COMBIN( ) and PERMUT( ): Figuring Combinations and Permutations
COMBIN( ) and PERMUT( ): Figuring Combinations and Permutations People use the COMBIN( ) and PERMUT( ) functions in probability theory, to count the number of possible outcomes when randomly choosing items from a set. COMBIN( ) and PERMUT( ) are short for combinations and permutations , which are mathematical terms for the number of distinct combinations you can make from a set of items. The main difference lies in the way they consider the order of items in a set (more on that in a moment). One reason you might use COMBIN( ) and PERMUT( ) is to assess the odds in a game of chance. You could use COMBIN( ) to help you figure out, say, the odds of being dealt an ace of spades from a deck of cards. And people often use both these functions to calculate the occurrence of other random events, like winning the lottery or being hit by a falling anvil. Both COMBIN( ) and PERMUT( ) take two arguments. The first argument is the number of different items in your set. The sec...