Exercise 5.

A woman is getting married. She has 15 best friends but can only select 6 of them to be her bridesmaids, one of which needs to be her maid of honor. How many ways can she do this?

  1. What if she first selects the 6 bridesmaids, and then selects one of them to be the maid of honor?

  2. What if she first selects her maid of honor, and then 5 other bridesmaids?

  3. Explain why \(6 {15 \choose 6} = 15 {14 \choose 5}\text{.}\)

Solution.
in-context