Question: Continuing the trend of 12 from last issue, consider the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs: {Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig}. The Lunar New Year this year is celebrating the year of the Snake. Snakes are most compatible with Oxen, Roosters, and Monkeys. Snakes are least compatible with Pigs and Tigers.
Find the number of subsets of three signs chosen from these twelve (no repeats) on the condition that the subset must contain the {Snake}, must contain at least one from the set {Ox, Rooster, and Monkey}, and must contain none from the set {Pig, Tiger}.
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21 (as 3 contain Snake and two out of {Ox, Rooster, Monkey} and 18 contain Snake and exactly one out of {Ox, Rooster, Monkey} for a total of 21)
“Math Corner” is a contest that appears in each issue of The Current and is a collaboration between NSU’s Department of Mathematics | NSU Halmos College of Arts and Sciences | NSU and NSU’s Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts | Halmos College of Arts and Sciences | NSU. Contest submissions to the Math Corner question in the Current’s latest issue can be sent to jgershma@nova.edu up until the date the next issue is published. Prizes are awarded at the end of the academic year.
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