There are 18 students in a class. Each day, the teacher randomly

selects three students to assist in a game: a leader, a recorder, and a

timekeeper. In how many possible ways can the jobs be assigned?

(1) 306 (3) 4896

(2) 816 (4) 5832

The answer is (3) 4896.

This number comes from multiplying 18 x 17 x 16

This is because any of the 18 students could be picked as a leader. Then, any of the remaining 17 students could be picked as a recorder. Then, any of the remaining 16 students could be picked as a timekeeper. Therefore, you multiply 18 by 17 by 16 to get 4896 combinations.