Georgeooga-Harryooga Theorem
Contents
[hide]Definition
The Georgeooga-Harryooga Theorem states that if you have distinguishable objects and are kept away from each other, then there are ways to arrange the objects.
Created by George and Harry of The Ooga Booga Tribe of The Caveman Society
Proofs
Proof 1
Let our group of objects be represented like so , , , ..., , . Let the last objects be the ones we can't have together.
Then we can organize our objects like so .
We have ways to arrange the objects in that list.
Now we have blanks and other objects so we have ways to arrange the objects we can't put together.
By fundamental counting principal our answer is .
Proof by RedFireTruck
Proof 2
Let us call the people
Let the number of people before in line be , between be , ... after be . We have
The number of ways to determine is equivalent to the number of positive integer solutions to: where and .
So, by stars and bars, the number of ways to determine is
Furthermore, after picking positions for the people, we have ways to order the people who can be together, and ways to order the people who cannot be together. So for each , we have orderings.
Therefore, the final answer is
Proof by Aryabhata000
Applications
Application 1
Problem
Alice, Bob, Carl, David, Eric, Fred, George, and Harry want to stand in a line to buy ice cream. Fred and George are identical twins, so they are indistinguishable. Alice, Bob, and Carl had a serious disagreement in 6th grade, so none of them can be together in the line.
With these conditions, how many different ways can you arrange these kids in a line?
Problem by Math4Life2020
Solutions
Solution 1
If Eric and Fred were distinguishable we would have ways to arrange them by the Georgeooga-Harryooga Theorem. However, Eric and Fred are indistinguishable so we have to divide by . Therefore, our answer is .
Solution by RedFireTruck
Application 2
Problem
Zara has a collection of marbles: an Aggie, a Bumblebee, a Steelie, and a Tiger. She wants to display them in a row on a shelf, but does not want to put the Steelie and the Tiger next to one another. In how many ways can she do this?
Problem by The Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions
Solutions
Solution 1
By the Georgeooga-Harryooga Theorem there are way to arrange the marbles.
Solution by RedFireTruck
Solution 2
We can arrange our marbles like so .
To arrange the and we have ways.
To place the and in the blanks we have ways.
By fundamental counting principle our final answer is
Solution by RedFireTruck
Solution 3
Let the Aggie, Bumblebee, Steelie, and Tiger, be referred to by and , respectively. If we ignore the constraint that and cannot be next to each other, we get a total of ways to arrange the 4 marbles. We now simply have to subtract out the number of ways that and can be next to each other. If we place and next to each other in that order, then there are three places that we can place them, namely in the first two slots, in the second two slots, or in the last two slots (i.e. ). However, we could also have placed and in the opposite order (i.e. ). Thus there are 6 ways of placing and directly next to each other. Next, notice that for each of these placements, we have two open slots for placing and . Specifically, we can place in the first open slot and in the second open slot or switch their order and place in the first open slot and in the second open slot. This gives us a total of ways to place and next to each other. Subtracting this from the total number of arrangements gives us total arrangements .
We can also solve this problem directly by looking at the number of ways that we can place and such that they are not directly next to each other. Observe that there are three ways to place and (in that order) into the four slots so they are not next to each other (i.e. ). However, we could also have placed and in the opposite order (i.e. ). Thus there are 6 ways of placing and so that they are not next to each other. Next, notice that for each of these placements, we have two open slots for placing and . Specifically, we can place in the first open slot and in the second open slot or switch their order and place in the first open slot and in the second open slot. This gives us a total of ways to place and such that they are not next to each other .
~junaidmansuri
Solution 4
Let's try complementary counting. There ways to arrange the 4 marbles. However, there are arrangements where Steelie and Tiger are next to each other. (Think about permutations of the element ST, A, and B or TS, A, and B). Thus,
Solution 5
We use complementary counting: we will count the numbers of ways where Steelie and Tiger are together and subtract that from the total count. Treat the Steelie and the Tiger as a "super marble." There are ways to arrange Steelie and Tiger within this "super marble." Then there are ways to arrange the "super marble" and Zara's two other marbles in a row. Since there are ways to arrange the marbles without any restrictions, the answer is given by
-franzliszt
Solution 6
We will use the following
The Georgeooga-Harryooga Theorem states that if you have distinguishable objects and of them cannot be together, then there are ways to arrange the objects.
Let our group of objects be represented like so , , , ..., , . Let the last objects be the ones we can't have together.
Then we can organize our objects like so .
We have ways to arrange the objects in that list.
Now we have blanks and other objects so we have ways to arrange the objects we can't put together.
By fundamental counting principal our answer is .
Proof by RedFireTruck
Back to the problem. By the Georgeooga-Harryooga Theorem, our answer is .
-franzliszt
Solution 7
~savannahsolver
Testimonials
"Thanks for rediscovering our theorem RedFireTruck" - George and Harry of The Ooga Booga Tribe of The Caveman Society
"Wow! George and Harry are alive???" ~ samrocksnature
"Hi" ~ jasperE3
"I used this theorem on the AMC 8 and got a 25. Very useful!" - RedFireTruck
"This is very complicated, but great." - Jiseop55406
I used this theorem on the AMC 8 too! ~ ilp
"Very nice theorem" ~ IdkHowToAddNumbers
"This theorem is really worth of being used in the AMC 8! Very useful!" ~ Aops-g5-gethsemanea2 (talk) 20:48, 21 December 2020 (EST)
"I have realized the way" ~ hi..
"This theorem even works on AMC10 and 12" - TryhardMathlete