How many words, no matter if they are meaningless, can be formed by the letters of the word 'DIARY'? 

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68th BPSC Prelims (Held on 12 Feb 2023) (Set: B) - Official Paper
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  1. 24
  2. 5
  3. 10
  4. More than one of the above
  5. None of the above

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 5 : None of the above
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Detailed Solution

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The correct answer is None of the above.

Key Points

Total number of letters = 5

Number of repeating letters = 0

The total number of words that can be formed are = 5P5

= 5!

= 120

∴The total number of words that can be formed is 120.

Alternate Method

  • There are 5 different letters in the word DIARY. 
  • The first place can be filled in 5 ways.
  • The second place can be filled by any one of the remaining 4 letters. So, second place can be filled in 4 ways.
  • So, on continuing, the number of ways of filling third place in 3 ways, fourth place in 2 ways, fifth place in 1 way.
  • Therefore, the number of words that can be formed using all the letters of the word DIARY, using each letter exactly once is 5×4×3×2×1 = 5! = 120
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