Math Problem Statement

Ms. Q gave Grogg the following problem: "License plates in Aopslandia consist of six upper-case letters. For example, two possible Aopslandian license plates are $ABCDEF$ and $AAAOPS.$ No two license plates are the same. How many possible Aopslandian license plates are there which contain exactly four $A$'s, or exactly two $B$'s, or both?"

Solution

We are tasked with calculating how many possible Aopslandian license plates can be created with exactly four AA's, exactly two BB's, or both. License plates consist of six uppercase letters, and no two license plates are the same.

Step 1: Defining Sets

Let:

  • SAS_A represent the set of license plates with exactly four AA's.
  • SBS_B represent the set of license plates with exactly two BB's.
  • SABS_{A \cap B} represent the set of license plates with exactly four AA's and exactly two BB's.

We need to find: SASB=SA+SBSAB|S_A \cup S_B| = |S_A| + |S_B| - |S_{A \cap B}| where SA|S_A|, SB|S_B|, and SAB|S_{A \cap B}| are the sizes of the respective sets.

Step 2: Calculating SA|S_A| (Plates with exactly 4 A's)

For SAS_A, we need exactly four AA's and the remaining two positions filled with letters other than AA.

  • Choose 4 positions out of 6 to place the AA's. The number of ways to do this is: (64)=15\binom{6}{4} = 15
  • The remaining 2 positions can be filled with any of the 25 other letters (since we exclude AA). Thus, for each of these positions, there are 25 choices, giving: 25×25=62525 \times 25 = 625 Thus, the total number of license plates in SAS_A is: SA=15×625=9375|S_A| = 15 \times 625 = 9375

Step 3: Calculating SB|S_B| (Plates with exactly 2 B's)

For SBS_B, we need exactly two BB's and the remaining four positions filled with letters other than BB.

  • Choose 2 positions out of 6 to place the BB's. The number of ways to do this is: (62)=15\binom{6}{2} = 15
  • The remaining 4 positions can be filled with any of the 25 other letters (since we exclude BB). Thus, for each of these positions, there are 25 choices, giving: 25×25×25×25=254=39062525 \times 25 \times 25 \times 25 = 25^4 = 390625 Thus, the total number of license plates in SBS_B is: SB=15×390625=5859375|S_B| = 15 \times 390625 = 5859375

Step 4: Calculating SAB|S_{A \cap B}| (Plates with exactly 4 A's and 2 B's)

For SABS_{A \cap B}, we need exactly four AA's and exactly two BB's.

  • Choose 4 positions out of 6 to place the AA's. The remaining 2 positions must be filled with BB's. The number of ways to do this is: (64)=(62)=15\binom{6}{4} = \binom{6}{2} = 15 Thus, the total number of license plates in SABS_{A \cap B} is: SAB=15|S_{A \cap B}| = 15

Step 5: Applying the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle

Now, using the inclusion-exclusion formula: SASB=SA+SBSAB|S_A \cup S_B| = |S_A| + |S_B| - |S_{A \cap B}| Substitute the values we calculated: SASB=9375+585937515=5868735|S_A \cup S_B| = 9375 + 5859375 - 15 = 5868735

Thus, the total number of possible Aopslandian license plates containing exactly four AA's, exactly two BB's, or both is 5868735\boxed{5868735}.

Would you like a deeper breakdown of any steps or have further questions?


Here are five related questions for practice:

  1. How many license plates are there with exactly three AA's and three different letters?
  2. What if license plates could also contain digits? How would the total count change?
  3. How many license plates are there if they must contain exactly one vowel?
  4. What if we wanted plates with exactly three of any single letter? How would that calculation differ?
  5. How many license plates have no repeated letters at all?

Tip: In combinatorics, inclusion-exclusion is essential for handling problems with overlapping constraints.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Combinatorics
Inclusion-Exclusion Principle
Counting

Formulas

|S_A \cup S_B| = |S_A| + |S_B| - |S_{A \cap B}|
Binomial Coefficient: \binom{n}{k} = \frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}

Theorems

Inclusion-Exclusion Principle

Suitable Grade Level

Grades 10-12