[Math] How many 5-letter words with a) no letter A b) at least one A

combinatoricspermutations

So I've got the problem "How many 5-letter words can be made if the alphabet has 29 letters and
a) the letter A doesn't show once and
b) the letter A shows at least once.

For A) I counted it as 28!/23! since you only have 28 letters to really think about without A?
But I'm really stuck with B, so if anyone could help me, that would be appreciated!

Best Answer

How many five-letter words can be made if the alphabet has $29$ letters and the letter A is not used once?

If no A is used, there are $29 - 1 = 28$ ways to fill each position, so there are $28^5$ possible five-letter words that do not contain an A.

Your answer $$P(28, 5) = \frac{28!}{(28 - 5)!} = \frac{28!}{23!}$$ would be correct if letters could not be repeated.

How many five-letter words can be made if the alphabet has $29$ letters and the letter A is used at least once?

The set of five-letter words in which the letter A is used at least once is the complement of the set of five-letter words in which the letter A is not used once. To find the answer, subtract the number of five-letter words in which the letter A is not used once from the number of five-letter words that can be formed from the alphabet.