Browse · MATH
Printjmc
prealgebra senior
Problem
In SHORT BINGO, a card is filled by marking the middle square as WILD and placing 24 other numbers in the remaining 24 squares.
Specifically a card is made by placing 5 distinct numbers from the set in the first column, 5 distinct numbers from in the second column, 4 distinct numbers in the third column (skipping the WILD square in the middle), 5 distinct numbers from in the fourth column and 5 distinct numbers from in the last column.
One possible SHORT BINGO card is:

To play SHORT BINGO, someone names numbers, chosen at random, and players mark those numbers on their cards. A player wins when he marks 5 in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
How many distinct possibilities are there for the values in the first column of a SHORT BINGO card? (The placement on the card matters, so the order of the numbers matters, so is to be considered different from , for instance.)
Specifically a card is made by placing 5 distinct numbers from the set in the first column, 5 distinct numbers from in the second column, 4 distinct numbers in the third column (skipping the WILD square in the middle), 5 distinct numbers from in the fourth column and 5 distinct numbers from in the last column.
One possible SHORT BINGO card is:
To play SHORT BINGO, someone names numbers, chosen at random, and players mark those numbers on their cards. A player wins when he marks 5 in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
How many distinct possibilities are there for the values in the first column of a SHORT BINGO card? (The placement on the card matters, so the order of the numbers matters, so is to be considered different from , for instance.)
Solution
There are 10 choices for the top number. That leaves 9 for the second number. Once those are chosen, there are 8 possibilities for the third number, then 7 for the fourth and 6 for the fifth. That gives a total of possible first columns.
Final answer
30240