Analyzing the Setup
To solve this problem, we must fill six slots using five distinct keys: {1,3,5,7,9}. Since we are required to use all five keys in six available slots, the Pigeonhole Principle dictates that exactly one digit must be repeated.
This creates a multiset of six digits where one digit appears twice and the other four digits appear once.
Selecting the Repeating Digit
The first logical step is to determine which of the five available digits will be repeated. We must select exactly one digit from the set of five.
The number of ways to perform this selection is given by:
The Arrangement Logic
Once the repeating digit is chosen, we have a set of six digits to arrange. For example, if we choose the digit 3, our set becomes {1,3,3,5,7,9}.
If all six digits were distinct, there would be 6! ways to arrange them. However, because we have two identical digits, we must divide by 2! to account for the indistinguishable permutations.
The number of distinct arrangements for any chosen multiset is:
The Final Synthesis
To find the total number of valid six-digit combinations, we multiply the number of ways to select the repeating digit by the number of ways to arrange the resulting multiset.
The calculation is as follows:
This result represents the complete set of valid arrangements, derived through the fundamental principles of combinatorics.