GMPJBC go to movie and they sit in adjacent row of 6 seats.

Hi!

I found a pretty similar problem in the following book: "Probability for dummies" - just look it up on Google Books and search for the following string within the book: "Soma". You will find a very similar problem that is solved using aliensoybean's approach.

So my question is why are the posts in this forum right and the book wrong (or maybe both are right but please explain to me

Thanks!
Steve

Steve,

The approach presented above is correct.

If you want, post here the similar problem you mentioned, and I'll have a go at it.

Cheers

Thanks man! Here it comes:

You have four friends: Jim, Arun, Soma, and Eric. How many ways can you rearrange the individuals in a row so that Soma and Eric do not sit next to each other.

My approach (and the one presented in the book i've mentioned):

Find all possibilities: 4!=24 (certain scenarios are not possible; therefore, we need to subtract these impossibilities):

Find the ways in which S and E sit next to each other:

E S _ _
_ E S _
_ _ E S

OR

S E _ _
_ S E _
_ _ S E

Therefore, 24 - 6 = 18

This approach is similar to the other one, but it has a mistake.

1st. All possibilities = 4! = 24
2nd. Take ES as 1 person. So now we have 3 people: J, A & ES --> 3! = 6
3nd. Finally, it is necessary to account for different arrangements within ES --> 2! = 2
=> All - P (they DO sit together) = 24 - 3! * 2! = 24 - 12 = 12

By multiplying by 3 instead of 3! you are not accounting for the different positions of J and A. Have a look at the following:

S E J A
J S E A
J A S E

Is not the same as

S E A J
A S E J
A J S E

But the approach presented on that book does not take that into account.


Back to the original problem:
=> All - P (they DO sit together) = 6! - 5! * 2! = 720 - 120 * 2 = 480


Hope that helps.

Also, please know that probability is not my forte.

GMPJBC go to movie and they sit in adjacent row of 6 seats. But, MJ cannot sit next to each other. How many different arrangements are possible?

Soln:
Arrangements in which MJ sit together is = 5! * 2!
Total Arrangemets possible with 6 people is = 6!

Arrangements in which MJ dont sit together is
= Total arrangements - Arrangements where they sit together
= 6! - 5! * 2!
= 480 ways

nice one.

1 - p(when they sit together) , the manhattan link was really helpful. thx

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