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combination and permutation

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by Night reader » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:28 am
this problem is missing regular definitions:
the number of suits
the number of cards of the same suit

further it can be deduced the number of cards in a deck

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opponent wrote:In how many ways can one choose 6 cards from a normal deck of cards so as to have all suits present
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by Rich@VeritasPrep » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:50 pm
This is a question that has been bounced around on many MANY forums. It's not a very GMAT-like question, because its language is not precise enough.

The biggest problem I see with the question is that it is unclear whether order matters.

"How many ways" could involve distinct arrangements (i.e. permutations) or merely groups (i.e. combinations). Each situation will yield a different answer.

The good news is that the GMAT is very specific in its use of language. If you see a question with words like "distinct arrangements" or "orderings", you know it must involve permutations. If you see a word like "group", you know that order does not matter, and thus combinations are used.
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