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How many compositions of n has first part 1?

I've been trying to figure this out, if the number of compositions on n is 2^(n-1) then would the number of compositions of n with the first part 1 be 2^(n-2)?

Wooooop
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1 Answers1

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If you fix the first part of your composition of $n$, then the remaining parts give a composition of $n-1$. Therefore the formula you give is basically correct, though you should have some doubt about its validity for $n\leq1$. In fact the number of compositions of $n$ equals $2^{n-1}$ only if $n>0$ (and the number $0$ has one, empty, composition), so the number of composition of $n$ with first part $1$ is $2^{n-2}$ only if $n>1$. The full formula is $$ \#\{\text{compositions of $n$ with first part }1\} = \begin{cases} 0 & \text{if }n=0\\ 1 & \text{if }n=1\\ 2^{n-2} & \text{if }n>1 \end{cases} $$

Marc van Leeuwen
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  • (+1): What if $n<0$? (Kidding.) – Cameron Buie Mar 03 '13 at 06:11
  • Thank you!! What if the second part is 1 instead of the first part? Would it still be the same solution? – Wooooop Mar 03 '13 at 06:11
  • @kevlar. Into every non-empty composition of $n-1$ one can insert a part $1$ after the first part, so as to obtain a composition of $n$ with second part $1$. So the answer for this case would be the same as the one for the first part except that that value for $n=1$ would be $0$ (there can be no second part for $n=1$). – Marc van Leeuwen Mar 03 '13 at 10:18