12 different toys are to be distributed to three children equally. In how many ways this can be done.

combinatorics

Question: 12 different toys are to be distributed to three children equally. In how many ways this can be done.

My approach:-

Selecting 3 groups of 4 balls and finally distributing it to 3 people

What I did was ${}_{12}C_4$ * ${}_{8}C_4$ * ${}_{4}C_4$ * $3!$

The solution according to the book does the following which I am not able to understand

$$ \left(\frac{12!}{4!*4!*4!*3!}\right) *3!$$

can someone let me know my mistake and what exactly is the book's solution trying to convey

Best Answer

Please note that $ \displaystyle {12 \choose 4} {8 \choose 4} {4 \choose 4}$ already orders the groups. So you should not multiply by $3!$ again. Using multinomial theorem, you can directly write it as

$ \displaystyle \frac{12!}{4! \cdot 4! \cdot 4!}$

Say you are distributing toys to Jenny, Mike and John and start by selecting $4$ toys out of $12$ to give to Jenny, $4$ out of remaining $8$ to Mike and finally John gets what is left. In one of the possible distributions, you first select $T_1 - T_4$ for Jenny and from the remaining toys, $T_5 - T_8$ for Mike but you will have another distribution where as part of ${12 \choose 4}$, you choose $T_5 - T_8$ for Jenny and then from the remaining $8$ toys, you select $4$ for Mike and one of the selections will be where Mike gets $T_1 - T_4$. Can you see how the groups are already ordered and why you should not multiply by $3!$?

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