Ten telegenic contestants with a variety of personality disorders are to be divided into two "tribes" of five members each, tribe A and tribe B, for a competition. How many distinct groupings of two tribes are possible?
A. 120
B. 126
C. 252
D. 1200
E. 1260
OA C
Source: Princeton Review
Ten telegenic contestants with a variety of personality diso
This topic has expert replies
-
- Moderator
- Posts: 7187
- Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:43 pm
- Followed by:23 members
Timer
00:00
Your Answer
A
B
C
D
E
Global Stats
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
Let's take the task of creating the teams and break it into stages.BTGmoderatorDC wrote:Ten telegenic contestants with a variety of personality disorders are to be divided into two "tribes" of five members each, tribe A and tribe B, for a competition. How many distinct groupings of two tribes are possible?
A. 120
B. 126
C. 252
D. 1200
E. 1260
Stage 1: Select two 5 contestants to be in tribe A
Since the order in which we select the contestants does not matter, we can use combinations.
We can select 5 contestants from 10 contestants in 10C5 ways
10C5 = (10)(9)(8)(7)(6)/(5)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 252
So, we can complete stage 1 in 252 ways
Stage 2: Place the remaining 5 people in tribe B
There's only 1 way to place all 5 remaining people in tribe B
So we can complete this stage in 1 way.
By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP), we can complete the 2 stages (and thus create 2 tribes of 5 contestants each) in (252)(1) ways (= 252 ways)
Answer: C
--------------------------
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
GMAT/MBA Expert
- [email protected]
- Elite Legendary Member
- Posts: 10392
- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
- Location: Palo Alto, CA
- Thanked: 2867 times
- Followed by:511 members
- GMAT Score:800
Hi All,
For Test Takers who know the Combination Formula, this question is a fairly straight-forward prompt. If you DON'T know the Combination Formula though, then here's what it is and how to use it. Any time a prompt asks for "groups" or "combinations" of things, then the order of the things DOES NOT MATTER.
For example, if a 2-person team consists of A and B, then A,B is the same as B,A --> thus, order does NOT matter. Mathematically though, you're allowed to count this team TWICE - A,B and B,A are the same team, so it should only be counted ONCE. The Combination Formula removes all of the "duplicates", leaving you with the unique combinations for whatever situation you're working with.
The Combination Formula itself is:
N!/[K!(N-K)!]
N = the total number of items/people
K = the size of the subgroup
Here, we have 10 people and we're asked to form 2 groups of 5.
For the first group, N = 10 and K = 5....
10!/[5!5!] = (10)(9)(8)(7)(6)/(5)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 256 unique groups of 5 people
Once you have formed that group of 5, then the remaining 5 form the other group (so there's no more math to do)
Final Answer: C
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
For Test Takers who know the Combination Formula, this question is a fairly straight-forward prompt. If you DON'T know the Combination Formula though, then here's what it is and how to use it. Any time a prompt asks for "groups" or "combinations" of things, then the order of the things DOES NOT MATTER.
For example, if a 2-person team consists of A and B, then A,B is the same as B,A --> thus, order does NOT matter. Mathematically though, you're allowed to count this team TWICE - A,B and B,A are the same team, so it should only be counted ONCE. The Combination Formula removes all of the "duplicates", leaving you with the unique combinations for whatever situation you're working with.
The Combination Formula itself is:
N!/[K!(N-K)!]
N = the total number of items/people
K = the size of the subgroup
Here, we have 10 people and we're asked to form 2 groups of 5.
For the first group, N = 10 and K = 5....
10!/[5!5!] = (10)(9)(8)(7)(6)/(5)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 256 unique groups of 5 people
Once you have formed that group of 5, then the remaining 5 form the other group (so there's no more math to do)
Final Answer: C
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
GMAT/MBA Expert
- Scott@TargetTestPrep
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 7247
- Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Thanked: 43 times
- Followed by:29 members
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:Ten telegenic contestants with a variety of personality disorders are to be divided into two "tribes" of five members each, tribe A and tribe B, for a competition. How many distinct groupings of two tribes are possible?
A. 120
B. 126
C. 252
D. 1200
E. 1260
OA C
Source: Princeton Review
The number of ways to select the first tribe is 10C5:
10C5 = (10!)/(10 - 5)! x 5!
= (10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6)/(5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1)
= 3 x 2 x 7 x 6 = 252
The next tribe can be selected in 5C5 = 1 way.
So there are 252 x 1 = 252 ways to select the two tribes.
Answer: C
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]
See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews