Number of ways $10$ men and $4$ women can sit at a round table so there is no block of $3$ consecutive women

combinatoricsdiscrete mathematicssolution-verification

In how many ways can $10$ men and $4$ women sit at a round table so that there is no block of $3$ consecutive women?

Since there is no restriction on men, I thought they should sit first. Since the table is round, I fixed one seat for $1$ in 10 men and placed the rest of them $9!$ ways and then we have $10$ gaps in which we can place $4$ women, at most $2$ in each. I think these are the possibilities:

  1. One woman in each gap: we can choose those gaps in $\binom{10}4$ ways and then place women in $4!$ different ways.
  2. $2$ women in $1$ gap and the remaining $2$ in each of their own. We need $3$ gaps altogether, which can be chosen in $\binom{10}3$ ways. Since women are different entities, I believe we should be able to place them in, again $4!$ ways.
  3. $2$ women in $2$ gaps: $2$ in each. We can choose $2$ gaps in $\binom{10}2$ ways and again, if I'm not wrong, place them in $4!$ ways.

Therefore, my answer to the number of possible ways is: $$9!\cdot 4!\left(\binom{10}4+\binom{10}3+\binom{10}2\right).$$

Can somebody check my answer as I'm not quite sure im my deduction?

Best Answer

Your answer is missing factor of $3$ in the second term.

$ \displaystyle 9!\cdot 4!\left(\binom{10}4+ \color {blue} {3} \cdot \binom{10}3+\binom{10}2\right)$

Why $3$? That's because when you make groups of $2, 1$ and $1$ women and choose $3$ spaces between men to seat them which is ${10 \choose 3}$, you also have $3$ ways to choose which of those $3$ spaces will have two women.

Alternatively, subtract arrangements which have $3$ or $4$ consecutive women from total arrangements of $13!$. So the answer can also be written as,

$ \displaystyle 13! - (10! \cdot 9 + 10!) \cdot 4!$

Explanation:

First term being subtracted - three consecutive women. Let's first seat three women together and then men can be arranged in $10!$ ways. The lone woman can sit in $9$ spaces between men. Finally women can be arranged within in $4!$ ways.

Second term being subtracted - all four women sit together. Let's first seat all women together and then men can be arranged in $10!$ ways. Finally women can be arranged within in $4!$ ways.