Counting Problem Homework: 100 People into 10 Grps of 10

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves dividing 100 people into 10 discussion groups, each containing 10 individuals. Participants are exploring combinatorial methods to determine the number of ways this can be achieved.

Discussion Character

  • Mathematical reasoning, Problem interpretation, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss various combinatorial approaches, including factorial arrangements and choosing subsets without regard to order. There are attempts to derive a formula based on grid arrangements and the implications of overcounting.

Discussion Status

Multiple interpretations of the problem are being explored, with participants offering different formulations and checking for consistency among their approaches. Some guidance has been provided regarding the arrangement of groups and the need to account for overcounting.

Contextual Notes

Participants are considering the implications of their formulas for different values of n, suggesting a desire to generalize the problem. There is also mention of potential adjustments needed in their reasoning regarding the arrangement of groups.

cragar
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Homework Statement



100 hundred people are to be divided into 10 discussion groups with 10 people in each group
how many ways can this be done.

The Attempt at a Solution


So if we think of it as people on a 10 by 10 grid their are 100! ways of populating the grid and then 10! ways or rearranging the columns and 10! ways of rearranging the rows.
so would the answer be
[itex]\frac{100!}{10!^{10}10!}[/itex]
I have 10!^10 because there are ten columns and each of those 10 columns can be arranged 10! ways. And the other 10! on the bottom because I could rearrange those rows 10! ways. And I divide 100! by them because we are over counting. If we switch the people around in the group it is still a distinct group.
 
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didn't totally follow the re-arranging of the cols, so as another way for the first group we choose 10 from 100 without order
[tex]\frac{100!}{10!90!}[/tex]

for the 2nd group we choose 10 from 90 without order
[tex]\frac{90!}{10!80!}[/tex]

so putting these together for both groups we get
[tex]\frac{100!}{10!90!} \frac{90!}{10!80!} = \frac{100!}{10!^280!}[/tex]

and so on, once finished counting the groups we need to account for the different ways to arrange ten groups which represents the repeated counts -

but its starting to look pretty similar to your answer...
 
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also another check would be to see if you formula generalise to n^2 people in n groups and check for n = 2 and n= 3
 
ok - so i get your idea now, but think it needs a little tweek.. the rows got me

100! ways to populate a grid, where the columns represent a group
- 10! ways to rearrange within a single column and 10 columns gives a total (10!)^10 ways to rearrange within columns
- there is also 10! different ways to arrange the columns themsleves
So in all there is (10!)^11 ways to rearrange the grid for a given combination that leads to the same group structure
 
Last edited:
thanks for your responses, you i think my answer makes sense.
 

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