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In school $100$ kids are making necklaces from $11$ beads. Every kid gets this same set of beads: red , green, blue. Choose the sets which allow every kid to make different necklace:

a) 7-red, 2-green, 2-green

b) 7-red, 3-green, 1-blue

c) 6-red, 4-green, 1-blue

d) 8-red, 2-green, 1-blue

e) 3-red, 1-green, 7-blue

I was trying to do this with a lot of ways for example:

a) $$ \frac {11!}{7!\cdot 2!\cdot 2!} = 1980 $$ which should give the all possible ways of making different necakles, but doing this that way gives for all sets numbers higher than $100$ so all answers would be true, but in my book the good answers are only a) and c).

I don't know there is a mistake in a book or my way of doing this is wrong.

I will be very thankful for every help.

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    necakle -> necklace – 2017-01-28
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    I am so sorry for mistakes. English is not my native language – 2017-01-28
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    The necklace is a circle - perhaps you need to divide all your answers by 11 to compensate for the fact that the answers you got assumed that there was a beginning and an end to each string of beads. – 2017-01-28
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    @Serek nor mine. Don't be worried by my remark, it was only intended to have the most readable text. – 2017-01-28

1 Answers 1

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The cycle index $Z(C_{11})$ of the cyclic group acting on the eleven slots is very simple because $11$ is prime and we obtain

$$Z(C_{11}) = \frac{1}{11} (a_1^{11} + 10 a_{11}).$$

Substitution by PET (Polya Enumeration Theorem) now yields

$$\frac{1}{11} ((R+G+B)^{11} + 10 (R^{11}+G^{11}+B^{11})).$$

None of the proposed combinations are monochromatic containing eleven beads of the same color, hence only the first term contributes.

We have for

a. $$\frac{1}{11} {11\choose 7,2,2} = 180$$

b. $$\frac{1}{11} {11\choose 7,3,1} = 120$$

c. $$\frac{1}{11} {11\choose 6,4,1} = 210$$

d. $$\frac{1}{11} {11\choose 8,2,1} = 45$$

e. $$\frac{1}{11} {11\choose 3,1,7} = 120$$.

Hence all choices except d allow every kid to make a different necklace. What we see here is that all orbits except monochrome ones are the same size, containing $11$ configurations.