How many ways can you arrange the letters in the word Mississippi?

Answer 1

Total arrangements are determined by the equation f(n) = n!, where n is the number of letters in the word, and n! is the factorial function, which is n*(n-1) ... *1. This word has 11! total arrangements.

Distinguishable arrangements are determined by the equation f(n) = n!/(c1!*c2! ... *cn!), where the denominator is the product of the factorials of the count of each unique letter in the word.

There is one "m".

There are four "i"s.

There are four "s"s.

There are two "p"s.

So:

11!/(4!4!2!1!) = 39916800/1152 = 34650 distinguishable arrangements