Which to Use: Permutation or Combination for Arranging Company Directors?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the application of permutations and combinations in a statistics problem involving the arrangement of company directors. The specific tasks include calculating arrangements of directors in a line and forming a committee with gender constraints.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents a homework question regarding the arrangement of 8 directors (4 men and 4 women) and seeks guidance on whether to use permutations or combinations for different parts of the problem.
  • Another participant explains that the key difference between permutations and combinations is whether the order of arrangements matters, suggesting that permutations are used when order affects equality.
  • A subsequent participant agrees that the first part of the question likely involves permutations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the distinction between permutations and combinations, but the discussion remains unresolved regarding the specific calculations and applications for the homework problem.

ibysaiyan
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idk if i should post this question here as i couldn't find any specific forum to post at homework section this has to do with statistics. the question is:

Question: The Board of a company consists of 4 men and 4 women.The 8 directors are to stand in a straight line so that a photo can be taken.
a)calculate the number of difft. ways in which the 8 directors can be arranged in a line.
b)in how many ways can the directors be arranged so that in the line the men and women stand alternately.
c) 5 members of the board of directors are to be chosen to form a committee .there must be atleast 2 women in the committee.find the number of different committee that could be chosen.

=( confused sos pls, could some1 guide me thro as where to use npr or npc.tyvm in advance and if i have posted the wrong place could the moderators shift it to its appropriate place
 
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The big difference is whether order is respected. You have to ask yourself, if you change the order of two arrangements/committtes/lists/pools/groups/tables/etc, are they still the same? Permutations are used when changing the order means the things are no longer equal. Combinations are used when changing the order has no effect on the equality.
 
k, so how shall i start with the 1st bit?so would the 1st one be permutation?
 
I would say so.
 
k,ty
 

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