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lfox2
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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 03 Dec 2006, 01:01
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Q:
In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas presents among four charities, if each rececives at least one?

Sorry don't have answer choices, wondering on the best approach for this.



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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 03 Dec 2006, 01:13
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i think this question does not the order of the presents.

then i think it is 4^16.

take out 4 presents, put each in 1 charity. now each charity has at least 1.

then the rest of 16 presents can go whatever it wants, 4 choices for each of the 16 presents. hence, 4^16.
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yogeshsheth
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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 03 Dec 2006, 03:31
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tennis_ball
i think this question does not the order of the presents.

then i think it is 4^16.

take out 4 presents, put each in 1 charity. now each charity has at least 1.

then the rest of 16 presents can go whatever it wants, 4 choices for each of the 16 presents. hence, 4^16.
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Shouldnt it be 16C4 ??
A question here why is combinations not used
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mbagal1
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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 03 Dec 2006, 07:41
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tennis_ball
i think this question does not the order of the presents.

then i think it is 4^16.

take out 4 presents, put each in 1 charity. now each charity has at least 1.

then the rest of 16 presents can go whatever it wants, 4 choices for each of the 16 presents. hence, 4^16.
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One sec, the ways in which 1 present each can be distributed among the 4 charities - doesn;t that need to be taken care of also? how would that be calculated? 20C4 - ways the 4 presents will be picked x the ways they can be distributed - 4!

so, wouldn't the answer be: 4^16+ (20C4x4!)

Am I over thinking this?
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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 03 Dec 2006, 08:06
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i think this question is just about how to divide the 20 presents into 4 groups.
and which present in which group does not matter.

e.g. they can be 5 5 5 5 or 1 4 5 10. but at least 1 present in each group.

if my thinking is right, then u dont need to bother about 10C4 and 4!, because it does no matter who is in which group.
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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 04 Dec 2006, 10:19
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agree with yogeshsheth, shouldn't it be 16C4?
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MBAlad
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Q: In how many ways can Paul distribute 20 christmas 04 Dec 2006, 16:36
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No because after you've given 1 present to each charity then you 4 choices for the next present, then 4 for the next present.....

Or 16 sets of 4 choices so 4^16



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