Chapter 3 Counting
One of the first things you learn in mathematics is how to count. Now we want to count large collections of things quickly and precisely. For example:
- In a group of
people, if everyone shakes hands with everyone else exactly once, how many handshakes take place? - How many ways can you distribute
Girl Scout cookies to Boy Scouts? - How many anagrams are there of “anagram”?
Before tackling questions like these, let’s look at the basics of counting.