Combination
From Academic Kids
In combinatorial mathematics, a combination of members of a set is a subset. A k-combination is a subset of S with k elements. The order of listing the elements is not important in combinations: two lists with the same elements in different orders are considered to be the same combination. The number of k-combinations or k-subsets of set with n elements is the binomial coefficient "n choose k", written as nCk, nCk or as
- <math>{n \choose k},<math> or occasionally as C(n, k).
One method of deriving a formula for nCk proceeds as follows:
- Count the number of ways in which one can make an ordered list of k different elements from the set of n. This is equivalent to calculating the number of k-permutations.
- Recognizing that we have listed every subset many times, we correct the calculation by dividing by the number of different lists containing the same k elements:
- <math> {n \choose k} = \frac{P(n,k)}{P(k,k)}. <math>
Since
- <math> P(n,k) = \frac{n!}{(n-k)!} <math>
(see factorial), we find
- <math> {n \choose k} = \frac{n!}{k! \cdot (n-k)!}. <math>
It is useful to note that C(n, k) can also be found using Pascal's triangle, as explained in the binomial coefficient article.
See also
- Combinadic
- Combinations and permutations
- Combination (chess)de:Kombinatorik#Kombination ohne Zurücklegen
fr:Combinaison it:Combinazione nl:Combinatie (wiskunde) ja:組合せ (数学) pl:Kombinacja pt:Combinação ru:Сочетание sr:Комбинација
