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COMBINA function

The COMBINA function returns the number of ways to choose some number of objects from a pool of a given size of objects, including ways to choose the same object multiple times (also known as choosing with replacement).

Parts of a COMBINA function​

COMBINA(n, k)

PartDescriptionNotes
nThe size pool of objects to choose from.* Given n values should be greater than or equal to 0.
kThe number of objects to choose.* Given k values should be greater than or equal to 0.

Sample formulas​

COMBINA(5, 3)

COMBINA(A1, B1)

Notes​

  • The order of the chosen objects within the COMBINA function doesn't matter.
  • COMBINA(n, k) is equivalent to COMBIN(n+k-1), which can be read as "(n+k-1)choose k" or .
  • COMBINA(n, k) is also equivalent to FACT(n+k-1)/(FACT(k)*FACT(n-1)), but supports larger numbers as arguments.
  • If a number (or reference to a number) with a decimal part is provided to COMBINA, the decimal part is silently truncated before calculation.
  • If the some of arguments n+k is greater than or equal to 1031, a #NUM! error is returned.

Examples​

In the following example with a pool of 2 objects (for example, A and B), there are 3 possible chosen combinations: (A, B), (A, A), and (B, B):

AB
1FormulaResult
2=COMBINA(2, 2)3

In this example with a pool of 5 objects, there are 35 possible chosen combinations of 3 objects:

AB
1FormulaResult
2=COMBINA(5, 3)35
  • FACT: The FACT function returns the factorial of a number.
  • COMBIN: The COMBIN function returns the number of ways to choose some number of objects from a pool of a given size of objects.