Simple Maths Problem... I Think!

by 10 replies
11
Hello Warriors:

If you had, say, a list of 40 items and want to pair them off with a list of, say, 20 other items, so that all items have been paired-off with each other at least once, how many different combinations would you have?

Tommy.
#off topic forum
  • [DELETED]
  • Assuming no duplicate items in the list of 40 items, and no duplicate items in the list of 20 items... then 800 combinations.
  • Thanks guys... I did think it was a simple multiplication at first but then I doubted myself and was imagining all
    kinds of elaborate formulae. I was even trying to multiply factorials which, if I'm not mistaken (although I probably am) gives an answer of:

    11,749,487,370,844,342,667,285,698,109,277,960,101 ,893,333,279,094,184,729,552,749,925,326,876,906,
    925,727,154,561,875,968,000,000,000,000

    LOL
    • [1] reply

    • I`m sure the answer is


      YiKeS
  • You're all wrong, the answer is definitely orange.
    • [1] reply
    • You guys need to state your answers in the form of a question...

      You all know that...

      Here is the "question" answer to your question...

      What is "I Don't Know?"

      Pavon
  • Sorry Pavon,

    What is orange? a color or a fruit?

    .jrd
    • [1] reply
    • LMAO!

      This one made my weekend...so far!

      Pavon
      • [1] reply
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
    • [2] replies
    • The answer really is quite simple. It is expressed as 2X20! possible combinations where 20! is a factorial. To evaluate a factorial just multiply 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 ... and on through 20. The answer is pretty close to what Tommy did in his head.

Next Topics on Trending Feed

  • 11

    Hello Warriors: If you had, say, a list of 40 items and want to pair them off with a list of, say, 20 other items, so that all items have been paired-off with each other at least once, how many different combinations would you have?