In how many different ways can the letters of the word ALLAHABAD be arranged?
Aptitude
Permutation and Combination
Difficulty: Medium
Choose an option
-
A3780
-
B1890
-
C7560
-
D15120
-
ENone of these
Answer
Correct Answer: 7560
Explanation
### Concept & Permutations with Identical Items
When calculating arrangements of words with repeated letters, divide the total factorial of the letter count by the factorials of the frequencies of the repeating letters.
$$ \text{Arrangements} = \frac{n!}{p_1! \times p_2! \dots} $$
### Step-by-Step Solution
1. Count the total letters in "ALLAHABAD": $n = 9$.
2. Tally the frequencies of the letters:
- A: 4
- L: 2
- H: 1
- B: 1
- D: 1
3. Substitute these values into the permutation formula:
$$ \frac{9!}{4! \times 2!} $$
4. Expand and cancel terms:
$$ \frac{9 \times 8 \times 7 \times 6 \times 5 \times 4!}{4! \times 2} = \frac{9 \times 8 \times 7 \times 6 \times 5}{2} $$
5. Calculate the remaining product:
$$ 9 \times 4 \times 7 \times 6 \times 5 = 36 \times 210 = 7560 $$
### Exam Strategy & Shortcut
Stop expanding the numerator as soon as it matches the largest factorial in the denominator. Here, stop at $4!$ so it immediately cancels out with the $4!$ below, saving massive amounts of computation time.
### Common Pitfall
A frequent error is dividing by just the number of identical letters (e.g., dividing by 4 and 2) rather than their factorials ($4!$ and $2!$).
### Final Answer
Therefore, the correct answer is **7560**.