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A garage has a letter-keypad lock with the eight letters A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H.

The keypad can be programmed with a 3 or 4-letter code to open the garage.

Suppose each letter can be used more than once, how many 3-letter codes are possible if:

a) there are no restrictions?

b) the letters "A" and "C" cannot be used?

c) the letter "D" must be used?

d) the same letter is not repeated three times?


If each letter cannot be repeated, how many 4-letter codes are possible if:

a) the letters "A" and "C" must be used?


b) the letter "D" cannot be used?


c) the order in which the they are entered does not matter?


d) the order of entries does not matter and "F" must be used?

User JVGD
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1 Answer

4 votes

a) 512 codes, b) 216 codes, c) 49 codes, d) 336 codes. Without repetition: a) 36 codes, b) 2401 codes, c) 70 codes, d) 35 codes.

Let's break down each scenario:

For 3-letter codes with repetitions allowed:

a) No restrictions:

Each position has 8 choices (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H).

Total combinations = 8 * 8 * 8 = 512

b) "A" and "C" cannot be used:

There are 6 choices for each position (B, D, E, F, G, H).

Total combinations = 6 * 6 * 6 = 216

c) "D" must be used:

"D" is fixed in one position, leaving 7 choices for the other two positions.

Total combinations = 1 * 7 * 7 = 49

d) The same letter is not repeated three times:

For the first position, there are 8 choices.

For the second position, there are 7 choices (excluding the letter used in the first position).

For the third position, there are 6 choices (excluding the letters used in the first two positions).

Total combinations = 8 * 7 * 6 = 336

For 4-letter codes without repetition:

a) "A" and "C" must be used:

"A" and "C" are fixed in the first two positions, leaving 6 choices for each of the remaining two positions.

Total combinations = 1 * 1 * 6 * 6 = 36

b) "D" cannot be used:

"D" is excluded, so there are 7 choices for each position.

Total combinations = 7 * 7 * 7 * 7 = 2401

c) The order does not matter:

This is a combination problem, and the formula for combinations is n! / (r! * (n-r)!), where n is the total number of options, and r is the number of choices.

For 4-letter codes without repetition, it is 8! / (4! * (8-4)!) = 8! / (4! * 4!) = 70

d) The order does not matter, and "F" must be used:

Fix "F" in one position, then choose 3 letters from the remaining 7 (excluding "F").

Total combinations = 1 * (7 choose 3) = 1 * 35 = 35

User Helikaon
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