Find all School-related info fast with the new School-Specific MBA Forum

It is currently 19 Jun 2013, 04:51
Customize  |  Hide

A 5-digit code consists of one number digit chosen from 1, 2

  Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews  
Author Message
TAGS:
Intern
Intern
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
Posts: 2
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 1

A 5-digit code consists of one number digit chosen from 1, 2 [#permalink] New post 08 May 2012, 23:30
00:00

Question Stats:

20% (02:56) correct 80% (01:36) wrong based on 20 sessions
A friend asked me this question recently and I wasn't able to get the official answer for this question. I am not sure about the source or the difficulty level. The questions is as follows :-

A 5-digit code consists of one number digit chosen from 1, 2, 3 and four letters chosen from A, B, C, D, E. If the first and last digit must be a letter digit and each digit can appear more than once in a code, how many different codes are possible?

A. 375
B. 625
C. 1,875
D. 3,750
E. 5,625
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
1 KUDOS received
Director
Director
Status:
Joined: 24 Jul 2011
Posts: 504
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V48
GRE 1: 1540 Q800 V740
Followers: 40

Kudos [?]: 165 [1] , given: 9

Re: Maths Question on Combinations [#permalink] New post 08 May 2012, 23:46
1
This post received
KUDOS
Choose one number from 3 numbers in 3C1 = 3 ways
Choose one position from the middle three for the number in 3C1 = 3 ways
The other four positions can be filled by the 5 letters in 5^4 ways.

Therefore total number of codes possible = 3*3*(5^4) = 5,625

E
_________________

Free profile evaluation by top b-school alumni: email us at info@gyanone.com
B-school application service http://www.gyanone.com/appone.html
[b]Visit our blog: www.gyanone.com/blog


Last edited by GyanOne on 09 May 2012, 02:58, edited 2 times in total.
Intern
Intern
Joined: 09 Sep 2011
Posts: 2
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 1

Re: Maths Question on Combinations [#permalink] New post 09 May 2012, 01:14
GyanOne wrote:
Choose one number from 3 numbers in 3C1 = 3 ways
Choose four letters from 5 letters in 5C4 = 5 ways
Choose one position from the middle three for the number in 3C1 = 3 ways
The other four positions can be filled by the 4 letters in 4^4 ways.

Therefore total number of codes possible = 3*5*3*(4^4) = 45*16*16 = 11,520




For the first and last positions the letters can be chosen in 5c1 ways, but if we get say the same letter twice then we need to divide by 2! to avoid duplicates since we are looking for different codes.

For the 3 positions in between, we can choose 1 digit in 4c1 ways, and the remaining 2 digits in 5c1 and 5c1 ways. These three can rearrange themselves in 3! ways and we again divide by 2! to avoid duplicates since we can have the letters to repeat themselves. I have shown this below :-

5c1 [(4c1*5c1*5c1)3!]/2! 5c1

1 2 3 4 5

Therefore total according to me would be :-

[(5c1*5c1)/2!]*[(4c1*5c1*5c1)3!]/2! = (25*25*6*4)/4 = 3750.

Can anyone correct where i am making a mistake.
4 KUDOS received
GMAT Club team member
User avatar
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 12103
Followers: 1879

Kudos [?]: 10120 [4] , given: 961

Re: A 5-digit code consists of one number digit chosen from 1, 2 [#permalink] New post 09 May 2012, 01:23
4
This post received
KUDOS
samarthgupta wrote:
A friend asked me this question recently and I wasn't able to get the official answer for this question. I am not sure about the source or the difficulty level. The questions is as follows :-

A 5-digit code consists of one number digit chosen from 1, 2, 3 and four letters chosen from A, B, C, D, E. If the first and last digit must be a letter digit and each digit can appear more than once in a code, how many different codes are possible?

A. 375
B. 625
C. 1,875
D. 3,750
E. 5,625


Notice that each digit can appear more than once in a code.

Since there should be 4 letters in a code (X-X-X-X) and each letter can take 5 values (A, B, C, D, E) then total # of combinations of the letters only is 5*5*5*5=5^4.

Now, we are told that the first and last digit must be a letter digit, so number digit can take any of the three slots between the letters: X-X-X-X, so 3 positions and the digit itself can take 3 values (1, 2, 3).

So, total # of codes is 5^4*3*3=5,625.

Answer: E.

Similar question to practice: a-4-letter-code-word-consists-of-letters-a-b-and-c-if-the-59065.html

Hope it helps.
_________________

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW: 11 Rules for Posting!!!

RESOURCES: [GMAT MATH BOOK]; 1. Triangles; 2. Polygons; 3. Coordinate Geometry; 4. Factorials; 5. Circles; 6. Number Theory; 7. Remainders; 8. Overlapping Sets; 9. PDF of Math Book; 10. Remainders

COLLECTION OF QUESTIONS:
PS: 1. Tough and Tricky questions; 2. Hard questions; 3. Hard questions part 2; 4. Standard deviation; 5. Tough Problem Solving Questions With Solutions; 6. Probability and Combinations Questions With Solutions; 7 Tough and tricky exponents and roots questions; 8 12 Easy Pieces (or not?); 9 Bakers' Dozen; 10 Algebra set. NEW!!! ,11 Mixed Questions NEW!!!, 12 Fresh Meat NEW!!!

DS: 1. DS tough questions; 2. DS tough questions part 2; 3. DS tough questions part 3; 4. DS Standard deviation; 5. Inequalities; 6. 700+ GMAT Data Sufficiency Questions With Explanations; 7 Tough and tricky exponents and roots questions; 8 The Discreet Charm of the DS ; 9 Devil's Dozen!!!; 10 Number Properties set. NEW!!!, 11 New DS set. NEW!!!


What are GMAT Club Tests?
25 extra-hard Quant Tests

Find out what's new at GMAT Club - latest features and updates

Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
User avatar
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 3170
Location: Pune, India
Followers: 597

Kudos [?]: 2127 [0], given: 97

Re: Maths Question on Combinations [#permalink] New post 09 May 2012, 09:55
samarthgupta wrote:
GyanOne wrote:
Choose one number from 3 numbers in 3C1 = 3 ways
Choose four letters from 5 letters in 5C4 = 5 ways
Choose one position from the middle three for the number in 3C1 = 3 ways
The other four positions can be filled by the 4 letters in 4^4 ways.

Therefore total number of codes possible = 3*5*3*(4^4) = 45*16*16 = 11,520




For the first and last positions the letters can be chosen in 5c1 ways, but if we get say the same letter twice then we need to divide by 2! to avoid duplicates since we are looking for different codes.

For the 3 positions in between, we can choose 1 digit in 4c1 ways, and the remaining 2 digits in 5c1 and 5c1 ways. These three can rearrange themselves in 3! ways and we again divide by 2! to avoid duplicates since we can have the letters to repeat themselves. I have shown this below :-

5c1 [(4c1*5c1*5c1)3!]/2! 5c1

1 2 3 4 5

Therefore total according to me would be :-

[(5c1*5c1)/2!]*[(4c1*5c1*5c1)3!]/2! = (25*25*6*4)/4 = 3750.

Can anyone correct where i am making a mistake.


You are allowed duplicates. Even if A appears in the first as well as the last position, it will give you a code different from what you get when you have different letters in the first and the last position. You need to arrange the letters here. If instead you needed to just select groups, then yes, you would have worried about the effect of duplicates.

You select a letter for the first position in 5C1 ways and a letter for the last position in 5C1 ways.
Say you put the digit in the second position. You can select a digit for the second position in 3C1 ways.
You can select the letters for the third and fourth positions in 5C1 and 5C1 ways.
Hence, you get 5*3*5*5*5 codes.
But here, we have put the digit in the second place. It could have been in the third or fourth place too. So you multiply the above given result by 3.
Hence total number of codes = 5*3*5*5*5*3 = 5625
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor
My Blog

Save 10% on Veritas Prep GMAT Courses And Admissions Consulting
Enroll now. Pay later. Take advantage of Veritas Prep's flexible payment plan options.

Veritas Prep Reviews

Re: Maths Question on Combinations   [#permalink] 09 May 2012, 09:55
    Similar topics Author Replies Last post
Similar
Topics:
New posts How many 5 digit numbers are there , whose digits add up to ArvGMAT 5 07 Aug 2006, 18:18
Popular new posts With the five numbers 1-5 how many such 5-digit numbers are studentnow 10 15 Sep 2007, 16:58
New posts A credit card number has 5 digits (between 1 to 9). The IrinaOK 3 22 Sep 2007, 09:25
New posts How many 5-digit numbers can be formed from the digits Ravshonbek 5 11 Nov 2007, 04:53
New posts Each code number was formed from the digits 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ritula 1 22 Jun 2008, 06:43
Display posts from previous: Sort by

A 5-digit code consists of one number digit chosen from 1, 2

  Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews  


GMAT Club MBA Forum Home| About| Privacy Policy| Terms and Conditions| GMAT Club Rules| Contact| Sitemap

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group and phpBB SEO

Kindly note that the GMAT® test is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by GMAC®.