2020 AMC 10 B
Complete problem set with solutions and individual problem pages
How many distinguishable arrangements are there of brown tile, purple tile, green tiles, and yellow tiles in a row from left to right? (Tiles of the same color are indistinguishable.) (2020 AMC 10B, Question #5)
- A.
- B.
- C.
- D.
- E.
Solution 1:
Let's first find how many possibilities there would be if they were all distinguishable, then divide out the ones we overcounted. There are ways to order objects. However, since there's ways to switch the yellow tiles around without changing anything (since they're indistinguishable) and ways to order the green tiles, we have to divide out these possibilities.
Solution 2:
We can repeat chooses extensively to find the answer. There are 7 choose 3 ways to arrange the brown tiles which is 35 . Then from the remaining tiles there are 4 choose ways to arrange the red tiles. And now from the remaining two tiles and two slots we can see there are two ways to arrange the purple and brown tiles, giving us an answer
