There are $10$ people who want to choose a committee of 5 people among them. They do this by first electing a set of $1, 2, 3,$ or $4$ committee leaders, who then choose among the remaining people to complete the 5-person committee. In how many ways can the committee be formed, assuming that people are distinguishable? (Two committees that have the same members but different sets of leaders are considered to be distinct.)

How many 4-digit numbers greater than 1000 are there that use the four digits of 2012? $\textbf{(A)}\hspace{.05in}6 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\hspace{.05in}7 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\hspace{.05in}8 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\hspace{.05in}9 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\hspace{.05in}12 $

Let $n > 1$ be a positive integer. A 2-dimensional grid, infinite in all directions, is given. Each 1 by 1 square in a given $n$ by $n$ square has a counter on it. A [i]move[/i] consists of taking $n$ adjacent counters in a row or column and sliding them each by one space along that row or column. A [i]returning sequence[/i] is a finite sequence of moves such that all counters again fill the original $n$ by $n$ square at the end of the sequence. [list] [*] Assume that all counters are distinguishable except two, which are indistinguishable from each other. Prove that any distinguishable arrangement of counters in the $n$ by $n$ square can be reached by a returning sequence. [*] Assume all counters are distinguishable. Prove that there is no returning sequence that switches two counters and returns the rest to their original positions.[/list] [i]Mitchell Lee and Benjamin Gunby.[/i]

Eli, Joy, Paul, and Sam want to form a company; the company will have 16 shares to split among the $4$ people. The following constraints are imposed: $\bullet$ Every person must get a positive integer number of shares, and all $16$ shares must be given out. $\bullet$ No one person can have more shares than the other three people combined. Assuming that shares are indistinguishable, but people are distinguishable, in how many ways can the shares be given out?

Let $n > 1$ be a positive integer. A 2-dimensional grid, infinite in all directions, is given. Each 1 by 1 square in a given $n$ by $n$ square has a counter on it. A [i]move[/i] consists of taking $n$ adjacent counters in a row or column and sliding them each by one space along that row or column. A [i]returning sequence[/i] is a finite sequence of moves such that all counters again fill the original $n$ by $n$ square at the end of the sequence. [list] [*] Assume that all counters are distinguishable except two, which are indistinguishable from each other. Prove that any distinguishable arrangement of counters in the $n$ by $n$ square can be reached by a returning sequence. [*] Assume all counters are distinguishable. Prove that there is no returning sequence that switches two counters and returns the rest to their original positions.[/list] [i]Mitchell Lee and Benjamin Gunby.[/i]

Eight congruent equilateral triangles, each of a different color, are used to construct a regular octahedron. How many distinguishable ways are there to construct the octahedron? (Two colored octahedrons are distinguishable if neither can be rotated to look just like the other.) [asy]import three; import math; size(180); defaultpen(linewidth(.8pt)); currentprojection=orthographic(2,0.2,1); triple A=(0,0,1); triple B=(sqrt(2)/2,sqrt(2)/2,0); triple C=(sqrt(2)/2,-sqrt(2)/2,0); triple D=(-sqrt(2)/2,-sqrt(2)/2,0); triple E=(-sqrt(2)/2,sqrt(2)/2,0); triple F=(0,0,-1); draw(A--B--E--cycle); draw(A--C--D--cycle); draw(F--C--B--cycle); draw(F--D--E--cycle,dotted+linewidth(0.7));[/asy]$ \textbf{(A)}\ 210 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 560 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 840 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 1260 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 1680$

Six cards numbered 1 through 6 are to be lined up in a row. Find the number of arrangements of these six cards where one of the cards can be removed leaving the remaining five cards in either ascending or descending order.

Alex, Mel, and Chelsea play a game that has $6$ rounds. In each round there is a single winner, and the outcomes of the rounds are independent. For each round the probability that Alex wins is $\frac{1}{2}$, and Mel is twice as likely to win as Chelsea. What is the probability that Alex wins three rounds, Mel wins two rounds, and Chelsea wins one round? $ \textbf{(A)}\ \frac{5}{72}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{5}{36}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \frac{1}{6}\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{1}{3}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 1 $

We want to paint some identically-sized cubes so that each face of each cube is painted a solid color and each cube is painted with six different colors. If we have seven different colors to choose from, how many distinguishable cubes can we produce?

In how many distinguishable rearrangements of the letters ABCCDEEF does the A precede both C's, the F appears between the 2 C's, and the D appears after the F?

Farmer John has $ 5$ cows, $ 4$ pigs, and $ 7$ horses. How many ways can he pair up the animals so that every pair consists of animals of different species? (Assume that all animals are distinguishable from each other.)

We define the [i]Fibonacci sequence[/i] $\{F_n\}_{n\ge0}$ by $F_0=0$, $F_1=1$, and for $n\ge2$, $F_n=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2}$; we define the [i]Stirling number of the second kind[/i] $S(n,k)$ as the number of ways to partition a set of $n\ge1$ distinguishable elements into $k\ge1$ indistinguishable nonempty subsets. For every positive integer $n$, let $t_n = \sum_{k=1}^{n} S(n,k) F_k$. Let $p\ge7$ be a prime. Prove that \[ t_{n+p^{2p}-1} \equiv t_n \pmod{p} \] for all $n\ge1$. [i]Proposed by Victor Wang[/i]

There are $ 11$ coins, which are indistinguishable by sight. Nevertheless, among them there are $ 10$ geniune coins ( of weight $ 20$ g each) and one counterfeit (of weight $ 21$ g). You have a two-pan scale which is blanced when the weight in the left-hand pan is twice as much as the weight in the right-hand one. Using this scale only, find the false coin by three weighings.

There are $ 5$ dogs, $ 4$ cats, and $ 7$ bowls of milk at an animal gathering. Dogs and cats are distinguishable, but all bowls of milk are the same. In how many ways can every dog and cat be paired with either a member of the other species or a bowl of milk such that all the bowls of milk are taken?

Let $n > 1$ be a positive integer. A 2-dimensional grid, infinite in all directions, is given. Each 1 by 1 square in a given $n$ by $n$ square has a counter on it. A [i]move[/i] consists of taking $n$ adjacent counters in a row or column and sliding them each by one space along that row or column. A [i]returning sequence[/i] is a finite sequence of moves such that all counters again fill the original $n$ by $n$ square at the end of the sequence. [list] [*] Assume that all counters are distinguishable except two, which are indistinguishable from each other. Prove that any distinguishable arrangement of counters in the $n$ by $n$ square can be reached by a returning sequence. [*] Assume all counters are distinguishable. Prove that there is no returning sequence that switches two counters and returns the rest to their original positions.[/list] [i]Mitchell Lee and Benjamin Gunby.[/i]

A fair die is rolled four times. The probability that each of the final three rolls is at least as large as the roll preceding it may be expressed in the form $m/n,$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n.$

How many [b]distinguishable[/b] rearrangements of the letters in CONTEST have both the vowels first? (For instance, OETCNST is a one such arrangements but OTETSNC is not.) $ \textbf{(A)}\ 60\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 120\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 240\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 720\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 2520$

A gardener plants three maple trees, four oak trees, and five birch trees in a row. He plants them in random order, each arrangement being equally likely. Let $\frac{m}{n}$ in lowest terms be the probability that no two birch trees are next to one another. Find $m + n$.

In a game, there are three indistinguishable boxes; one box contains two red balls, one contains two blue balls, and the last contains one ball of each color. To play, Raj first predicts whether he will draw two balls of the same color or two of different colors. Then, he picks a box, draws a ball at random, looks at the color, and replaces the ball in the same box. Finally, he repeats this; however, the boxes are not shuffled between draws, so he can determine whether he wants to draw again from the same box. Raj wins if he predicts correctly; if he plays optimally, what is the probability that he will win?

We will say that a rearrangement of the letters of a word has no [i]fixed letters[/i] if, when the rearrangement is placed directly below the word, no column has the same letter repeated. For instance $HBRATA$ is a rearragnement with no fixed letter of $BHARAT$. How many distinguishable rearrangements with no fixed letters does $BHARAT$ have? (The two $A$s are considered identical.)

Let $N$ be the number of ways of distributing $52$ identical balls into $4$ distinguishable boxes such that no box is empty and the difference between the number of balls in any two of the boxes is not a multiple of $6$ If $N=100a+b$, where $a,b$ are positive integers less than $100$, find $a+b.$

If you alphabetize all of the distinguishable rearrangements of the letters in the word [b]PURPLE[/b], find the number $n$ such that the word [b]PURPLE [/b]is the $n$th item in the list.

In an election between $\text{A}$ and $\text{B}$, during the counting of the votes, neither candidate was more than $2$ votes ahead, and the vote ended in a tie, $6$ votes to $6$ votes. Two votes for the same candidate are indistinguishable. In how many orders could the votes have been counted? One possibility is $\text{AABBABBABABA}$.

Sophie has $20$ indistinguishable pairs of socks in a laundry bag. She pulls them out one at a time. After pulling out $30$ socks, the expected number of unmatched socks among the socks that she has pulled out can be expressed in simplest form as $\tfrac{m}{n}$. Find $m+n$.

Seven boys and three girls are playing basketball. I how many different ways can they make two teams of five players so that both teams have at least one girl?