Question

How many distinct arrangements can be formed from all the letters of "students"? Please show your work. Thanks!

A) 10,080


B) 40,320


C) 1680


D) 720

Answer 1

There are a total of 8 letters in student, with 6 different letters ( there are 2 s's and 2 t's).

First find the number of arrangements that can be made using 8 letters.

This is 8! which is:

8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 3 x 2 x 1 = 40,320

Now there are 2 s's and 2 t's find the number of arrangements of those:

S = 2! = 2 x 1 = 2

T = 2! = 2 x 1 = 2

Now divide the total combinations by the product of the s and t's:

40,320 / (2*2)

= 40320 / 4

= 10,080

The answer is A. 10,080