Thread: Combinatorics question

In the question: How many ways can a president, vice-president and treasuer be choosen from an organization with 12 members?

Would i use P(12, 3) =1320 ways
or
would i use C(12,3)x3!= 1320 ways

does it make a difference?

thanks

Originally Posted by Mathematicker

In the question: How many ways can a president, vice-president and treasuer be choosen from an organization with 12 members?

Would i use P(12, 3) =1320 ways
or
would i use C(12,3)x3!= 1320 ways

does it make a difference?

thanks

Does not make a difference to the answer. But it makes a difference to the way you think.

P(12,3) says you are arranging 3 people out of 12 in some order(here the posts)

C(12,3) x 3! says first you choose 3 guys out of 12 and then you assign them their posts.

Well they are almost similar...

Hello,
Actually, you can relate the two definitions.
The "P" (dunno the English name for it) is very similar to a combination problem, but you have to consider the order.

You can use both P(12,3) and C(12,3) x 3!