Written by students who passed Immediately available after payment Read online or as PDF Wrong document? Swap it for free 4.6 TrustPilot
logo-home
Document preview thumbnail
Preview 10 out of 333 pages
Exam (elaborations)

Counting – Solutions Manual by Khee Meng Koh & Eng Guan Tay | Complete Step-by-Step Solutions for All Problems | Comprehensive Guide for Combinatorics, Permutations, Combinations, Binomial Theorem, and Probability Applications | Ideal for Mathematics, Com

Document preview thumbnail
Preview 10 out of 333 pages

This Solutions Manual for Counting by Khee Meng Koh and Eng Guan Tay provides complete, step-by-step solutions to every problem in the original textbook. It serves as an essential resource for students studying Combinatorics, Discrete Mathematics, Probability, and Advanced Counting Techniques. The manual is structured to enhance conceptual understanding while strengthening problem-solving abilities through logical reasoning and clear mathematical explanations. Each chapter corresponds directly to the main textbook, providing detailed worked examples for permutations, combinations, the pigeonhole principle, binomial coefficients, inclusion-exclusion principle, recurrence relations, generating functions, and partitions of integers. Every solution includes a detailed explanation of methods, formulas used, and justification of each step—making this manual invaluable for both self-study and guided coursework. Designed for undergraduate and advanced high school students, this manual is also highly useful for mathematics olympiad training, computer science algorithm design, and engineering applications. It simplifies complex combinatorial proofs into understandable logic and stepwise reasoning, allowing students to follow the mathematical flow with ease. Instructors, tutors, and competitive exam candidates will find this manual an efficient reference for quickly verifying solutions and exploring multiple approaches to each counting problem. Each problem type—whether direct computation, recurrence formulation, or combinatorial proof—is handled rigorously and concisely, ensuring accuracy and completeness. The manual bridges theoretical understanding with practical application, illustrating how counting principles are applied in computer science, probability theory, and optimization problems. It builds strong foundational skills necessary for advanced study in mathematics, algorithms, and theoretical computer science. Whether used for homework, test preparation, or contest practice, this Counting Solutions Manual by Khee Meng Koh & Eng Guan Tay (2022 edition) provides clarity, structure, and mastery in one of mathematics’ most fundamental areas. A perfect companion for anyone pursuing excellence in combinatorics or discrete math.

Content preview

,COUNTING
Solutions Manual 2nd Edition

,This page intentionally left blank

, COUNTING
Solutions Manual 2nd Edition




Koh Khee Meng
National University of Singapore, Singapore

Tay Eng Guan
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore




World Scientific
NE W J E RSE Y • L O NDO N • SI N GA P O RE • BE IJING • SHA NG HA I • HO N G K O NG • TAIPEI •

C HE NNAI

,Published by

World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte.
Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore
596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE




Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koh, K. M. (Khee Meng), 1944–
Counting : supplementary notes and solutions manual / Koh Khee Meng, Tay Eng
Guan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 981-256-915-4 (pbk: alk. paper)
1. Combinatorial analysis. 2. Counting. 3. Graph theory. I. Title. II. Tay, Eng Guan,

QA164 .K63 2002 Suppl.
511'.6--dc22 2006049623




British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.




Counting: Solutions Manual (2nd
Edition) ISBN: 978-981-4401-
94-4 (pbk)
Copyright © 2013 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher.




For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this
case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.




Typeset by Stallion Press
Email:

,Printed in Singapore.

, Preface

Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics dealing with discretely
structured problems. Its scope of study includes selections and
arrangements of objects with prescribed conditions, configurations
involving a set of nodes interconnected by edges (called graphs),
and designs of experimental schemes according to specified rules.
Combinatorial problems and their applications can be found not
only in various branches of mathematics, but also in other
disciplines such as engineering, computer science, operational
research, management sciences and the life sciences. Since
computers require discrete formu- lation of problems,
combinatorial techniques have become essential and powerful
tools for engineers and applied scientists, in particu- lar, in the
area of designing and analysing algorithms for various problems
which range from designing the itineraries for a shipping
company to sequencing the human genome in the life sciences.
The counting problem, which seeks to find out how many
arrange- ments there are in a particular situation, is one of the
basic problems in combinatorics. Counting is used in forensic
science to calculate the probability that a sample of biological
evidence found at the crime scene matches that of a particular
accused person. In Chemistry, Cayley used graphs to count the
number of isomers of saturated hydrocarbons, while Harary and
Read counted the number of cer- tain organic compounds built up
from benzene rings by representing them as configurations of
hexagons joined together along a common edge. In Genetics, by
counting all possibilities for a DNA chain made up of the four
bases, scientists arrive at an astoundingly large number and so are
able to understand the tremendous possible variation in genetic
makeup. Counting has been used as well to study the primary and
secondary structures of RNA.

,v

,vi Counting: Solutions Manual


This book is the essential companion to Counting (2nd Edi-
tion) (World Scientific, 2013), an introduction to combinatorics for
secondary to undergraduate students. The book gives solutions to
the exercises in Counting (2nd Edition). There is often more than
one method to solve a particular problem and the authors have
included alternative solutions whenever they are of interest.
Problems marked with (AIME) are from the American Invita-
tional Mathematics Examination. We would like to express our
grat- itude to Mathematical Association of America for allowing
us to include these problems in the book. Many thanks go to our
col- leagues, Dong Fengming, Ku Cheng Yeaw, Lee Tuo Yeong,
Ng Kah Loon, Toh Pee Choon, Toh Tin Lam and Katherine Goh
for reading through the draft and checking through the solutions
— any mistakes that remain are ours alone.


Koh Khee
Meng Tay Eng
Guan
September 2012

, Contents


Preface v

Notation and Abbreviation ix

Pólya’s Model of Problem Solving 1

1. The Addition Principle 7

2. The Multiplication Principle 15

3. Subsets and Arrangements 23

4. Applications 29

5. The Bijection Principle 41

6. Distribution of Balls into Boxes 51

7. More Applications of (BP) 55

8. Distribution of Distinct Objects into Distinct Boxes 65

9. Other Variations of the Distribution Problem 69

10. The Binomial Expansion 75

11. Some Useful Identities 81

12. Pascal’s Triangle 85

13. The Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion 91
14. General Statement of the Principle of Inclusion
and Exclusion 97

vii

Document information

Uploaded on
October 14, 2025
Number of pages
333
Written in
2025/2026
Type
Exam (elaborations)
Contains
Questions & answers
$21.99

Wrong document? Swap it for free Within 14 days of purchase and before downloading, you can choose a different document. You can simply spend the amount again.
Written by students who passed
Immediately available after payment
Read online or as PDF

Seller avatar
Reputation scores are based on the amount of documents a seller has sold for a fee and the reviews they have received for those documents. There are three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The better the reputation, the more your can rely on the quality of the sellers work.
SUPERPASS
5.0
(4)
Sold
20
Followers
1
Items
528
Last sold
3 days ago


Why students choose Stuvia

Created by fellow students, verified by reviews

Quality you can trust: written by students who passed their tests and reviewed by others who've used these notes.

Didn't get what you expected? Choose another document

No worries! You can instantly pick a different document that better fits what you're looking for.

Pay as you like, start learning right away

No subscription, no commitments. Pay the way you're used to via credit card and download your PDF document instantly.

Student with book image

“Bought, downloaded, and aced it. It really can be that simple.”

Alisha Student

Working on your references?

Create accurate citations in APA, MLA and Harvard with our free citation generator.

Working on your references?

Frequently asked questions