_ankitchawla_
I am not able to understand:
To arrange n people in a circular arrangement, total numbers of ways = (n-1)!
so for 6 girls, its 5!
but if there are 6 boys, why is the number of ways 6! and not 5!?
When you arrange n objects in a circle, the number of arrangements is (n−1)!, because rotating everyone by the same amount does not create a new arrangement. The relative order stays the same.
So for 6 girls, the number of arrangements is 5!.
After the girls are placed, the circle is effectively fixed. The 6 spots for boys are the 6 specific gaps between consecutive girls.
Now the boys are not “in their own circle.” They are being placed into 6 fixed positions relative to the girls. If you shift all the boys by one gap, each boy ends up next to different girls, so it is a different overall seating arrangement.
Therefore, the number of ways to place the 6 boys is 6!, not 5!.
Hope it's clear.