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by confuse mind » Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:53 pm
What is the probability that the relative position in which the consonants appear remain unchanged when the letters of the word Math are re-arranged?
A. 1/4
B. 1/6
C. 1/3
D. 1/24
E. 1/12


IMO -[spoiler] B

3 consonants - M T H
*M*T*H*
There are 4 places out of which we have to chose 1 for A which can be done in 4 ways

and thus 4/24

Has it been 2 vowels then after selecting 2 positions, we have to permute them in 2! ways, Experts, please confirm

[/spoiler]
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Source: — Problem Solving |

by theCEO » Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:15 pm
Why can't this be the solution?

_ A _ _ : Consonants can go in any of these positions

3 X 1 X 2 X 1 = 6 total ways for consonants arrangement
4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24 total ways for arrangement

Answer = 6/24 = 1/4 = a
Last edited by theCEO on Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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by eagleeye » Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:34 pm
theCEO wrote:Why can't this be the solution?

_ A _ _ : Consonants can go in any of these positions

3 X 1 X 2 X 1 = 6 total ways for consonants arrangement
4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24 total ways for arrangement

Answer = 6/24 = 1/4 = a
TheCEO, Your solution is the correct solution.

Confuse mind, your solution would be corrrect if the question said "relative order" instead of "relative position".

Cheers!
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