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Difficulty: 3/102022 NMTC 2022 (QII-56)

If nPr = 3024 and nCr = 126 then find and r.

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Use the key formula to solve for .

Hint 2: Show that , which means .

Hint 3: Express , and find the 4 consecutive integers that multiply to 3024.

Solution

Step 1 (State Permutations/Combinations Relation): The number of permutations and combinations are related by:

Step 2 (Solve for r!): We substitute the given values and :

Since , we have:

Step 3 (Solve for n): Now we use the permutation formula for :

We look for 4 consecutive integers whose product is 3024:

  • (too small)

  • (exactly matches!)

This gives .

Step 4 (Conclusion): The values are and , written as n=9, r=4.

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