Fifty people enter a contest in which three identical prizes will be awarded. in how many different ways can the prizes be awarded to the entrants? explain how you would solve the problem.

Provided that no one can receive more than one prize, there are 50*49*48 = 117600 ways to distribute the prizes. The first prize can be given to any of the 50 people, the second to any of the remaining 49, and the third to the remaining of the 48, multiplying these possibilities together leads to the answer.