So for this I did a simple picture of putting 5 indistinct things into 3 indistinct boxes. Ways to put objects

5 - 0 - 0

4 - 1 - 0

3 - 2 - 0

3 - 1 - 1

2 - 2 - 1


I didn't label the boxes because they are indistinguishable and therefore something like 2,2,1 is the same as 1,2,2. Counting them up I got an answer of 5 ways.

  • aifrank@purdue.edu
  • --Aifrank 18:17, 23 September 2008 (UTC)


I believe this is the correct answer as I got the same one. Also, the explanation where you mentioned that 2,2,1 cannot be distinguished from 1,2,2 made a lot of sense. --Kduhon 16:08, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

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Sean Hu, ECE PhD 2009