Question

At a certain university, the division of mathematical sciences consists of the departments of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. There are two male and two female professors in each department. A committee of six professors is to contain three men and three women and must also contain two professors from each of the three departments. Find the number of possible committees that can be formed subject to these requirements.

Answer

Answer: 88

Concepts:combinations arrangements with restrictions casework

Difficulty rating: 2070

Solution:

Each department contributes exactly two committee members. If every department sends one man and one woman, there are $2 \cdot 2 = 4$ choices per department, for $4^3 = 64$ committees.

Otherwise some department sends two men. To keep three of each gender, another department must then send its two women, and the remaining department sends one man and one woman. There are $3$ ways to pick the all-male department, $2$ ways to pick the all-female department, and $2 \cdot 2 = 4$ choices in the mixed department (the two-man and two-woman selections are forced), for $3 \cdot 2 \cdot 4 = 24$ committees.

The total is $64 + 24 = 88.$

2012 AIME II Problem 3

Answer: 88

Difficulty rating: 2070

Solution:

Problem 3 in Other Years