How many permutations are there in the letters beat?

1 Answer
May 15, 2018

There are #24# permutations. See explanation for details.

Explanation:

There are #4# letters. The number of permutations can be calculated in #2# ways:

  1. The number of permutations with #n# elements is #P_n=n!#. Here it is #P_4=4! =1*2*3*4=24#

  2. The number of possible words can also be calculated this way:

  3. First letter can be chosen in #4# ways,

  4. Second letter can only be chosen from #3#, because one has already been used,

  5. The third letter can be chosen from #2#,

  6. The last letter is picked without any choice; there is only one letter left.

The total number of possibilities can be calculated as the product of all numbers mentioned above:

#P_4=4*3*2*1=24#