I'll just do the last one. c. [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] [3 4 1 5 2 7 8 6] We determine the orbits: 1->3->1 So the first orbit is [1 3] 2->4->5->2 So the second orbit is [2 4 5] 6->7->8->6 So the third orbit is [6 7 8] So the permutation is [1 3][2 4 5][6 7 8] Writing it two ways as a product of tranpositions: [1 3][2 5][2 4][6 8][6 7] or [1 3][2 4][2 5][6 7][6 8] There are 5 transposition in the product, and 5 is odd, so the permutation is odd. Edwin