if 4 women and 6 men work in the accounting department in how many ways can a committee of 3 be formed if it has to include at least one woman?
36
60
72
80
100
i can find solution by reverse method (total combination - committee entirely men ) but can't get right answer by direct method (one woman 2 men, 2 woman 1 men etc.)
combination
This topic has expert replies
Here is my approach for this problem.
A bruteforce method:
The condition is "Atleast 1 woman"
There can be three different ways
1. W, M, M
2. W, W, M
3. W, W, W
Combinations for 1. W, M, M:
4C1 * 6C2 = 60
Combinations for 2. W, W, M:
4C2 * 6C1 = 36
Combinations for 3. W, W, W:
4C3 * 6C0 = 4
So adding all the combinations 60+36+4 = 100
Hopefully correct answer is 100
A bruteforce method:
The condition is "Atleast 1 woman"
There can be three different ways
1. W, M, M
2. W, W, M
3. W, W, W
Combinations for 1. W, M, M:
4C1 * 6C2 = 60
Combinations for 2. W, W, M:
4C2 * 6C1 = 36
Combinations for 3. W, W, W:
4C3 * 6C0 = 4
So adding all the combinations 60+36+4 = 100
Hopefully correct answer is 100
GMAT/MBA Expert
- Brent@GMATPrepNow
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 16207
- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
- Thanked: 5254 times
- Followed by:1268 members
- GMAT Score:770
For the benefit of other readers, here's the approach that blaster mentioned:blaster wrote:if 4 women and 6 men work in the accounting department in how many ways can a committee of 3 be formed if it has to include at least one woman?
36
60
72
80
100
# of committees with at least 1 woman = total # of committees possible - # of committees with 0 women
Total # of committees possible (i.e., ignoring the restriction) = 10C3 = 120 (choose 3 committee members from the 10 people)
# of committees with 0 women = 6C3 = 20 (choose 3 committee members from the 6 men)
So, # of committees with at least 1 woman = 120 - 20 = 100
Cheers,
Brent
GMAT/MBA Expert
- Brent@GMATPrepNow
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 16207
- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
- Thanked: 5254 times
- Followed by:1268 members
- GMAT Score:770
By the way, if you'd like to learn how to quickly calculate combinations (such as 6C3) in your head, you can watch video #17 at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-counting (it's free)
Cheers,
Brent
Cheers,
Brent