How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

Start by counting the number of ways to choose the positions of the vowels: $\binom{7}{3}=35$

Then find how many of these do not have vowels in consecutive positions. With four consonants, there are five places to insert vowels: _c_c_c_c_ Choose three of them: $\binom{5}{3}=10$

So there are $35-10=25$ patterns that meet the condition of having consecutive vowels. For each of these there are $4!$ permutations of the consonants and $3!$ permutations of the vowels. This gives a total of $25\times 4!\times 3!=3600$ permutations with at least two vowels next to each other.

For the $10$ patterns that do not have consecutive vowels, there are $4!$ permutations with the vowels in order and $3!$ with the consonants in order. The permutation with both groups in order is counted twice, so there are $4!+3!-1=29$ permutations with at least one group in alphabetical order. This gives a total of $10\times 29=290$ additional permutations that meet the given conditions.

The total is therefore $3890$ arrangements.

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  Updated on: 26 Feb 2019, 03:45

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
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In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged?1) Without any restrictions.2) M must always occur at the third place.3) All the vowels are together.4) All the vowels are never together.

5) Vowels occupy the even positions[/b]


Originally posted by sonfbm on 25 Jun 2007, 13:04.
Last edited by Bunuel on 26 Feb 2019, 03:45, edited 1 time in total.

Edited the question.

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  19 Feb 2012, 03:27

On how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged?1. Without any restrictions:Since all letters in the word "COMPUTER" are distinct then the # of arrangements is 8!.2. M must always occur at the third place:M is fixed at the third place, other 7 distinct letters can be arranged in 7! ways,3. All the vowels are together:Consider three vowels as one unit: {OEU}. Thus we'll have total of 6 units: {OEU}{C}{M}{P}{T}{R}, which can be arranged in 6! ways. Three vowels within their unit can be arranged in 3! ways. Total: 6!*3!.4. All the vowels are never together:Total minus restriction: 8!-6!*3!.5. Vowels occupy the even positions (the vowels can occupy only even positions): C|O|M|P|U|T|E|RO|E|O|E|O|E|O|E (O and E stand for odd and even positions respectively).# of arrangements would be \(C^3_4*3!*5!=4!*5!=2880\).\(C^3_4\) - choosing which 3 even positions out of 4 will be occupied by vowels (there are 4 even positions: 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th and only 3 vowels); \(3!\) - # of different arrangements of these vowels on their even positions;\(5!\) - # of different arrangements of 8-3=5 other letters left.Hope it helps. _________________

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  25 Jun 2007, 18:39

3) All vowels are together - C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R has 3 vowels - for them to be together, consider them as a single entity say K, so now we have 6 alphabets (C,M,P,T,R,K) - 6! ways K comprises of 3 alphates - so K can arrange itself in 3! ways, hence total 6! x 3! 5) There are 4 even positions to be filled by 3 vowels -so by direct counting 4 x 3 x 2 remaining 5 positions are occupied by the 5 alphabets in 5! ways

=> 5! x 4!

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  25 Jun 2007, 13:33

1) 8! 2) 7! 3) 6! x 3! 4) 8! - [6! x 3!]

5) 4! x [4x3x2]

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  26 Jun 2007, 08:53

Thank you. somehow i can't be sure of my answers, when it comes to arrangement possibilities or probability calculation. Though i got first 4 correct here

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  26 Jun 2007, 11:00

4) All the vowels are never together

Does this mean, they are all seperate? If thats the questions, then asnwer is 4! 5P3 ways

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  14 Dec 2011, 10:43

Can someone check for 4 and 5: i keep getting4: 5!*6p3=2400

5. 720*4=2880

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  19 Feb 2012, 03:07

BDSunDevil wrote:

Can someone check for 4 and 5: i keep getting4: 5!*6p3=2400

5. 720*4=2880

4) All the vowels are never together.This is equivalent to (All possibilities - All the vowels are ALWAYS together) = 8! - 6!3!5) Vowels occupy the even positions.let us consider the following: first 3 vowels placing together in even positions:-O-U-E---O---U-E---O-U-ELike this, at any point in time we have 4 positions to fill with 3 letters. Hence no. of ways will be 4P3 = 4!Remaining 5 positions can be filled by 5!Hence total ways = 4! x 5!

Hope this is clear. (if you like, give me kudos, please

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  19 Feb 2012, 18:33

4. All the vowels are never together:I did this - 3 vowels and 5 non-vowels.number of ways to arrange 5 non-vowels = 5! (represented by | below).-|-|-|-|-|-Now there are 6 places (represented by -) that vowels can occupy so that they are not together.Number of ways vowels can be arranged = 6P3 = 120total number of ways = 120 * 5! = 14400.

What am i doing wrong?

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  19 Feb 2012, 20:24

Apex231 wrote:

4. All the vowels are never together:I did this - 3 vowels and 5 non-vowels.number of ways to arrange 5 non-vowels = 5! (represented by | below).-|-|-|-|-|-Now there are 6 places (represented by -) that vowels can occupy so that they are not together.Number of ways vowels can be arranged = 6P3 = 120total number of ways = 120 * 5! = 14400.

What am i doing wrong?

Question says "ALL the vowels not together". So, you have excluded valid cases like COMPTUER, CMPOUTER

One thing: it is generally a good practice to find the probability of something to occur and then subtract it from 1 to find for the same thing to not occur. This way, we don;t commit above mistakes.

Kudos please, if this is clear

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  19 Feb 2012, 23:43

1. 8!2. 7!3. 6! x 64. 8! - (6!x6)

5. 5! x (4C3)

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  19 Feb 2012, 23:46

docabuzar wrote:

1. 8!2. 7!3. 6! x 64. 8! - (6!x6)

5. 5! x (4C3)

Answer for question #5 is not correct, it should be 5!*4!. Check the solutions above and ask if anything remains unclear. _________________

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  20 Feb 2012, 12:40

Bunuel wrote:

docabuzar wrote:

1. 8!2. 7!3. 6! x 64. 8! - (6!x6)

5. 5! x (4C3)

Answer for question #5 is not correct, it should be 5!*4!. Check the solutions above and ask if anything remains unclear.

Thanks for correction.I intended to write 5! x (4P3) => 5! x 4!

I m worried, the time pressure never ceases to cause such mistakes!

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  10 Sep 2016, 22:46

For the 5th question-There are 8 available places in the word COMPUTER. 5 Consonants and 3 Vowels.First choose 4 consonants to be filled in 4 odd positions in 5P4 ways = 120Then 4 balance alphabets, including the vowels, can be filled in 4 even positions in 4! ways = 24Total number of ways = 120*24 = 2880. _________________

Hope this helps.

You'll never know unless you try

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  29 Jan 2021, 15:18

COMPUTER is 8 distinct letters.a) No restrictions: 8! / (8 - 8)! = 8! b) M is in the third position: 7! / (7 - 7)! = 7!c) Vowels always together = 6! ( 6-6)! = 6! x 3!d) Vowels never together = 8! - 6! x 3!e) Vowels in even positions:4C3 = 4 < --- # of ways 3 spots can be chosen (Combination)3!/(3-3)! = 6 <--- # of ways 3 vowels can be arranged (Permutation)5!/(5-5)! = 120 <--- # of ways the remaining 5 letters are arranged (Permutation)120 x 24 = 2880 <--- # of ways you can get vowels in even positions. _________________

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
  30 Jan 2021, 21:01

In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged?1) Without any restrictions: 8! 2) M must always occur at the third place: 7! 3) All the vowels are together: 6! x 3! 4) All the vowels are never together: 8! ( 6! x 3!) 5) Vowels occupy the even positions: 5! x 3! _________________

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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

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Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]

How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?
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How many words can be formed from the word COMPUTER so that vowels appear in alphabetical order?

Re: In how many ways can the letters of the word "COMPUTER" be arranged? [#permalink]