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GMAT Prep Probability

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GMAT Prep Probability

by moneyman » Sat May 10, 2008 6:49 am
In a certain group of 10 members , 4 members teach only French and the rest teach only Spanish or German. If the group is to choose a 3-member committee , which must have atleast 1 member who teaches French, how many different committees can be chosen ?

40
50
64
80
100

Ans E
Maxx
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Source: — Problem Solving |

by CITI29 » Sun May 11, 2008 10:54 pm
1-french and 2 other language : 4!/1!3! * 6!/2!4! = 4*15= 60
2-french and 1 other langauage : 4!/2!2! * 6!/1!5! =6*6= 36
All 3 french : 4!/3!1! = 4

Add all three outcomes : 60+36+4 = 100

correct ans [E]
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by havok » Sat Apr 09, 2011 8:45 pm
Good, straight forward answer.

I guess I need to go back and look at probabilities because I had a lot of trouble with this one.
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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:16 pm
moneyman wrote:In a certain group of 10 members , 4 members teach only French and the rest teach only Spanish or German. If the group is to choose a 3-member committee , which must have atleast 1 member who teaches French, how many different committees can be chosen ?

40
50
64
80
100

Ans E
"At least" is a sign to go (total number of combinations) - (number of forbidden combinations). If we want at least one french speaking member, the only forbidden option is "no french speaking members".

So:
total number of possible combinations, without limitations (choose 3 out of 10, regardless of who we choose) = 10!/7!3! = 10*9*8/6 = 5*3*8 = 120
minus
Number of no french forbidden combinations (choose 3 people out of only 6 non-french speakers) = 6!/3!3! = 6*5*4/3! = 5*4 = 20

Result is 120-20 = 100.
Geva
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Master GMAT
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by fr743 » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:52 pm
Geva@MasterGMAT wrote:
moneyman wrote:In a certain group of 10 members , 4 members teach only French and the rest teach only Spanish or German. If the group is to choose a 3-member committee , which must have atleast 1 member who teaches French, how many different committees can be chosen ?

40
50
64
80
100

Ans E
"At least" is a sign to go (total number of combinations) - (number of forbidden combinations). If we want at least one french speaking member, the only forbidden option is "no french speaking members".

So:
total number of possible combinations, without limitations (choose 3 out of 10, regardless of who we choose) = 10!/7!3! = 10*9*8/6 = 5*3*8 = 120
minus
Number of no french forbidden combinations (choose 3 people out of only 6 non-french speakers) = 6!/3!3! = 6*5*4/3! = 5*4 = 20

Result is 120-20 = 100.
Could you please explain me this - 10!/7!3! = 10*9*8/6 = 5*3*8 = 120. I dont understand how you get 5*3*8 out of 10!/7!3! .
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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:01 pm
sorry I skipped a step.

First, reduce the 10! with the 7! = 10*9*8*7*6... / 7*6*... = you're left with 10*9*8.

So 10!/7!3! is first reduced to
10*9*8/3! = 10*9*8 / 3*2*1

Next reduce the 3 with the 9, and the 2 with the 10, to get
5*3*8/1
Geva
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Master GMAT
1-888-780-GMAT
https://www.mastergmat.com
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by fr743 » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:49 am
Geva@MasterGMAT wrote:sorry I skipped a step.

First, reduce the 10! with the 7! = 10*9*8*7*6... / 7*6*... = you're left with 10*9*8.

So 10!/7!3! is first reduced to
10*9*8/3! = 10*9*8 / 3*2*1

Next reduce the 3 with the 9, and the 2 with the 10, to get
5*3*8/1
Still couldn't get :(
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by force5 » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:18 am
10C3-6C3= 100
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