HP 48gII hp 48gII_user's manual_English_E_HDPMSG48E67_V2.pdf - Page 555

To simplify notation, use P(n,r) for permutations, and C(n,r) for combinations. We can calculate combinations, permutations, and factorials with functions COMB, PERM, and ! from the MTH/PROBABILITY.. sub-menu. The operation of those functions is described next: • COMB(n,r): Combinations of n items taken r at a time • PERM(n,r): Permutations of n items taken r at a time • n!: Factorial of a positive integer. For a non-integer, x! returns Γ(x+1), where Γ(x) is the Gamma function (see Chapter 3). The factorial symbol (!) can be entered also as the keystroke combination ~,2. Example of applications of these functions are shown next: Random numbers The calculator provides a random number generator that returns a uniformly distributed, random real number between 0 and 1. The generator is able to produce sequences of random numbers. However, after a certain number of times (a very large number indeed), the sequence tends to repeat itself. For that reason, the random number generator is more properly referred to as a pseudo-random number generator. To generate a random number with your calculator use function RAND from the MTH/PROBABILITY sub-menu. The following screen shows a number of random numbers produced using RAND. The numbers in the left-hand side figure are produced with calling function RAND without an argument. If you place an argument list in function RAND, you get back the list of numbers plus an additional random number attached to it as illustrated in the right-hand side figure. Page 17-2