Math Problem Statement

Eight people sit in a minibus: 4 on the sunny side and 4 on the shady side. If 2 people want to sit on opposite sides to each other, another 2 people want to sit on the shady side, in how many ways can this be done?

Solution

To solve this problem, let's break it down into manageable steps and use combinatorial methods.

  1. Label the seats and people: Let's label the seats on the sunny side as S1,S2,S3,S4S_1, S_2, S_3, S_4 and the seats on the shady side as H1,H2,H3,H4H_1, H_2, H_3, H_4. Let's label the people as P1,P2,P3,P4,P5,P6,P7,P8P_1, P_2, P_3, P_4, P_5, P_6, P_7, P_8.

  2. Identify constraints:

    • P1P_1 and P2P_2 want to sit on opposite sides.
    • P3P_3 and P4P_4 want to sit on the shady side.
  3. Arrange P1P_1 and P2P_2:

    • P1P_1 can sit on any of the 4 sunny side seats.
    • For each choice of P1P_1, P2P_2 must sit on one of the 4 shady side seats.
    • This gives 4×4=164 \times 4 = 16 ways to place P1P_1 and P2P_2.
  4. Arrange P3P_3 and P4P_4:

    • They need to sit on the shady side.
    • There are 4 shady side seats, and P2P_2 already occupies one of them.
    • This leaves 3 seats for P3P_3 and P4P_4, and they can be arranged in (32)×2!=3×2=6\binom{3}{2} \times 2! = 3 \times 2 = 6 ways.
  5. Arrange the remaining 4 people (P5,P6,P7,P8P_5, P_6, P_7, P_8):

    • After placing P1P_1, P2P_2, P3P_3, and P4P_4, we have 2 sunny side seats and 1 shady side seat left (3 seats remaining).
    • We can choose any 2 out of these 4 people to sit in the remaining sunny side seats. This can be done in (42)=6\binom{4}{2} = 6 ways.
    • The remaining 2 people will sit on the 2 available seats (one shady and one sunny). These two remaining people can be arranged in 2!2! ways.
  6. Combine all choices:

    • Number of ways to place P1P_1 and P2P_2 = 16.
    • Number of ways to place P3P_3 and P4P_4 = 6.
    • Number of ways to place the remaining 4 people = 6 \times 2 = 12.

Hence, the total number of ways is: 16×6×12=115216 \times 6 \times 12 = 1152

So, the number of ways to arrange the people satisfying all conditions is 1152\boxed{1152}.

Would you like more details or have any questions? Here are some additional questions you might find interesting:

  1. How would the arrangement change if more people had seating preferences?
  2. What if the minibus had a different number of seats on each side?
  3. How can we generalize this solution for any number of people?
  4. What are other combinatorial constraints that can be introduced in this problem?
  5. How would the solution change if specific people wanted to sit together?

Tip: When solving combinatorial problems, break the problem into smaller parts and handle constraints step-by-step to simplify the process.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Combinatorics
Permutations
Combinations

Formulas

Binomial coefficient (\( \binom{n}{k} \))
Factorial (\( k! \))

Theorems

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Suitable Grade Level

High School