A sales assistant is hanging 11 sweaters on a rack. He has 5 pink sweaters, 4 white sweaters, and 2 black sweaters. In how many distinct orders can the sweaters be arranged if two sweaters of the same color are considered identical (not distinct)?
Question
A sales assistant is hanging 11 sweaters on a rack. He has 5 pink sweaters, 4 white sweaters, and 2 black sweaters. In how many distinct orders can the sweaters be arranged if two sweaters of the same color are considered identical (not distinct)?
Solution
To solve this problem, we can use the formula for permutations of a multiset. This formula is n! / (r1! * r2! * ... * rk!), where n is the total number of items, and r1, r2, ..., rk are the numbers of each type of item.
In this case, n = 11 (the total number of sweaters), r1 = 5 (the number of pink sweaters), r2 = 4 (the number of white sweaters), and r3 = 2 (the number of black sweaters).
So, the number of distinct orders in which the sweaters can be arranged is 11! / (5! * 4! * 2!).
Let's calculate this:
11! = 11 * 10 * 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 39,916,800 5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120 4! = 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 24 2! = 2 * 1 = 2
So, the number of distinct orders is 39,916,800 / (120 * 24 * 2) = 34,650.
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