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elinka
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elinka
How many different committees each composed of 2 Republicans and 3 Democrats can be formed from a group of 4 Republicans and 5 Democrats?
A) 12
B) 24
C) 60
D) 72
E) 120

please explain (in details!!!)
thanxx

c. 60

Let's take the Republicans. How many combinations of 2 can be created.
There are four total so: 4!/2!2! = 6

Democrats: 5!/3!2! = 10

6 x 10 = 60
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sorry, still dont get it .. whats 4C2 .. 5C3 .. how do u calculate that? :(
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c. 60

Let's take the Republicans. How many combinations of 2 can be created.
There are four total so: 4!/2!2! = 6

Democrats: 5!/3!2! = 10

6 x 10 = 60[/quote]

why are we dividing by additional 2! .. i got as far as 4!/2! and 5!/3! .. dont get why there is also the 2!
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elinka
c. 60

Let's take the Republicans. How many combinations of 2 can be created.
There are four total so: 4!/2!2! = 6

Democrats: 5!/3!2! = 10

6 x 10 = 60

why are we dividing by additional 2! .. i got as far as 4!/2! and 5!/3! .. dont get why there is also the 2!

Okay, the non-mathematical way I use to remember is:

total number from the pool available (4!) / total number of people we need (2!)*total number of people we don't need(2!)

For democrats: 5 from the pool, 3 we need, 5-3 we don't need

completely non-mathematical approach but it works every time

so that extra 2! is taking away what we don't need.

try it on other problems..works for me
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bunuel can explain the mathematical approach really well i'm sure
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thank you, i'll remember that :)
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Since the question mentions 'different' committees, we need to use Combinations

Therefore, as others have rightly pointed out, 4C2 * 5C3 (we are 'anding' here)

Hence C
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WOW! ... darn it i was hoping i didnt have to know that much for the gmat ...
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elinka
WOW! ... darn it i was hoping i didnt have to know that much for the gmat ...

Don't worry it just seems complicated but when you start to practice in combination problem, it'll become easier after some time. You should see Walker's topic and go through the questions there from easy to hard. Any question you have, post and people from the forum will always be glad to help.

Cheer up!
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Bunuel, you're a life saver. Thanks!

But just one little question, are these points to remember and results to remember important?[/b] I mean have u seen questions in GMATprep or in the actual exam that need these relations? ( permutation and combination with with triangles, lines, etc)
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zaarathelab
Bunuel, you're a life saver. Thanks!

But just one little question, are these points to remember and results to remember important?[/b] I mean have u seen questions in GMATprep or in the actual exam that need these relations? ( permutation and combination with with triangles, lines, etc)

Well not everything is needed for GMAT. But I've seen the questions claimed to be real GMAT type which used some of the staff you've mentioned:

pentagon-problem-86284.html?highlight=pentagon
https://gmatclub.com:8080/forum/viewtopi ... w=previous

OR
There are 25 points on a plane which 7 are collinear. How many quadrilaterals can be formed from these points?

There are 12 points in a plane out of which 4 are collinear. How many straight lines can be formed by joining these points in pairs?

Out of 18 points in a plane, no 3 are in the same straight line except 5 points which are collinear. How many triangles can be formed by joining them?

OR DS:
S is a set of points in the plane. How many distinct triangles can be drawn that have three of the points in S as vertices?
(1) The number of distinct points in S is 5.
(2) No three of the points in S are collinear.

How many triangles can be formed using 8 points in the given plane?
(1) A triangle is formed by joining 3 distinct points in the plane
(2) Out of the 8 given points 3 are collinear.

I must say that theses questions claimed to be real GMAT, but I don't know for sure.
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