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There are 5 athletes at a track meet. How many different ways can they finish first or second?
Answer:

There are 55 athletes at a track meet. How many different ways can they finish first or second?\newlineAnswer:

Full solution

Q. There are 55 athletes at a track meet. How many different ways can they finish first or second?\newlineAnswer:
  1. Understand the problem: Understand the problem.\newlineWe need to find the number of different ways 55 athletes can finish in the first or second place. This is a permutation problem because the order in which the athletes finish matters.
  2. Calculate first place: Calculate the number of ways one athlete can finish first.\newlineThere are 55 athletes, so any one of them can finish first. This gives us 55 possibilities for the first place.
  3. Calculate second place: Calculate the number of ways a different athlete can finish second.\newlineAfter one athlete has finished first, there are 44 remaining athletes who can finish second. This gives us 44 possibilities for the second place.
  4. Use multiplication principle: Use the multiplication principle.\newlineThe total number of different ways the athletes can finish first or second is the product of the number of possibilities for the first place and the number of possibilities for the second place.\newlineSo, we multiply the 55 possibilities for the first place by the 44 possibilities for the second place.\newline55 (for first place) ×\times 44 (for second place) =20= 20
  5. Conclude final answer: Conclude with the final answer.\newlineThe number of different ways 55 athletes can finish first or second is 2020.

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