Five dogs (Fido, Ruff, Lassie, Odie, and Snoopy) were playing in the park. Altogether, they had 5 identical Frisbees. In how many ways could the 5 Frisbees be distributed among the dogs when they leave the park to go home?

Question

Five dogs (Fido, Ruff, Lassie, Odie, and Snoopy) were playing in the park.  Altogether, they had 5 identical Frisbees. In how many ways could the 5 Frisbees be distributed among the dogs when they leave the park to go home?

oobleck · Answer

what are the partitions of 5? 0,0,0,0,5 0,0,0,1,4 ... 1,1,1,1,1

Reiny · Answer

I don't get it. Since all the frisbees are the same, and assuming no dog gets more than 1 frisbee, there would be only 1 way. If they were different, there would be 5! or 120 ways