Question

There are 6 students participating in a poetry contest, in how many ways can the students who go first and second in the bee be chosen?

Answer 1

There are are 30 possible ways for the 6 students to be ranked 1st and 2nd

Explanation:

There are 6 students, and any of them could receive first place. Therefore, there are 6 possibilities for first place.

A student cannot receive first and second place, so the student who won first place cannot also win second place. Therefore, there are only 5 students who could win second place.

We can multiply these two possibilities to find the number of possible rankings of 1st and 2nd

6*5=30

There are are 30 possible ways for the 6 students to be ranked 1st and 2nd....