Grouping and selecting

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Grouping and selecting

by Joepc » Mon Oct 24, 2016 7:39 pm
Hi,

I got this question from the Magoosh Blog, and the answer to the question[Answer in the last] is Theoretically correct,
But I fail to understand where my reasoning has gone wrong

Magaoosh Blog Question Link
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2015/counting- ... -the-gmat/

Question :-

A shipping company has four empty trucks that will head out in the morning,
all four to the same destination. The clerk has four different boxes to ship to that same destination.
All four boxes could go on any one of the trucks,
or the boxes could be split up into any groupings and given to the trucks in any combinations (ie. two to one truck, one to another, and one to another).
In how many different ways could the boxes be put on the four trucks?

Below is my reasoning, Please point me where i am going wrong

Case 1 :- Grouping as one Box from 4 Boxes

B1, B2,B3,B4,B5 each has four ways to be shipped hence it is 4*4*4*4 = 256 ways


Case 2 :- Grouping as two Boxes from 4 Boxes it is 4c2 and it is 6 total groupings
Like below and each one in the group can be shipped in 4 ways


1) B1,B2 = (4*4) ways
2) B1,B3 = (4*4) ways
3) B1,B4 = (4*4) ways
4) B2,B3 = (4*4) ways
5) B2,B4 = (4*4) ways
6) B4,B6 = (4*4) ways

= 6(16)
= 64 ways

Case 3 :- Grouping as 3 boxes from 4 boxes it is 4c3 and and it is 4 total groupings
like below and each one in the group can be shipped in 4 ways


1) B1,B2,B3 = (4*4*4) ways
2) B2,B3,B4 = (4*4*4) ways
3) B1,B3,B4 = (4*4*4) ways
4) B1,B2,B4 = (4*4*4) ways

= 4(4*4*4)
= 256 ways

Case 4 :- grouping as 4 boxes from 4 Boxes it is 4c4 and it is 1 way
= 4 Ways

Total ways = Case 1 + Case 2 + Case 3 + Case 4

= 580 ways

But the Correct answer is 4*4*4*4 = 256 Ways
which is theoretically correct.
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by vineet.nitd » Tue Oct 25, 2016 1:37 am
The problem with your approach is that you are recounting stuff.

When you have 4 distinct items to be sent to 4 distinct places, each item has 4 choices to go.

(Box 1 has 4 choices) AND (Box 2 has 4 choices) AND (Box 3 has 4 choices) AND (Box 4 has 4 choices)

= 4*4*4*4

Now truck 1 could have any number of boxes from 0 to 4 and so is the case with other 3 trucks (as long as all the boxes have been dealt with).

This consideration already includes all the cases, including the ones that you have mentioned separately.
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by Matt@VeritasPrep » Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:02 am
You've fallen into a trap that I find myself falling into pretty often in combinatorics: you've accidentally overcounted. When two of your sets aren't completely distinct, you end up counting something more than once, and have to find a way to correct for that overcount.

Luckily there's an easy correction in this one. Cases 2, 3, and 4 are all completely contained in Case 1! So we don't need to bother with them at all, and we can start and end with 4 * 4 * 4 * 4.

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by Joepc » Fri Oct 28, 2016 2:40 pm
Hi Matt,

I failing to understand where i am over counting, would you help with any other similar examples?

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Oct 29, 2016 6:17 am
Joepc wrote:Hi Matt,

I failing to understand where i am over counting, would you help with any other similar examples?
In case 1, you cover all possible ways to ship the 4 boxes.
For example, box 1 can go into any of the 4 trucks. Likewise, box 2 can go into any of the 4 trucks, box 3 can go into any of the 4 trucks, and box 4 can go into any of the 4 trucks.
So, for example, one possibility is that boxes 1, 2, 3 and 4 all go into truck A.

The other three cases are just similar versions of this. In fact, notice that your case 4 counts 4 possible ways for all 4 boxes to remain together. This configuration is already accounted for in case 1 (see above)

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sat Oct 29, 2016 10:35 am
Joepc wrote:Hi Matt,

I failing to understand where i am over counting, would you help with any other similar examples?
It's a tough one to do cases with.

Your case 1, if I understand correctly, involved the scenario in which each truck carries exactly one box. When we're loading truck 1, we can choose any of the 4 boxes. But when we're loading truck 2, we only have 3 boxes remaining to choose from - the first box is already loaded - and when we're loading truck 3, we only have 2 options left. So if we're going to include exactly one box in each truck, there are 4*3*2*1 = 24 ways to load.

(Of course, now you have to consider the scenario in which there are two boxes in one truck, one box in each of two trucks, and no boxes in the last truck, as well as the case when you have two boxes in each of two trucks and no boxes in each of two trucks, in addition to the case in which you have three boxes in one truck, etc. This is all to say that it's far preferable to think about this the way Matt, Brent, and Vineet did.)
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sat Oct 29, 2016 10:37 am
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Oct 29, 2016 2:10 pm
A shipping company has four empty trucks that will head out in the morning, all four to the same destination. The clerk has four different boxes to ship to that same destination. All four boxes could go on any one of the trucks, or the boxes could be split up into any groupings and given to the trucks in any combinations (ie. two to one truck, one to another, and one to another). In how many different ways could the boxes be put on the four trucks?

(A) 16

(B) 64

(C) 256

(D) 576

(E) 4096
For all counting questions, I start by asking the question "Can I take the required task and break it into stages and then apply the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP)?"

For the majority of counting questions on the GMAT, the answer to this question is YES!

Take the task of arranging the shipping the 4 boxes and break it into stages.
Let the boxes be denoted as A, B, C and D

Stage 1: Select a truck to ship box A
There are 4 trucks to choose from, so we can complete stage 1 in 4 ways

Stage 2: Select a truck to ship box B
There are 4 trucks to choose from, so we can complete stage 2 in 4 ways

Stage 3: Select a truck to ship box C
There are 4 trucks to choose from, so we can complete stage 3 in 4 ways

Stage 4: Select a truck to ship box D
There are 4 trucks to choose from, so we can complete stage 4 in 4 ways

By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP), we can complete all 4 stages (and thus ship all 4 boxes) in (4)(4)(4)(4) ways (= 256 ways)

Answer: C
--------------------------

As I said, the FCP can be used to solve the MAJORITY of counting questions on the GMAT. For more information about the FCP, watch our video: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... /video/775

Then 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
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by senad95 » Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:16 am
Hey, Brent Brent@GMATPrepNow
I would appreciate if you would help us identify the task which we have to break into stages.
And also if you could tell us some cases when this method cannot be applied or it is not recommended?
Thanks.

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:12 pm
senad95 wrote:Hey, Brent Brent@GMATPrepNow
I would appreciate if you would help us identify the task which we have to break into stages.
And also if you could tell us some cases when this method cannot be applied or it is not recommended?
Thanks.
In general, when a counting question asks you to "create" something, then you should consider breaking that task into stages and applying the Fundamental Counting Principle. In most cases, this strategy will work. However, in some cases (usually cases involving combinations), the strategy won't work.

So, as you break your task into stages, you must ask the question "Does the outcome of this particular stage differ from the outcome of the other stages?" If the answer is YES for all of the stages, you should be able to apply the Fundamental Counting Principle. Of the answer is NO for any stage, then you will need to use a different approach (usually one that involve combinations).

For more on this watch the following video:
- When to use combinations: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat ... /video/788

Cheers,
Brent
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