This is a bonus question on a take home quiz. My teacher has not introduced us to combinatorial proofs, just the basics of combinatorics. Does anyone know the correct format for such a proof? Help with the problem would be appreciated as well!
1 Answer
Imagine you are to form a chaired committee of $k+1$ members from a pool of $n$ people. You can either pick the chair first and then the other $k$ members of the committee, or the committee first and then choose one of the $k+1$ members as the chair.
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$\begingroup$ I wasn't sure what "find a combinatorial proof" meant. Would it be an example like this? If so, it makes perfect sense to me with just about any example from everyday life. I originally thought it meant to prove that equation. $\endgroup$ Mar 18, 2016 at 15:58
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2$\begingroup$ @d3m0nxdrums To create a combinatorial proof, you define a set and then count it in two different ways to show they are equal. This is an example of this, with the set defined using words rather than symbols. $\endgroup$– J. BushMar 18, 2016 at 15:59
combinatorial proof
, you’ll find many examples. $\endgroup$