Q. There were 21 students running in a race. How many different arrangements of first, second, and third place are possible?Answer:
Permutation Problem: We need to calculate the number of ways to choose the first, second, and third place winners from 21 students. This is a permutation problem because the order matters.
First Place Selection: For the first place, there are 21 possible students who could win.
Second Place Selection: After the first place is chosen, there are 20 students left for the second place.
Third Place Selection: Finally, for the third place, there are 19 students remaining to choose from.
Total Arrangements Calculation: To find the total number of different arrangements, we multiply the number of choices for each position: 21 (for first place) ×20 (for second place) ×19 (for third place).
Product Calculation: Calculating the product: 21×20×19=7980.