Problem Solving

lheiannie07 wrote:Four women and three men must be seated in a row for a group photograph. If no two men can sit next to each other, in how many different ways can the seven people be seated?

A) 240
B) 480
C) 720
D) 1440
E) 5640

What is the easiest way to solve this kind of problem?

OA D

Take the task of arranging the 7 peopl and break it into stages.

Stage 1: Arrange the 4 women in a row
We can arrange n unique objects in n! ways.
So, we can arrange the 4 women in 4! ways (= 24 ways)
So, we can complete stage 1 in 24 ways

IMPORTANT: For each arrangement of 4 women, there are 5 spaces where the 3 men can be placed.
If we let W represent each woman, we can add the spaces as follows: _W_W_W_W_
So, if we place the men in 3 of the available spaces, we can ENSURE that two men are never seated together.

Let's let A, B and C represent the 3 men.

Stage 2: Place man A in an available space.
There are 5 spaces, so we can complete stage 2 in 5 ways.

Stage 3: Place man B in an available space.
There are 4 spaces remaining, so we can complete stage 3 in 4 ways.

Stage 4: Place man C in an available space.
There are 3 spaces remaining, so we can complete stage 4 in 3 ways.

By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP), we can complete the 4 stages (and thus seat all 7 people) in (24)(5)(4)(3) ways (= 1440 ways)

Answer: D

Note: the FCP can be used to solve the MAJORITY of counting questions on the GMAT. For more information about the FCP, watch our free video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... /video/775

You can also watch a demonstration of the FCP in action: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat ... /video/776

Then you can try solving the following questions:

EASY
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/what-should- ... 67256.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/counting-pro ... 44302.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/picking-a-5- ... 73110.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/permutation- ... 57412.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/simple-one-t270061.html


MEDIUM
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinatoric ... 73194.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/arabian-hors ... 50703.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/sub-sets-pro ... 73337.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinatoric ... 73180.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/digits-numbers-t270127.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/doubt-on-sep ... 71047.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinatoric ... 67079.html


DIFFICULT
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/wonderful-p- ... 71001.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/permutation- ... 73915.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/permutation-t122873.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/no-two-ladie ... 75661.html
- https://www.beatthegmat.com/combinations-t123249.html


Cheers,
Brent