Among the 9 digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, the 5 odd digits must appear in the order 1,3,5,7,9, left to right and the 4 even digits must appear in the order 8,6,4,2,left to right Of the 9 positions in the 9-digit number, we can choose the 4 positions for the even digits in C(9,4) = 126 ways. [Notice that although the even digits must be in a certain order, order does not matter when we are picking the positions in which the even digits will appear in the 9-digit number. For example, in the 9-digit number 123546789 we are picking positions 2,5,6, and 8 for the even digits to go in. Notice that picking positions 5,8,2, and 6 is the same set of positions as the set of positions 2,5,6, and 8 or positions 8,5,6, and 2. Therefore order of POSITIONS picked DOES NOT matter! That's why we use combinations rather than permutations. Hope this doesn't confuse you!] The odd digits will be placed in ascendng order in the remaining 5 positions in just C(5,5)=1 way. Answer C(9,4) = 126 ways Edwin