In how many different ways can the letters of the word CALCULUS be arranged?
Since CALCULUS has 8 letters with 2 indistinguishable C's,
2 indisnguishable L's and 2 indistinguishable U's, the answer is
= 5040.
How many of these arrangements begin and end with the same letter?
Example: UALCLSCU
Choose the letter to begin and end with in 3 ways, C,L, or U.
In the example we just need the distinguishable arrangements of
ALCLSC which is
= 180
Answer: 3*180 = 540.
Edwin