2010 UNCO Math Contest II Problems/Problem 5

Problem

(a) In the $4 \times 4$ grid shown, four coins are randomly placed in different squares. What is the probability that no two coins lie in the same row or column?

$\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|} \hline &&& \\ \hline &&& \\ \hline &&& \\ \hline &&& \\ \hline \end{tabular}$

(b) Generalize this to an $N \times N$ grid.


Solution

(a) $\tfrac{6}{455}$

(b) $\frac{n!}{\binom{n^2}{n}}$

See also

2010 UNCO Math Contest II (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 4
Followed by
Problem 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
All UNCO Math Contest Problems and Solutions