Thread: Can a partition be a permutation OR combination?

I'm so confused--I know what each of these is, but when using a partition (for groups of non-distinct objects), can that be applied to a permutation OR combination, or JUST combination?

Originally Posted by janedoe

when using a partition (for groups of non-distinct objects), can that be applied to a permutation OR combination, or JUST combination?

Please reply giving an exact example of a problem that you are referring to. If we guess wrongly as to what your post means, it is a simple waste of time.

Well that's just it--I'm trying to find a general rule/definition.

But I think I may have solved it because I found a case of a permutation using a partition (I THINK lol):

ex. How many permutations are there of the letters of the word "greet"?
answer: 5!/2! --> where 2 is the number of non distinct items (e in this case)

Originally Posted by janedoe

Well that's just it--I'm trying to find a general rule/definition. But I think I may have solved it because I found a case of a permutation using a partition (I THINK lol):

ex. How many permutations are there of the letters of the word "greet"?
answer: 5!/2! --> where 2 is the number of non distinct items (e in this case)

Thank you for the example. That is not at all what I thought you meant.

You are asking about the often-called MISSISSIPPI rule.
We can rearrange that word in ways.
There are eleven letters. But two of them repeat four times and one repeats twice.

Yup, that's exactly it....so that's a partition then, right? And a permutation as well?

Thank you for your help