I'll assume that MISSISSIPPI was mispelled. It has 4 S's and 2 P's. If you meant "MISSISIPI", there are so few you can just list them all easier than calculating them, for it's just the 6 permutations of M,P,(SSS) with 4 I's separating them: IMIPISSSI IMISSSIPI IPIMISSSI IPISSSIMI ISSSIMIPI ISSSIPIMI Assuming you meant the correct spelling of the state:The number of ways the four S's can come together The letters of MISSISSIPPI arranged in alphabetical order is I,I,I,I,M,P,P,S,S,S,S The number of ways the four S's can come together is the number of distinguishable permutations of these 8 things, where the (SSSS) is considered as a single "thing". I,I,I,I,M,P,P,(SSSS) Since there are 4 indistinguishable I's and 2 indistinguishable P's, the number is: From this 840 we must subtract the number of ways 2 or more I's can come together. First we will calculate the number of distinguishable arrangements of M,P,P,(SSSS) with no I's, and then we'll calculate how many ways we can insert the 4 I's with 2 or more together. Then we'll multiply those two numbers together. Again in the distinguishable arrangements of M,P,P,(SSSS), the (SSSS) is considered as just one thing. Since there are 2 indistinguishable P's, the number is: = 12 An example would be PMP(SSSS). Let's put a space before and after each letter or "thing" to indicate feasible places to insert the I's. _P_M_P_(SSSS)_ So there are 5 places to insert the four I's. Case 1. All four I's come together (IIII). That's 5 ways. Case 2. The I's are split 3 and 1, (III) and (I). Place the (III) any of 5 ways Place the (I) in any of the 4 remaining places That's 5*4 or 20 ways. Case 3. The I's are split 2 and 2. (II) and (II) Choose the 2 places for them to go in C(5,2) or 10 ways That's 10 ways. Case 4. The I's are split 2,1 and 1. (II),(I), and (I) Choose the places for the two single (I)'s C(5,2) = 10 ways Choose the place for the (II) as any of the remaining 3 ways That's 10*3 or 30 ways. For those four cases that's 5+20+10+30 = 65 ways. We multiply this 65 by the 12 distinguishable arrangements of M,P,P,(SSSS), That's 65*12 or 780 ways. That's the number which we must subtract from the 840. Final answer = 840 - 780 = 60 distinguishable permutations. Here they all are, computer generated, 10 rows of 6 each: IMIPIPISSSS IMIPIPSSSSI IMIPISSSSIP IMIPISSSSPI IMIPPISSSSI IMIPSSSSIPI IMISSSSIPIP IMISSSSIPPI IMISSSSPIPI IMPIPISSSSI IMPISSSSIPI IMSSSSIPIPI IPIMIPISSSS IPIMIPSSSSI IPIMISSSSIP IPIMISSSSPI IPIMPISSSSI IPIMSSSSIPI IPIPIMISSSS IPIPIMSSSSI IPIPISSSSIM IPIPISSSSMI IPIPMISSSSI IPIPSSSSIMI IPISSSSIMIP IPISSSSIMPI IPISSSSIPIM IPISSSSIPMI IPISSSSMIPI IPISSSSPIMI IPMIPISSSSI IPMISSSSIPI IPPIMISSSSI IPPISSSSIMI IPSSSSIMIPI IPSSSSIPIMI ISSSSIMIPIP ISSSSIMIPPI ISSSSIMPIPI ISSSSIPIMIP ISSSSIPIMPI ISSSSIPIPIM ISSSSIPIPMI ISSSSIPMIPI ISSSSIPPIMI ISSSSMIPIPI ISSSSPIMIPI ISSSSPIPIMI MIPIPISSSSI MIPISSSSIPI MISSSSIPIPI PIMIPISSSSI PIMISSSSIPI PIPIMISSSSI PIPISSSSIMI PISSSSIMIPI PISSSSIPIMI SSSSIMIPIPI SSSSIPIMIPI SSSSIPIPIMI Edwin