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There were 12 students running in a race. How many different arrangements of first, second, and third place are possible?
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There were 1212 students running in a race. How many different arrangements of first, second, and third place are possible?\newlineAnswer:

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Q. There were 1212 students running in a race. How many different arrangements of first, second, and third place are possible?\newlineAnswer:
  1. Identify the problem: Identify the problem.\newlineWe need to find the number of different ways to arrange the first three places in a race with 1212 students. This is a permutation problem because the order of the winners matters.
  2. Determine the formula: Determine the formula for permutations.\newlineThe number of permutations of nn distinct objects taken rr at a time is given by nPr=n!(nr)!nPr = \frac{n!}{(n-r)!}.\newlineIn this case, n=12n = 12 (total students) and r=3r = 3 (positions to fill).
  3. Calculate the permutation: Calculate the permutation.\newlineUsing the formula from Step 22, we calculate 12P312P3.\newline12P3=12!(123)!12P3 = \frac{12!}{(12-3)!}\newline=12!9!= \frac{12!}{9!}
  4. Simplify the factorial expression: Simplify the factorial expression.\newlineWe can simplify 12!/9!12! / 9! by canceling out the common factorial terms.\newline12!/9!=(12×11×10×9!)/9!12! / 9! = (12 \times 11 \times 10 \times 9!) / 9!\newline=12×11×10= 12 \times 11 \times 10\newline=1320= 1320
  5. Verify the result: Verify the result.\newlineWe have calculated that there are 13201320 different arrangements for the first three places among 1212 students. This makes sense because as we select each position, we have fewer students to choose from for the next position.

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