MCS 421 Combinatorics, Spring 2016

Instructor: Andrew Suk
E-mail: suk [@] uic [dot] edu
Time and Place: LH 101, MWF 2:00-2:50
Office hours: Mon: 3-4, and by appointment, SEO 521.
Syllabus: here.

Textbook: R. Brualdi, Introductory Combinatorics, 5th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010.

Course Description: The aim of this course will be to cover Chapters 1-8, and if time permits Chapters 11-12. Topics include: Permutations and Combinations, The Pigeonhole Principle, Binomial Coefficients, Inclusion-Exclusion Principle, Combinatorial design, and Graph Theory.

Grading: Quizzes 10%, 2 Midterms 25% each, Final exam 40%.

Exams: Midterm 1 on Friday, Feb 19th in class. Midterm 2 on Friday, Apr 1st in class. Final exam: Wednesday May 4, 1-3pm in class.

Homeworks and quizzes: Homeworks will not be collected. Quizzes will be (roughly) every Friday, covering the homework problems assigned that week. Two quizzes can be dropped.


Homework 1. Due Friday Jan 15. Chapter 1: 1, 4, 38. Chapter 2: 1, 2, 4, 7. Solutions.

Homework 2. Due Friday Jan 22. Chapter 2: 11, 13, 14, 21, 38. Solutions.

Homework 3. Due Friday Jan 29. Chapter 2: 39, 60. Chapter 3: 4, 5, 6, 18. Solutions.

Homework 4. Due Friday Feb 5. Chapter 3: 9, 14, 17, 20, 22, 23; Chapter 5: 6, 7, 9, 15, 18. Solutions, and here.

Homework 5. Due Friday Feb 12. Chapter 5: 23, 24, 25, 30, 32, 40, 48, 49. Solutions.

Practice Test 1 here. Past exam (with solutions) here. Test 1 solutions.

Homework 6. Due Friday Feb 26. Chapter 6: 1,6, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19. Solutions.

Homework 7. Due Friday Mar 4. Chapter 7: 4, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17. Solutions.

Homework 8. Due Friday Mar 11. Chapter 7: 14, 16, 17, 22, 24, 25, 33, 34. Solutions.

Homework 9. Due Friday Mar 18. Chapter 7: 40, 42, 43; Chapter 8: 1, 2, 6, 7. Solutions 1 and Solutions 2.

Practice Exam here and past exam. Test 2 Solutions.

Homework 10. Due Friday April 8. Chapter 8: 8, 12 , 14, 15, 19. (No quiz on Friday April 8). Solutions.

Homework 11. Due Friday April 15. Chapter 8: 21, 22, 23, 26, 27. Solutions.

Homework 12. Due Friday April 22. Chapter 9: 6, 7, 8, 19, 20. Solutions.

Practice final 1 and 2.