At a competition with 6 runners, medals are awarded for first, second, and third places. Each of the 3 medals is different. How many ways are there to award the medals? Decide if this is a permutation or a combination, and find the number of ways to award the medals. A. Combination; number of ways =120 B. Combination; number of ways =20 C. Permutation; number of ways =20 D. Permutation; number of way: =120
Permutation; number of ways = 120.
Explanation
This is a permutation problem because the order in which the medals are awarded matters. To find the number of ways to award the medals, we use the formula for permutations: P(6,3) = 6! / (6-3)! = 6! / 3! = 6 x 5 x 4 = 120.