Please help!! Correct answer gets a medal!

How many ways can a committee chairman choose 4 people for a subcommittee if there are 12 members on the whole committee?

A. 48

B. 495

C. 11,880

D. 20,736

Question

Please help!! Correct answer gets a medal!

How many ways can a committee chairman choose 4 people for a subcommittee if there are 12 members on the whole committee?

A. 48
 
 B. 495
 
 C. 11,880
 
 D. 20,736

superdavesuper · Answer

Hahahaha wanna go through similar painful steps like last night? :)

anonymous · Answer

uuugh i guess so

superdavesuper · Answer

first ppl to choose - how many to choose from?

anonymous · Answer

12

superdavesuper · Answer

OK good start - how about when choosing the second member?

anonymous · Answer

11? or is it 4? idk this is the part where i start getting confused

superdavesuper · Answer

Dont think about 4 yet...just keep thinking about the second member for now. 11 is right. How about the third member? How many to choose from?

anonymous · Answer

10

superdavesuper · Answer

4th which is the last member?

anonymous · Answer

9?

superdavesuper · Answer

So what is the total number of choices for all 4 members combined?

anonymous · Answer

42? i added them all up idk if thats right though

superdavesuper · Answer

Nope not adding them - think about if u roll 2 dices, how many total possible results? 12 or 36?

anonymous · Answer

so do i multiply then??

anonymous · Answer

is it C?

superdavesuper · Answer

yes, smart guy :) btw this can be expressed also as 12!/(12-4)!

anonymous · Answer

thank you!!! lol you're awesome for dealing with me and my stupidness in math

superdavesuper · Answer

dont worry i will send u the bill later! lol

isaiah.feynman · Answer

You could have easily used combinations since the order doesn't matter. |dw:1389817719074:dw|