topic Re: math people in Among Friends

math people

qualitygal — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 16:55:04 GMT

we're watching the Price is Right. If you have 4 numbers, how many combos of those 4 numbers can you end up with. I said less than he did, he said 24, I said 16. We tried listing them then went bonkers. We figured for 3 there would be 6 combos. No wonder they can't win the car! LOL

Is there a way to figure that out quickly w/o listing them all?

Re: math people

millieshops — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 17:07:21 GMT

@qualitygalThe number is 24, but I cheated and Googled for the answer. I knew it couldn't be just 16, but I had no idea until I looked how to get the answer quickly.

There's an explanation on Google -- just not near the top of the listings if you want to see how it was done. Made sense when I saw it.

Re: math people

qualitygal — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 17:13:29 GMT

Man! Google had that answer? They have everything don't they! I'll have to look it up, thanks!

Re: math people

scotnovel — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 17:16:57 GMT

@qualitygal wrote:
we're watching the Price is Right. If you have 4 numbers, how many combos of those 4 numbers can you end up with. I said less than he did, he said 24, I said 16. We tried listing them then went bonkers. We figured for 3 there would be 6 combos. No wonder they can't win the car! LOL

Is there a way to figure that out quickly w/o listing them all?

If you have 4 numbers and you want to know the total combinations that can be made from those 4 numbers, the calculation would be 4x3x2x1 or 24 combinations. Similarly for 5 it would be 5x4x3x2x1 or 120 combinations.

The formula is more complex if you want to know something like how many possible combinations of 4 numbers can be made from a set of 15 numbers (as an example).

Re: math people

Annabellethecat66 — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 17:29:56 GMT

@qualitygal Yes you can google everything. I just googled in response to your post about the sock. Here's what I said,

'what are jokes about losing one sock'.....you wouldn't believe all of the laundry jokes that came up!

I google everything. Unfortunately, it also causes me to get way too many junk emails and calls, but at least for 5 minutes people think I'm smart! Ha!

Re: math people

lcmel — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 18:40:06 GMT

4x3x2x1=24

Re: math people

lulu2 — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 18:54:30 GMT

As others have said, it is 4! (4 factorial) which is 4x3x2x1.

Re: math people

Zita — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:38:29 GMT

that made my head hurt! "They promised there would be no math."

Re: math people

PinkieBelle — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:52:58 GMT

does order matter?

Is "4, 3, 2, 1" the same as "1, 2, 3, 4" or are they considered different?

If it is a "combination" then order doesn't matter and the answer is 1.

If it is a "permutation" then order does matter and the answer is 24.

The question actually asked for "combo" so the answer is 1.