations of a row of twelve jurors is 479, 001,600. How long would that take you to get 12! physically ?
One permutation of the twelve colored flower pots would be :BBRGBGRRGRRR

4. Sep 25, 2014

### Char. Limit

Keep in mind that for permutations with three types of objects, the general formula is:

$$P = \frac{n!}{k_1 ! k_2 ! k_3 !}$$

Where n is the total number of objects (12 balls in this case), and $k_1$, $k_2$, and $k_3$ are the number of each type of ball (6 red, 3 blue, and 2 green in this case). Knowing that, you should be able to get the final answer easily.

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