College Algebra: Solving Combination Problems

http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/813-college-algebra-solving-combination-problems

In this lesson, you will begin by reviewing permutations. Then, you will learn about mathematical combinations and how to evaluate and solve combinatorics problems that involve combinations. Most often, the formula for the binomial coefficient is used to solve these problems. This is also called the choose function and read as n choose k. Where order matters in permutations (e.g. A B C is distinct from A C B), combinations do not take sequence into account. Combination problems are things like, How many different sets of 6 numbers are there that can be selected from a broader set of 50 (to give you an idea of the odds that you'll win a Pick 6 Lottery game?

For Professor Burger's lesson on combinatorics problems involving permutations, check out http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/812.

Taught by Professor Edward Burger, this lesson was selected from a broader, comprehensive course, College Algebra. This course and others are available from Thinkwell, Inc. The full course can be found at http://www.thinkwell.com/student/product/collegealgebra. The full course covers equations and inequalities, relations and functions, polynomial and rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, systems of equations, conic sections and a variety of other AP algebra, advanced algebra and Algebra II topics.

Edward Burger, Professor of Mathematics at Williams College, earned his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, having graduated summa cum laude with distinction in mathematics from Connecticut College.

He has also taught at UT-Austin and the University of Colorado at Boulder, and he served as a fellow at the University of Waterloo in Canada and at Macquarie University in Australia. Prof. Burger has won many awards, including the 2001 Haimo Award for Distinguished Teaching of Mathematics, the 2004 Chauvenet Prize, and the 2006 Lester R. Ford Award, all from the Mathematical Association of America. In 2006, Reader's Digest named him in the "100 Best of America".

Prof. Burger is the author of over 50 articles, videos, and books, including the trade book, Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas and of the textbook The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking. He also speaks frequently to professional and public audiences, referees professional journals, and publishes articles in leading math journals, including The Journal of Number Theory and American Mathematical Monthly. His areas of specialty include number theory, Diophantine approximation, p-adic analysis, the geometry of numbers, and the theory of continued fractions.

Prof. Burger's unique sense of humor and his teaching expertise combine to make him the ideal presenter of Thinkwell's entertaining and informative video lectures.

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