Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · harp

Print

imc

counting and probability intermediate

Problem

Pat wants to buy four donuts from an ample supply of three types of donuts: glazed, chocolate, and powdered. How many different selections are possible?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
Let's use stars and bars. Let the donuts be represented by s. We wish to find all possible combinations of glazed, chocolate, and powdered donuts that give us in all. The four donuts we want can be represented as . Notice that we can add two "dividers" to divide the group of donuts into three different kinds; the first will be glazed, second will be chocolate, and the third will be powdered. For example, represents one glazed, two chocolate, and one powdered. We have six objects in all, and we wish to turn two into dividers, which can be done in ways. Our answer is hence . Notice that this can be generalized to get the stars and bars (balls and urns) identity.
Final answer
D