In a running competition, a bronze, silver and gold medal must be given to the top three girls and top three boys. If 12 boys and 14 girls are competing, how many different ways could the six medals possibly be given out?Answer:
Q. In a running competition, a bronze, silver and gold medal must be given to the top three girls and top three boys. If 12 boys and 14 girls are competing, how many different ways could the six medals possibly be given out?Answer:
Calculate Boys' Medal Permutations: First, we need to calculate the number of ways the medals can be given out to the boys. Since there are 12 boys and 3 medals (gold, silver, and bronze), we use permutations because the order in which the medals are awarded matters.The number of ways to award 3 medals to 12 boys is given by the permutation formula:P(n,k)=(n−k)!n!where n is the total number of boys and k is the number of medals.
Calculate Girls' Medal Permutations: For the boys, we calculate the permutation:P(12,3)=(12−3)!12!P(12,3)=9!12!P(12,3)=9!(12×11×10×9!)P(12,3)=12×11×10P(12,3)=1320So, there are 1320 ways to award the medals to the boys.
Calculate Total Medal Combinations: Next, we calculate the number of ways the medals can be given out to the girls. There are 14 girls and 3 medals.Using the permutation formula again:P(14,3)=(14−3)!14!P(14,3)=11!14!P(14,3)=11!(14×13×12×11!)P(14,3)=14×13×12P(14,3)=2184So, there are 2184 ways to award the medals to the girls.
Calculate Total Medal Combinations: Next, we calculate the number of ways the medals can be given out to the girls. There are 14 girls and 3 medals.Using the permutation formula again:P(14,3)=(14−3)!14!P(14,3)=11!14!P(14,3)=11!(14×13×12×11!)P(14,3)=14×13×12P(14,3)=2184So, there are 2184 ways to award the medals to the girls.Finally, to find the total number of different ways the six medals can be given out, we multiply the number of ways the boys can receive their medals by the number of ways the girls can receive theirs.Total ways = P(boys)×P(girls)Total ways = 1320×2184Total ways = 30So, there are 31 different ways the six medals can be given out.