How many ways can first, second, and third place be assigned? At a gymnastics meet, twenty gymnasts compete for first, second, and third place.

Question

Serenity Gonzalez

Mathematics

27 September, 12:29

How many ways can first, second, and third place be assigned? At a gymnastics meet, twenty gymnasts compete for first, second, and third place.

+4

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Jamison Ferrell · Answer 1

Since this is a competition, that means that the order of the rankings are important. So, that means it's a permutation, not a combination. A combination would be when the order does not matter. The formula to find the amount of outcomes of a permutation is, in this case n = the amount of gymnastics, and r is the amount of positions. P (n, r) = n! / (n-r) !