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655-705 (Hard)|   Combinations|                        
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JJDa
Can someone help me understand what’s the mistake behind 2^6 ?

There are 6 points where you have 2 directions and the others points you only have 1 possibility

Hi JJDa,

Since you have not explained your thinking, I'm going to assume that you are counting each 'intersection' that you would take when traveling the shortest length from X to Y (including the intersections at X and Y); that would total 6 intersections. However, the minimal length is only 5 'segments' - meaning that since you're STARTING at X, you should NOT count that intersection. In addition, at each step in the journey, you will NOT necessarily have 2 possible choices. Draw any the shortest possible individual routes from X to Y and you'll find that at some point, the remaining step(s) would leave you with just 1 option.

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@experts, but considering this would be a square, won't the length of right and up be identical so we will only have one set?
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@experts, but considering this would be a square, won't the length of right and up be identical so we will only have one set?
The length of each block is irrelevant. We are counting different routes, not different route lengths.

For example,

RRUUU
RURUU

have the same minimum length, but they are different routes because Pat travels along different streets at different stages.

Also, Pat must move 2 blocks right and 3 blocks up, so there are not equal numbers of right and up moves.
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I have a query. Now in the grid, visibly, minimal length is 5 counts, but of 3R & 2A OR 2R & 3A

Case 1 - 3R, 2A = 5!/ (3!*2!) = 10
(OR)
Case 2 - 2R, 3A = 5!/ (3!*2!) = 10

Now 3R,2A routes and 2R,3A routes are all different.

So if the total number of different routes with minimal length is to be counted, why not add Case 1 and Case 2.

Bunuel

Attachment:
Q.png
Pat will walk from intersection X to intersection Y along a route that is confined to the square grid of four streets and three avenues shown in the map above. How many routes from X to Y can Pat take that have the minimum possible length?
A) 6
B) 8
C) 10
D) 14
E) 16

In order for the length to be minimum, Pat should only go UP and RIGHT: namely, thrice UP and twice RIGHT.

So the combination of UUURR: the number of permutations of 5 letters, out of which there are 3 identical U's and 2 identical R's, is 5!/(3!2!) = 10.

Answer: C.

If there were 5 streets and 4 avenues, then the answer would be the combination of UUUURRR: the number of permutations of 7 letters, out of which there are 4 identical U's and 3 identical R's, is 7!/(4!3!) = 35.

Similar questions:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/grockit-simi ... 99962.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/casey-and-th ... 04236.html
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kdipayan
I have a query. Now in the grid, visibly, minimal length is 5 counts, but of 3R & 2A OR 2R & 3A

Case 1 - 3R, 2A = 5!/ (3!*2!) = 10
(OR)
Case 2 - 2R, 3A = 5!/ (3!*2!) = 10

Now 3R,2A routes and 2R,3A routes are all different.

So if the total number of different routes with minimal length is to be counted, why not add Case 1 and Case 2.


There is only one case.

From X to Y, Pat must go 3 streets up and 2 avenues right. A route with 2 up and 3 right would end at a different intersection.

So we only count arrangements of UUURR, which gives 10.
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Thank you. Realised my mistake after posting.

Bunuel

There is only one case.

From X to Y, Pat must go 3 streets up and 2 avenues right. A route with 2 up and 3 right would end at a different intersection.

So we only count arrangements of UUURR, which gives 10.
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