Math Is Fun Forum

Joseph

Guest

6th grade probability

Pete had a pizza party. Participating at the party were Pierre, Patrick, Paul, Pele, and Fred. After Pete had seated himself at the table, how many different seating arrangements were possible?

I think it's 576, but I'm not sure. If it's not then help me because I need the answer now

Daniel123

Member

Registered: 2007-05-23

Posts: 663

Re: 6th grade probability

How many chairs were there?

Assuming there are as many chairs as there are people, and there are no twins , then I would think it would be 5! = 120. Have you ever met the concept of factorial (!) ?

For the first chair there are 5 possible people who can sit at it. Once someone has sat down on it, there are then 4 possibilities for the next, then 3 possiblities, then 2 possiblities. When the everyone has sat down except the last person then there is only 1 possible seat (assuming there were no extras). So the answer is 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1, which we write in short as 5!

Last edited by Daniel123 (2008-04-22 08:37:36)