Subject: General Aptitude · Chapter: Permutations and Combinations · Exam: 2009 · Marks: · Difficulty:
In how many different ways can the letters of the word SOFTWARE be arranged in such a way that the vowels always come together?
(a)120
(b)360
(c)1440
(d)13440
(e)4320
Answer
Answer (as printed): E
Explanation
The given word contains 8 different letters. We keep the vowels (OAE) together and treat them as 1 letter. Thus, we have to arrange the 6 letters SFTWR(OAE). These can be arranged in 6 = 720 ways. The vowels (OAE) can be arranged among themselves in 3 = 6 ways. ∴ Required number of ways = (720 × 6) = 4320.
Explanation as extracted from the printed page; notation may be imperfect.