COMB(n, m)

The COMB function calculates the number of combinations of n distinct things taken m at a time using the following formula:

COMB(n, m) = FACT(n) / (FACT(m) * FACT(n - m))

A combination is a selection of one or more things or events without regard to order. This can be contrasted with a permutation (see PERM), where order does matter.

For example, the chances of correctly selecting six numbers drawn from 49 in a lottery is given by:

COMB(49, 6)

which returns 13,983,816, that is, 1 chance in 13,983,816.

See also:

Other statistical functions