The number of arrangements of the letters of the word "INDEPENDENCE" in which all the vowels always occur together is:
- A
- B
- C
- D
The number of arrangements of the letters of the word "INDEPENDENCE" in which all the vowels always occur together is:
Correct answer:A
Standard Method
Given: The word is INDEPENDENCE and all the vowels must always occur together.
Find: The number of arrangements of the letters of the word in which all the vowels occur together.
The word has letters, out of which are vowels and are consonants.
Because we need to keep the vowels together always, we can consider the vowels as one letter.
So, the number of ways of arranging the consonants is given by
On expanding the factorial, we get
On simplification,
So the vowels can also be rearranged themselves. Out of the vowels, are the same.
So, the ways of arranging the vowels is given by
After simplification, we get
Therefore, the vowels can be arranged in ways.
The number of words that can be formed such that vowels are always together is given by the product of the number of ways of arranging the letters with all the vowels together and the number of ways of arranging the vowels.
Therefore, the correct option is A.
Block Arrangement View
Given: All vowels of INDEPENDENCE must stay together.
Find: Total such arrangements.
Treat all vowels as a single block. Then we arrange this vowel block together with the consonants.
The consonants are N, D, P, N, D, N, C and the vowel block acts like one more item. So total items become .
Among these, N repeats times and D repeats times. Hence the number of arrangements is
Now arrange the vowels inside the block. The vowels are I, E, E, E, E. Since E repeats times, the number of internal arrangements is
Therefore, total arrangements are
Hence, the number of arrangements is .
Treating all letters as distinct is incorrect because N, D, and E repeat. Use division by factorials of repeated letters instead.
Forgetting to treat all vowels as one single block gives arrangements where vowels are separated. First make one vowel block, then arrange that block with the consonants.
Using for arranging the vowels is wrong because among the vowels, letters are E. The correct count is .
Get unlimited AI-adaptive practice, mastery tracking, and an AI tutor that explains every step — free to start.